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Yay! Another crossfitter!!!

I had been doing Crossfit for 2.5 years before getting pregnant and continued throughout my pregnancy. My last workout was a week before giving birth (85# power cleans and burpees!).

I didn't start scaling my workouts for awhile (I am stubborn!) but I found myself getting winded really easily and having to take a lot more breaks. I continued doing strength training throughout my whole pregnancy and I was lifting as much at 8 months as I was pre-pg. i am a small girl (105-110 lbs) so i wanted to maintain my strength to help with recovery after birth.

I would also just do every movement in small numbers every so often just to make sure I still could.

Oh, and check out crossftmom.com if you haven't already!

I crossfitted through my entire pregnancy until 2 weeks before birth (because I decided if I wasn't at work I shouldn't do that either). I got my Level 1 certification at 6 months pregnant and my Kids certification at 7 months pregnant. I scaled for a number of reasons but only started scaling pushups and burpees at 6 months.

Another trainer at my gym coached and worked out until she went out on maternity leave as well (a few weeks before the baby). She was doing 10# wall balls at 8 months.

@WALLAROO: crossfitting with twins is a whole different ball game! I actually didn't consult my midwife but I had an uneventful pregnancy. I truly think you can Crossfit until the very end because you can scale any workout to your abilities. My coaches were amazing with coming up with modified movements for me.

I kept at it for the first 2 months, but had to quit because I couldn't keep my heart rate below 180 during any physical activity other than light walking. Turns out I was anemic, which we didn't discover until 26 weeks, so it was too late to start back up.

Hi guys, just bumping this old thread because my doc just scared the bejeesus out of me.

He said I shouldn't be lifting heavy weights altogether ever. something about it disrupting the pelvic floor and he has women who have lost bladder control who were weight lifters and had never been pregnant. WTF? He said scale now that I'm pregnant, back my exercise entirely and quit weightlifting or at least scale the weights like, half. This is making me so scared I wonder if I should quit CF altogether! ah!

I just want to pipe in and say that there are so many doctors who will tell you that you can't do any kind of real exercise or use weights while pregnant and there are so many that will tell you that you absolutely can. Lots of doctors really don't know much, if anything about exercise. I feel strongly that this is one of those things that you have to research yourself, knowing your own fitness level. I just think it would be a shame to cut out exercise for 10 mos (which you know would probably lead to more time off!) if there is no real reason to!. Exercising regularly with some modifications has helped me keep my weight in check and has really helped my back pain.

@JoJoGirl: The only thing I would advise you to do is make sure your instructor knows about exercise during pregnancy. Even if you know the rules yourself it's easy to get caught up and do something that maybe isn't the best. If your crossfit instructor isn't educated in pregnancy exercise I'd switch to a gym with someone who is - and def educate yourself about the moves and positions that are no-nos.

@JoJoGirl: I don't do CF but my OB nurse and doctor both said that regular exercise is fine, just to keep the heartrate140 and under and to not lift over 35 lbs. I was more careful about the 140 HR in the 1st tri but now that I am in the 2nd tri I am more relaxed about it.

Healthy Mom = healthy baby. So as long as you are feeling fine, I say do it! I agree about telling the instructor. I take one class that is pretty intense and I told the instructor and he will give me different variations of the exercise at times.

@Smurfette: 140 isn't even 65% of max for me Boo. I usually workout 145~165. But I get the point, don't push too hard and don't get winded.

@Lozza: The last part of your message really helps especially!!! I never thought to tell the rest of the box, but just tell the coaches, but yeah it makes sense so people aren't like GOGOGOGOGO when they *know* i can push harder. I'd be prone to listen to them so taking that out of the equation will help enormously.

@JoJoGirl: 140 heart rate was not a realistic number for me. I stuck to a 165 max heart rate when i was pregnant. If you were regularly active, i don't see why you would have to go as low as 140. I was working out 7x a week (2x a day some days) before getting preggo, and continued to run up until 8 weeks into my pregnancy. Everyone is different, and you'll be able to decide what you can handle.

@JoJoGirl: Errr, i guess i forgot to add that i had to drop spin classes because i am never able to dial down the intensity. Then i had to stop running because i had too much pelvic pain. But try to keep up with whatever you can...and definitely try not to be disappointed if you don't have the energy/stamina to get through a full workout.

Just another opinion... I think because you are having twins it will affect what you can do MUCH more since you are automatically "high risk".

So I think crossfitting can be done normally in pregnancy, but the books I was reading said that some doctors don't let their patients with twins do cardio at all! Just something to check on!

@Revel: welcome!! When I was pregnant I had been crossfitting for over 2.5 years. I ended up telling my coach at around 6-7 weeks after a really bad hero wod. Then others found out when I was around 10 weeks. I didn't start scaling weights until much later on but I did scale back the intensity fairly quickly because I found it so hard to catch my breath. Like I've mentioned before, I crossfitted until the week before I gave birth and continued to do every movement (with the exception of GHD situps and muscle ups) until the very end.

@Revel: good for you!!! How far along are you? I think if everything has felt fine up until this point then you can stick with your intended weights at the meet. If your lifts don't feel great right off the bat then lower your next weight. You know your body and how much you can push yourself!

I did lots of strength training throughout my pregnancy...mainly because the metcons were so demoralizing! I really think it helped with a speedier recovery.

Yay for other crossfitters! I'm still going strong about 3x/week and have dropped to 50% of my 1 rep max for weights. I can comfortably go up to 100 or 115lb if I feel really good that day, though. It makes me feel good, so I'll keep going

So glad everyone is keeping up with CF, it totally gives me hope. Is it bad that one of the first thoughts to cross my mind when the test came back positive was what about crossfit?

@Sammyfab, I believe I'm right around 5 weeks, maybe 4w5d. I have longer cycles so going by that I could be 6w but I'm 99% sure I'm not the far along.

@Brownie, thanks for the suggestion for crossfitmom - I've checked it out and it seems like a great resource!

@Blackbird, and @Wallaroo - both of your scaling plans sound good.

I'm still up in the air about this meet this weekend. SO seems very nervous for me and wants the dr's ok. It's cute but also I'm wondering if he's going to be worried about me working out. How have your partners been?

@Revel: We are basically exactly the same far along, i'm like 4w2days right now, based on O date, not LMP (I Od late).

I've been reading I can still run since I ran a lot before, as long as I keep my breath and can talk. I've been training for a 10K in 3 weeks. Are you all still running?

@Jojogirl - we are almost exactly the same, even down to the late o! I have an appt next Friday so am hoping to get a due date. Right now I'm estimating late May?

I was not really a runner, other than the shorter distances we do at the box in metcons. I suppose I will continue to do those unless it makes me feel poorly.

@Wallaroo, double omg!! twins! kudos to you! The advice you received from your doctor seems to be in line with what I'm reading, so hopefully she will say it is safe to continue. Also glad your DH is supportive and does crossfit as well! I think SO just kind of knows how I like to push it so he's concerned I won't back off when necessary. He is NOT a crossfitter and thinks we're all a little nuts

@WALLAROO: Thanks for that, I think that's my plan too - I'll run the 10K at 7.5 weeks and just *do* it, not try to PR or anything.