This is one of those highs

Life is full of lows, and if you concentrate on them you will constantly be miserable, it is the highs that should be the focus of your mental energy.  Well, life has given me one of those amazing highs that was well beyond anything I could have ever expected.  My wife and I are now expecting our first child.  Due in early November, we are just starting out on this journey of parenthood.

Now, this blog is not about my life, it is about fitness so let me talk about how my wife (digital mustard) is keeping fit during the pregnancy.  She is NOT stopping crossfit.  Which may seem insane to some old minded  folks out there.  "Oh no..you're pregnant..let's wrap you in bubble wrap and not let you pick up anything."  It is my opinion that, unless specifically directed by a doctor because of complications, it is really stupid to just stop doing what you've done for so long.

Karen is crossfitting while pregnant.  Of course she is listening to her body closely, meaning she is not going nearly as hard as she once did (at least in most workouts).  She is cutting back how often she goes to the gym a bit, from 5-6 times a week down to 3.  Beyond that, she's sticking to her routine.

In fact,  if you are any good at math...this means she completed the crossfit open while pregnant.  Granted, we did not know she was pregnant til after the first 2 workouts, regardless she still did very well in the wods.  Also, if you follow her on twitter or read her blog, you'll see she just set a PR in the dead lift the other day.  I was watching her very closely.  Like all moves in crossfit, if performed correctly there is little to worry about.  She did not hold her breath too long, her heart rate did not become elevated during a lift.  It was all good.

Here are some tips we are using /have used for the first 12 weeks:

1.  Our trainers were some of the first people to know about the kid.  They kept it confidential but all we asked is that they not try to push her too far.  That if she needed a break, she would take it.  Evan was fantastic, in fact I think he was as excited as anyone we told.

2.  We use the crossfit community to our advantage.  There is an amazing website for woman who do crossfit while pregnant, crossfitmom.com.  It lists some scaled workouts for those who are pregnant and also a great forum for asking questions and learning from those who have already gone through a pregnancy while doing crossfit workouts.

If your trainers have not had much experience with pregnant women, I would direct them to this site.  Even they could learn something and may be able to design workouts specifically for you...or at least learn how to teach you the scaled versions recommended there.

3.  Listen to your body: this is by far the most important tip anyone can give you.  If you feel a pain in your abdomen, STOP.  Very simple.  If you're tired then take a rest day.  You are creating another human being, you need to concentrate on that.  It is the most important thing in your life right now.  Listening to your body goes way up in importance when carrying a child.

I will have more posts on the progress Karen is making and some tips on crossfitting and working out while pregnant in the future.  But I promise it will not be the central theme of this blog.

Note:  I set a new PR int he dead lift the other day too!  385 lbs.  I also finally upped my shoulder press PR to 110 lbs.  Weak but at least I'm finally going in the right direction!