CrossFit & Pregnancy

As a crossfitter, when I finally got pregnant, I was curious if I could continue CrossFit. Thankfully, with both pregnancies I could, but with both pregnancies, it looked very different. For reference, my first pregnancy was via IVF and the second was spontaneous (as the doctors put it!). 

A few things to keep in mind:

1. Everyone is different, this is just my experience
2. Always consult your doctor
3. Don’t do anything you are not comfortable with
4. Make sure you have a supportive coach willing to help you modify and stay safe

1st Pregnancy

My first pregnancy was via IVF, so unfortunately I could not really workout aside from walking (I still taught spin, shh!) per my doctor from about 4 weeks prior to implantation until I was 6 weeks pregnant. This is because they blow your ovaries up to the size of oranges and they need sufficient time to return to normal after implantation. The fear is you will workout and twist one, which I understand is very painful! With all the dynamic movements in CrossFit it was a high possibility. 

I suspended my membership for about 2 months, and returned at 6 weeks pregnant. Coincidentally, this is the time in the first trimester where I get super tired and nauseous, so my attendance wasn’t fantastic and I had barely worked out in the past 2 months so I was definitely feeling more winded and weaker. As time progressed, my endurance increased again and I was not pushing the weight limits at all. I stayed at weights I was more than comfortable with and in retrospect, I was overly careful. It was my first pregnancy so I was definitely nervous, but I felt good throughout the second and most of the third trimesters. 

The most notable highlights from doing CrossFit while pregnant:

1. Because I barely gained weight until month 7, I was able to do box jumps until then, it was awesome!
2. I stopped performing cleans and snatches with the barbell, or any lift that would need to stay close to the body very early, like month 3 or 4. I was scared to bump the bump! 
3. The rower became more difficult as my belly got bigger, my legs started frogging out to the sides, and I definitely lost power because of it. 
4. My last WOD was exactly one month to the day I gave birth. I suspended my membership at the conclusion of my 8th month.

2nd Pregnancy

Though I didn’t know it at the time, I had exactly 1 year to get back into CrossFit and get better at it after my daughter was born before I found out I was pregnant again, and I did. In this year I PR’d a decent amount of lifts, got pull-ups, and straight up showed up a lot more. I’m really proud of the improvements I made and it was definitely a form of me-time and getting my body back to feeling strong and healthy. I absolutely came back stronger than I was and I hope to do the same this time.

I found out I was pregnant at about 5 weeks. My workouts stayed the same until about 3-4 months along in my pregnancy aside from avoiding anything on my stomach (ex. burpees became burps). I started showing a lot earlier in this pregnancy, at about the 4th month there was a bump, it looked more like it could have been a food baby, but still a constant hard bump. By month 6 I was poppin’! 

This time around I push myself more with the weights, I’m by no means trying to PR, but I’m not as nervous. At month 7, I’m still doing snatches and cleans. I have grazed the bump, but barely. I think I have walked into a counter corner harder lol.

Changes to highlight the second time around:

1. I had to stop box jumps at month 5, I was definitely showing and it wasn’t worth a fall, 2 months earlier than the last pregnancy. 
2. Pull-ups also went away at month 5, it was a sad day haha
3. I plan to suspend my membership starting in April. The open is 3 weeks in March, and I think that will be my send off to maternity leave from CrossFit
4. I’m facing the same issue with the rower and my knees splaying out. 

A few overalls to remember when it comes to CrossFit and pregnancy:

• Use proper breathing (you should be anyways ;)), but it’s especially important while preggo to avoid light-headedness and to protect your floor and core.
• Keep your ego in check! This is a 2 parter:
  • You want to focus on consistency and just showing up. You’re not going to get soft, you’re still a badass! I mean seriously, you are doing CrossFit pregnant.
  • Don’t compare yourself to others, even other pregnant people at the gym, everyone is at a different stage and everyone has a different pregnancy.
• Remind yourself “this is temporary”. You won’t be pregnant forever, just continue to do the best you can no matter what it looks like. 

I have seen preggos stop CrossFit at 5 months, show up on their due date (I think she was trying to induce labor, haha), be able to do pull-ups the entire time, switch to dumbbells exclusively, and many other modifications/regimen changes. 

Don’t be afraid to continue your workout regimen through your pregnancy so long as it is deemed safe for you. Both times it helped me from gaining too much weight, kept my energy levels up, kept me strong, and kept me feeling happy (working out is definitely something I do for my serotonin levels too ;)). Obviously, I am more comfortable in my second pregnancy with certain things, but I also became limited in other areas I did not in the first pregnancy. Either way, it was great to continue something I truly enjoyed throughout my pregnancies. 

Hopefully this helps someone out there! Leave your thoughts and experiences, especially the mamas and mamas-to-be <3