I’m pretty obsessed with following all sorts of lady fitness gurus for inspiration to stay in shape. When these trainers would become pregnant and still worked out, this was a foreign concept to me. I had my first son almost seven years ago, and I practically sat still for 35 weeks straight. I was nervous for good reason, however I wasn’t doing anything to maintain my physical health prior. That makes all the difference. We’ve heard the saying that if you were running marathons before you were pregnant you can still keep doing that. I have been doing Crossfit for the last few years and contemplated whether or not I was going to continue.
My first trimester was plagued with nausea and fatigue, so exercising was not a priority. Around eleven weeks my doctor gave me the okay that it was, in fact, fine for me to work out and ::gasp:: continue Crossfit. She suggested I just scale my weight and don’t do any movements where I don’t feel comfortable. Me being a pseudo athlete, I feel comfortable doing zero movements, but I had run out of excuses. So to Crossfit I went and have continued to go well into my third trimester.
Instead of running, I would use a rowing machine and now that my belly is too big for that, I use a bike. With barbells I started scaling my weights and now I’ll start my lifts from the rack or I’ll just use dumbbells. The most challenging part is having to tell myself that my focus is to work up a sweat and maintain my breath rather than pushing myself to a personal best.
My coaches have been great with giving me alternative movements and physically I can handle it. It’s more taxing to get in and out of my car in this Louisiana heat than it is to complete a workout. I have definitely gained more than the recommended amount of weight, but my goal has been just to stay active. I have a few weeks before I know if this helps with labor, and if it doesn’t it’s okay. I’ll be able to say I pushed myself and tried, just like I do after every workout.
