CrossFit during Pregnancy: First Trimester

6 weeks pregnant

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, nor do I advocate my experience is right for everyone. Please consult a doctor before embarking on any new fitness regimen, especially during pregnancy. 

Yes. CrossFit during pregnancy. I’m sure those two words alone will set my blog up for SEO for quite a while (because you know, I totally care).

Surprisingly though, while I’m fortunate to have found quite a few resources on CrossFit during pregnancy, I feel like I’ve had to piece it together from about 20 different websites. Very few bloggers have covered it in-depth, and not surprisingly (and understandably), recommendations and experiences differ across the board. Some people maintain decent working weight and training frequency during their pregnancies, while others drop back quite a bit. Some also opt to scale movements fairly early, while others maintain them much longer.

Although several athletes in my gym have done CrossFit throughout pregnancy, even up until the day of delivery, I wager I’m the first CFL1 in my area who has. I consider this a special opportunity to not only become a better resource, but a better, more understanding coach in areas outside of CrossFit as well. Again, I’m not an expert, but it quickly became apparent to me how few and far between good resources are past random articles.

November 2013, 1 month prior to pregnancy

Background: My CrossFit before Pregnancy

It is important to first consider my level of activity before pregnancy as a reference to my experience during pregnancy. I have been CrossFitting for more than 2 1/2 years, and at the point of conception, was only a few weeks outside of a massive 5 month training cycle for a competition. I was in what I could consider the best shape of my life.

This is important to know because general medical opinion states that the level of activity you maintained prior to pregnancy can be maintained with reasonable accommodation and adjustment for demands and physical changes experienced. This last point is critical to CrossFit, as the movements and intensity will require scaling in some form no matter the experience of the athlete. 

CrossFit during First Trimester

I was very fortunate to have experienced a relatively easy 1st trimester. I dealt with nausea and fatigue, mostly at night, but I didn’t experience full-blown feelings of sickness. However, by 6 weeks, I definitely noticed feelings of reduced energy. I was able to maintain a fairly regular training schedule, and only scaled some weeks by a day for additional recovery time from a particularly taxing workout. Here are some tips and guidelines I followed:

Notifying Trainers

I notified my trainers early, at the 6-7 week mark. I did this no only for safety, but so they were aware of my condition and how to both encourage and coach me. As a trainer, it is so important that we know this information — so I would encourage anyone to do so as soon as possible.

Scaling Intensity

While the recommendation of not exceeding a heart rate of 140 bpm is not only outdated but somewhat unrealistic (go ahead and see how fast you can get there, it’s ridiculous what increased blood volume can do), scaling intensity immediately is recommended universally.

How do I gauge this? I maintain a pace that allows me to hold a conversation during my workout. While I definitely am breathing harder, I don’t train to the extent that I am not able to complete sentences without them being broken to the point of being incomprehensible. I literally talk to myself, or others throughout my workout. This amounts (in my case) to about a scale to 75% of my intensity, although I notice myself scaling quite a bit more for workouts that involve running.

Scaling Load

While I was able to maintain the same working load for many lifts, pregnancy is definitely not a time to prove what a badass you are. One-rep maxes and new PRs should not be attempted. It’s a time to maintain, but it’s also important to assess comfort with weight in movements that require the body to move around the bar in certain ways. For me, my working snatch weight dropped from 85 lbs to 65 lb simply because catapaulting the bar no longer felt good/safe at heavier weight.

Scaling Movements

As I mentioned above, scaling movements for comfort and safety might become a concern. There are movements, like GHD sit-ups that must cease immediately. However for the most part, most movements can be continued safely throughout the first trimester depending on the comfort level of individual athletes. For example, toward the end of my 1st trimester I found myself subbing knees-to-elbow for toes-to-bar. I could have still done them, but it wasn’t pretty and I was able to move more comfortably at the lower scale.

The great thing about CrossFit is that there is no end to scaling and alternate movement options, so ask your trainer, or feel free to message me for some that I have implemented into my own training. I will definitely be talking more about specific movement scales in my second trimester posts.

Hydration and Rest

One of the toughest parts about my first trimester was the fatigue. The need for hydration and additional recovery time to maintain my workouts definitely increased, and I definitely scaled back my training to make sure my body felt like it was getting the adequate amount of rest it needed. Take this in stride and realize that your body is doing some SERIOUS multi-tasking in the first trimester. It bears nothing on your motivation or dedication, and your skills are in no way less than they were.

This seems like such an obvious thing, but when you feel like you’re in the thick of it, sometimes nothing helps more than good reminder.

7 weeks pregnant

Conclusion

My experience with CrossFit in the first trimester was really good. As I’ve been doing it for 2.5+ years, I was able to maintain much of my normal routine with scaling in intensity to maintain conversation and weight and movement for my own personal comfort level. I emphasize again to talk with your coaches and make a plan. They know you best, and they may have recommendations or areas to consider on top of what any professional or CrossFit blogger could know for your individual circumstances.