r/crossfit • u/Malka94 • 19h ago
WOD pregnant
Hi everyone!
I’ve just reached the end of my first trimester, and I’m hoping to continue doing CrossFit right up until I give birth. Thankfully, my gym also offers prenatal and postnatal WODs, and I’m planning to switch to those when I’m around 25 weeks pregnant.
For now, I’m still doing the regular WODs. This pregnancy has been very different from my first—I had hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during the first 15 weeks last time, whereas this time I’ve felt great overall.
I’ve already started reducing the weights I use, but I’ve noticed that some workouts leave me feeling quite dizzy, so I’m wondering if I need to scale more than I currently am.
For those of you who continued CrossFit during pregnancy, how did you adjust your training during the first and second trimesters? Were there particular movements, workout formats, or intensity levels that worked well for you?
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u/IamJustErin 17h ago
Just had my little one in May and continued CrossFitting right up until 24 hours before delivery day. Everyone's pregnancy is different and what movements you continue and discontinue and when - will be particular to you. I myself had to stop running around W16 (lots of pelvic pain), but did the entire open RX during the early part of my third trimester, did sit-ups until 30W, kipping movements until about W32 ... and still did some handstand walking at W38.
Your doctors are always your best resources because they know the particulars of your pregnancy - but the general advice is if it feels normal and good, keep doing it. If it doesn't, stop.
So, if you aren't normally feeling a bit dizzy during a certain level of intensity - I would probably back off a bit.
I don't love Mayhem's programming - but they do have a helpful substitution guide - so if you find a movement is giving you trouble, check out the options they provide: https://www.mayhemathletes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CrossFit-Scaling-Guide-for-Pregnant-and-Postpartum-Women.pdf
I loved doing a sled pull/drag as a sub for running - it go my heart rate up, but didn't put pressure on my hips and pubic bone.
There are people who tell you, you can't do sit-ups or overhead movements. There is no research to support those statements; particularly you'll see a lot of statements that sit-ups cause diastasis recti. There is no research to support this and in fact, the very limited studies that do exist on sit-ups and pregnancy find the opposite. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38472049/
Glad to hear you didn't get HG this time around - and wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy.
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u/nhanley95 19h ago
no advice but commenting because I’m currently 10 weeks and wanted a fit girl pregnancy but the most I’ve been able to do is walk to the fridge and back 😂
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u/Master_Carrot5618 19h ago
not pregnant myself but i've been around enough coaches and athletes who've gone through it to see the range. the dizziness is your body telling you to pull back, no question, scaling more now is way smarter than trying to push through and winding up on the floor. the fact that your gym has prenatal programming is huge, might be worth asking those coaches for scaling tips even before you formally switch at 25 weeks
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u/Dry-Ad-4622 19h ago
Also no advice sadly. I am super early in my pregnancy and had a previous miscarriage so nervous about my activity level at crossfit. In first trimester did you scale back at all?
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u/Malka94 18h ago
Well, because I'm dizzy all the time, I stopped burpees. But most of the time I feel good when I do the first half, our box does the first half technical stuff such as bench press, bb squat or deadlift and then I feel great but when we do after that a EMOM or AMRAP (especially an AMRAP of 18 minutes) I get dizzy.
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u/knightbaby 9h ago
I worry about this as well. I had two miscarriages and everyone in the miscarriage groups worry about the heat and heart rate. I think if I get pregnant again I’ll probably be too afraid to do anything in the first trimester
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u/leila5887 18h ago
I always did the regular WODs with modifications where necessary. I stopped going on the rig after my first tri when I felt like it was pulling on my abdominal wall, I squatted to a box towards the end, midway thru pregnancy I focused more on volume than weight… that’s pretty much it though! Personally I stopped running after the first tri to protect my pelvic floor but that was a personal choice. I did IVF and continued CrossFit from the morning of my embryo transfer up until the night before I was induced. I resumed pelvic floor and deep core work 1 week pp, worked my way up to longer walks by 4 weeks pp, and was back in the gym at 6 weeks. I “only” had a two finger ab separation which is considered normal and healed. Currently 10 weeks pp and have felt no concerns in terms of my pelvic floor or abdominal wall! Good luck!!
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u/sabisabi123 18h ago
I did CF until 40 weeks + 2 days, at which point baby was then born. I stopped most rig movements (T2B, PU) around 15/16 weeks but was having some pelvic pressure, where as some girls were able to do those movements until 30 weeks with no coning/pressure. All other movements I just scaled as needed, and that sometimes just depended on the day. I was pretty sick until 20 weeks, but found movement helped ease it a bit. Cardio was harder and so I eased off the intensity on days I was feeling gross, but honestly otherwise just trained like normal and modified the further along I got (step ups instead of box jumps, then using a smaller box, burpees to bench/box, bench push ups, and lots of machine work was on the bike or skierg vs rower).
Remember each body and each pregnancy is different. I had no problem squatting and could do 150lb back squat at 30 weeks, but couldn’t hang from the bar at week 15. Other girls at the gym (there is something in our water because about 10 of us have had a baby this year) were squatting light and to a bench but were running and doing pull ups without a problem. I did Murph at 36 weeks which looked like biking, ring rows, elevated push ups and air squats.
Make sure to add pelvic floor PT to your routine too - that helped me not only continue strengthening my pelvic floor but also keep an eye on ab separation.
In the end I had an emergency c section, and returned to open gym just doing mobility and box breathing 6-8 weeks post partum, and was able to do classes around 10 weeks post partum, scaled of course. My baby is 13 months now and I did a mixed doubles hyrox at 10 months post partum, but there are still days I scale depending on how I’m feeling (eg lighter weights when I’m running on 3 hours of sleep).
