9NOV/11Off
Lindsey Galvao is a pregnant crossfitter who has agreed to share her experience with us. She is currently ~6 months pregnant and still going strong. Within the past year or so, there have become many more forums and websites dedicated to the pregnant crossfitter, even with that said, the information is somewhat scare, so feel free to ask Lindsey any questions that you may have (if you are or are thinking of being pregnant). She will be guest blogging once or twice a trimester and will answer all your questions in her posts! Pregnant crossfitters make crossfit babies 
It’s hard for me to believe that I’m almost in my third trimester! The last few weeks of the second trimester has treated me well overall. It’s been a blast feeling the baby move and I’m still able to be fairly active. While I’ve lost my diligent Primal eating habits (Cheerios and hot chocolate cravings have been hard to kick lately), I’ve still managed to make it to CrossFit. In the past four weeks, my body has changed from a miniscule bump that only I noticed to a bona fide pregnant belly that gets smiles from strangers on the street. With my growing belly, anything on my back is out of the question. Instead of sit-ups, I do knee raises, and I’ll usually find something else to sub in for hollow body holds, like planks. I’ve also had to be careful with my lower back. Even though I’ve made sure I have solid form, I’ve had to lighten up my deadlifts and take extra time with my kettlebell swings to make sure I don’t have any soreness (I made this mistake when I did low rep kettlebell swings with 1.5 pood at 24 weeks— while it felt fine at the time, my back killed for the next couple days). For this same reason, handstand push ups are now out of the question, so I’ve just done regular push ups as a modification. I’ve also switched from pull ups to inverted rows. During each WOD, I find a steady rhythm and periodically complete the “talking test,” where I make sure I can say a sentence without being winded. It’s worked well and I’ve kept my pacing in check. At the same time, I’m still able to do box jumps, I can whip out some double unders, and I have a pretty mean front and back squat. I also use the barbell, although I keep the weight light (usually 65 pounds or less, depending on the lift). I’ve managed some decent Rx WODs lately, which is a great confidence booster, and when I know I won’t be able to complete a WOD Rx, I find a reasonable substitution, which usually means lowering my weight. So far, my little girl is growing right on target and measuring perfectly for her gestational age. All signs point to a healthy baby, and I’m grateful. I also know that pregnancy would have been a lot harder if I hadn’t been in shape and didn’t keep up with exercise. I’m sure it’s partly luck, but I’m also convinced that the food and exercise choices I made before getting pregnant have had nothing but a positive affect on my pregnancy. We’ll see what new CrossFit adventures the third trimester brings!
Ah-mazing. So many options for modification! Doesn't the belly get in the way of the pushups, though?
ReplyDeleteThanks! There are tons of options for modifications, and I have more to share. So far, the belly hasn't been very problematic with push ups, although I'm starting to play around with incline push ups now.
ReplyDelete