What went away first when I was pregnant?
Primarily my gymnastics movements. The first thing I noticed was my pistols (one legged squats), second the full ROM Handstand push-ups, third and sadly, the muscle up (at about week 24)....which makes the below video of Charity Vale even more impressive!!!
Charity Vale- Pregnant Muscle ups
Who inspires you? I'm continually inspired by other CrossFitters, especially the ladies. In my early CrossFitting days, I watched numerous videos of Annie and Nicole. In recent days it's been Kristan Clever who just blows me away! One video from the archives that has always stuck out is this one of Pull-ups, pregnant by Annie [wmv]. Although with the other three gymnastic movements on hold for the duration of my 40 weeks (which is 10 at this point). I am still able to crank out my pull-ups. I used to be able to string 20-30 in a row, but at this point I am down to 5 (with a 26LB baby-weight vest) and happy about it.
I have gotten a few questions from pregnant CrossFitters and figured I would address them here. Again, my answers are by no means scientifically proven or based on anything but how I feel and think.
Snatches and Cleans:
Can I do them? Does my belly get in the way?
I can still do them, but with lighter weight. I don't feel like my belly gets in the way, I think the body automatically accommodates for the extra inches in the front (and with that said) causes an early arm bend. But in pregnancy your ligaments get a little looser and you have to be cognizant of the Relaxin and other hormones in the body. So between the early arm bend and hormonal changes in the body I have only cleaned/snatched what has felt comfortable. I have not gone out to beat my 1RM pre-pregnancy PR.
On a Squat clean, I went up to 135# on 8.22.10 which was where I felt comfortable, my max prior to getting pregnant was 157#. I still feel I can do 95# reasonably in a WOD, but at this point it's SLOW. For example on 10.5.10 in my 30th week I did 21-15-9 Squat Cleans 95# and Ring Rows in 15:25, I would compare that to an Elizabeth WOD/time domain and in the past I could have done it sub 10 minutes. The only time (so far) where I have felt some sort of stretching/ligament pain so far was on 8.30.10 when I did 5 Rds of 500M Row, 9 Bear Complexes at 65#.
Rowing/Running:
Are you still running?
At 30 weeks, I have been subbing most all running WOD's with a Row. I feel more comfortable at this point on the rower than with the bouncing on the run. Although when rowing I can no longer keep my legs in front, they splay out the sides causing more pressure on the hip flexors than the quads. The last major run that kicked my butt was on 9.3.10 a Team WOD with an 800M Indian Run in the beginning and the end...WHEW!
Rest/Recovery:
Do you need more recovery between Workouts?
ABSOLUTELY! I have gone from consistently being able to do two workouts in a day to only one. I used to be able to operate 3 days on 1 off with no problem, now I'm lucky to get two possibly three (if I'm lucky) on and I need at least two days off to fully recover. My hips and shoulders take a lot longer to recover than pre-pregnancy. First and Second Trimesters I felt the best, presently during my third trimester my body is feeling like a different creature! I need much more rest and there is some sciatic pressure starting to build in my back. I am on my feet for most of an 8-12 hour day, so this is starting to get taxing on the feet and back.