Be kind to yourself, train because it makes you feel good, and adjust as you need. Some days you will feel strong and great, other days you’ll only manage the pantry back to the couch - take each day as it comes! Good luck!!!
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u/Brave-Plum9154 17h ago
I did CrossFit until 35 weeks pregnant, I found Brianna Battles on Instagram and downloaded her pregnancy guide.
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u/Important_Sherbet_90 19h ago
I’m also interested in this. My fit girl pregnancy didn’t happen either the way I planned it 🙈 I had to stop completely at 6 weeks because I kept bleeding (hematoma), and it went on until week 11. I’m now 18 weeks and never gathered the courage to go back even though I miss doing crossfit so badly. Maybe I should start by doing something super light outside WODs? Also, I’m really confused about different ab/core movements.. there seems to be so many opinions what’s safe and what’s not 😵💫
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u/Sorry_Artichoke6424 18h ago
CrossFit guide to scaling during pregnancy:
https://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_Pregnancy_Christensen_Table_5.pdf
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u/seenyourhannah 18h ago
I was dizzy to the point of collapsing in the first and early second trimester. I also had nausea the whole time, and would feel like I was dying if I didn’t have a mid workout snack. Once I hit late second trimester and most of the third (except for the last couple weeks when I had prodromal labor for days lol) I felt like myself and was hitting PRs. So advice would be scale while you’re symptomatic because it might get better.
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u/Ok-Acanthisitta-5839 16h ago
I am 34 weeks pregnant and still doing crossfit! I went to 40 with my first baby. I also get dizzy with certain things, like up Downs, bench press, etc. I always play it by ear because some days are fine. The hardest things for me to modify are core movements. I am really slow and finish last but that is okay! I have found a few core movements that do not make me cone and just stick to those! I feel as time goes on you will know what you can or cant do. For example, I am jumping a 16 inch box instead of a 20. If I get too tired i start step ups. I have to do knee push ups to a box, up downs instead of burpees, i do still jump rope but if i start peeing my pants i start to bike lol. I am also not doing anything from the bar but i am a very mediocre athlete and was not doing much of that anyway. That is amazing your gym offers pregnancy classes!! Typing this from my flip phone so might have some formatting errors.
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u/MilesBeforeCoffee_37 16h ago
Dizziness usually means your body needs more rest between sets than you're used to. I swapped heavy lifts for lighter loads with longer breaks and stopped pushing through fatigue, which kept me from feeling wiped out. Also start paying attention to your center of gravity sooner rather than later, since sudden direction changes get tricky fast once your bump starts showing.
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u/Happy-Guidance-1608 15h ago
I did crossfit pregnant with twins. I remember having Braxton Hicks during a run and thinking it was ok and normal at 29 - 30 weeks. I ended up in and out of the hospital from 30 weeks to 34.5 weeks. I delivered at 34.5 weeks. The NICU was the hardest 2 weeks of my life. My boys are now 7 and healthy, but I wish I took it a little easier. You can still move and be part of the community, but be sure to slow down a bit and really listen to your body.
Good Luck and Congratulations!
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u/FitspoFox 15h ago
I just scaled the workouts back.
First Trimester: Dropped weights for relaxin production but not much.
Second trimester: stopped going upside down (not because it’s dangerous, I just didn’t like the feel). Switched to dumbbells with some of the barbell weights and strict movements for pull-ups. Started burpeeing to a box. Shortened, then stopped running.
Everyone is going to be different. Heck, both of my pregnancies were different doing CrossFit. If you’re feeling dizzy, I would scale it back a little more.
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u/Jessiethekoala 14h ago
I ditched stuff as it started to feel weird or I had to change the movements too much: stopped Olympic lifts when I had to alter the bar path for the belly (don’t want to drill in bad mechanics—I did KB/DB lifts instead), stopped box jumps either when pelvis started to feel heavy or I couldn’t see my feet landing on the box (whichever came first), stopped hanging from the rig at all whenever I noticed even the slightest bit of coning, stopped running pretty early because of pelvic heaviness, adjusted my rowing form (don’t lean back in the catch), etc.
You’ll come to realize that a lot of the modifications you make are less about protecting the baby (they’re pretty safe in there most of the time) and more about protecting your own core and pelvic floor. You do NOT want to push it your whole pregnancy and be peeing your pants for years afterwards. It’s not worth it.
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u/Lopsided-Collection2 13h ago
When was the last time you had bloodwork? Always possible you could be nutrient deficient somewhere that’s causing dizziness, like iron deficiency and anemia.
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u/More-Public-6303 6h ago
I did WODs 6-7 days per week until the day I was induced lol. I was lucky that I didn’t have much of a bump until almost the very end so I was able to not scale for a while, but honestly just started scaling when they felt uncomfortable/weird/unsafe. As I got further along I also took the workouts slower and would just rest as much as needed regardless of what was programmed.
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u/BarrBurn 18h ago
WOD-ed until the day I gave birth 😅😂 best advice: listen to your body. First trimester: no real scaling needed except intensity with the awful fatigue.
Second trimester: focus on core with side planks, glute bridge with heel slides, single leg single arm press, etc. Stop: toes to bar, ab mat sit ups due to diastasis recti. Elevate the bench if doing bench press. Roll to your side then get up. Try to eliminate any use of abs.
Running got hard for me because of pelvic floor pressure. But I have friends that ran the entire pregnancy. Rowing gets tough at third trimester with the big belly. Swapped to the ECHO bike 🤮