Crossfit/rowing - did I overdo it?

crossfitkiwi

I've been crossfitting since January and love it. I'm currently 11 weeks and have been careful not to go up in any weights and take regular breaks, drink lots of water during wod's etc.

Today's wod was 5 x 500m row sprints with a 2min rest in between each sprint. My slowest time was 2:07 and my fastest was 1:59 (admittedly that is a new PR for me). I was breathing pretty hard by the end of that last row but as soon as I finished I could stand up and talk. I was nowhere near falling off the rower or anything like that.

DH was with me and is concerned that I am overdoing it. That now has me freaked me out. It was hard work but I felt good doing it and not overheated.

I know it's hard to comment without knowing me or being there... but what do you think? Do I need to back off?

Mrs.Salt&Pepper

This is my second pregnancy doing Crossfit, and it has been very different. Last time, I went on the overly cautious side. This time, I am not as anal about it. I am a huge believer of the "talk test". You said you stood up and were able to talk after, that should be fine. This is what I do as well. I have seen many other women go harder than I have during pregnancy in Crossfit and they have healthy babies. I know it's hard, but just try to listen to your body, if something feels weird, then stop. Good luck!

crossfitkiwi

Thankyou! That makes me feel a lot better

Could I ask the types of things you scaled in your second trimester? I know about not lying on your back and am already staying off the GHD.

KateVA

I think you were probably fine since you had the 2 minute breaks. I generally avoided any interval work though - instead of 4x400 runs, I would just jog steadily on the treadmill while the rest of the class sprinted and rested. I'm now 36w5d and going strong, still attending WODs 5 days per week. Since you asked about scaling, this is what I did:

24 weeks - stopped sit-ups, switched to step ups, incline bench instead of regular. Skipped GHD from the beginning but I still do the GHD back extensions. I stopped inverting right away too - way too dizzy from low blood pressure. I stopped rope climbs around 20 weeks I think

Once I hit 3rd trimester, I stopped all crunching actions (K2E, etc) and just did planks. Stopped running around 30 weeks due to intense SPD pain afterwards.

Weight-wise, I didn't scale at all until about 20 weeks, then I just went with a moderate intensity instead of all-out or max efforts. Recently I've dropped my deadlift and squat significantly. Actually I'm pretty much only air squatting now and keep deadlifts under 120, or around 80 during metcons (1 rep max was 230lbs). I can still do a kipping pull-up but only one at a time so I use bands during workouts.

Hope this helps!

crossfitkiwi

That is super useful, thank you. Hearing from ladies in their 3rd trimesters and still going strong is really encouraging A few more weeks and I'll be able to tell people at my box the news (right now just the coaches know) can't wait!

Mrs.Salt&Pepper

Scaling for me looked like this:

2nd tri: Nothing while laying on my back, no GHDs (I usually sub back extensions whenever a WOD calls for GHDs), not trying to "max out" but still staying pretty close to my current PRs, started step ups around 25 weeks cause the heavy landing was painful and weird

3rd: no more HSPU, lightened weight a lot on all lifts, usually no more than 100lbs. Recently, squatting is really hurting. My OB said in your 2nd and 3rd pregnancies, you'll have more pain because everything is already strecthed out, and not as tight to hold in all the pressure as it was the first time. I no longer run, I row or do the AirDyne A LOT. Surprisingly still able to do pull ups...

It's really weird, I was feeling so great and then BAM I hit 30 weeks and I hit a wall. It's difficult because during a WOD I will feel ok, but if I push it too hard, then I suffer for the rest of the day. So, I have finally given up on my crazy Crossfit mind in exchange for my body feeling better throughout the day. It's hard not to do all the things we used to do, but I guess I can let it go (to an extent) for the next few weeks. 

BShreeve

Hooray Crossfit moms!!!

I am at week 33 and still doing Crossfit (started a year and a half ago), though WODs for me are much different than everyone else, my trainer usually gives me things to do. Kettle bell work, box steps, rowing, skier, air dyne, ring rows etc.

Looking back on it, I didn't really do anything differently in Crossfit in the first tri, except eliminating inverted positions. I definitely did not follow the "keep up a conversation while exercising" rule. But I did park in front of the fan whenever possible to keep my body temp reasonable.

2nd tri I was swapping sit ups, flutter kicks etc for planks and went to my knees on PU's simply because my core muscles were already too separated to work that way, lol. Towards the end of the 2nd I cut out box jumps, rope climbs due to risk of falling and double unders because they burned me out so fast (and too much bouncing).

Keep it up mama, and just listen to your body! I am confident that CF paved the way for a healthy pregnancy and hopefully a good delivery and healthy baby too!

BShreeve

Also.... this...

https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/study-moderate-exercise-during-pregnancy-promotes-newborn-brain-development

ondler1

If you go to crossfitmom.com they have scaling suggestions!
I have be crossfitting for 8 years. I have been a trainer for 7. I'm 16 weeks pregnant. It's hard because my ob said not to lift more than 25 lbs. I just laughed at that. My pr for do is 315, pr ground to over head 185. So 25 lbs wasn't going to cut it. I have scaled my weights to what feels comfortable. This 9 months isn't my time to get prs. There's a lot more time afterward for that! A lot of obs aren't going to know nor understand what we do. Like everyone else said just listen to your body. It's hard to not push your self to the max but you got someone else to think of too.
I have been a huge competitor for 6 years some scaling down ways mentally hard on me. Keep crossfitting and let's show these people how healthy and what strong mamas we are!!
Good luck!!

CassieKjagt

Glad I found this thread! I am newly pregnant (about 7 weeks- my first OB apt is this Friday so I've been told they might give me a different number than that) Me and my husband have been crossfitting for about three years now and we just love it and I cant wrap my head around just not going so I'm worried what my OB will say on Friday when I mention what I do for exercise! Anyway I noticed the past two nights of working out I was already short on breath when I was working out- did anyone else experience that early in their first tri?

sushiq83

I love that there are so many cross fit mommies on here! I've been keeping up with it thus far. Honestly I didn't go once last week and I MISS it! Im 18 weeks and hope to go at least 3x a week until I deliver. The recovery time in between WODs has increased for me so I never do more .than 2 days in a row anymore.How'd you ladies keep motivated?