2012 Open WOD re-do

Almost 5 months after having Landon, I finally got around to re-doing all of the 2012 Open workouts. Here's how it compared to the pregnant versions, with some throwback prego videos:

12.1 (7 minutes of burpees)
27 weeks pregnant -- 96 reps
September 25, 2012 -- 113 reps

12.2 (Snatches)
28 weeks pregnant -- 65 reps (video below), then re-did and got 69 reps
September 18, 2012 -- 75 reps

12.3 (18 min amrap, box jumps, push press, toes to bar)
29 weeks pregnant -- 291 reps
October 23, 2012 -- 377 reps

12.4 (12 minute amrap, wallballs, double unders, muscle ups)
30 weeks pregnant -- 240 reps
October 24, 2012 -- 243 reps (muscle ups are slowly coming back!)

12.5 (7 minute C2B Fran ladder)
During the 2011 Open -- 89 reps, then 91 reps
31 weeks pregnant -- 70 reps
October 29, 2012 -- 108 reps

I figured out how I would have stacked up in the 2012 Open with my re-do scores; if my math skills are correct, I would have finished 42nd in the North Central region.  Certainly not an individual Games contender, but on my way to my goal of qualifying to the North Central Regional in 2013 :)

I also hit a snatch PR (115#) this past weekend.

Doing big kid stuff

Landon has had some exciting things going on in his life as well, including his first experience with solid food (avocado).

Being a giraffe 

Front rack position work with Uncle Bobby

But I don't want to get too bulky ...

This isn't really related to pregnancy, but I wrote an article for the monthly newsletter that CrossFit 515 puts out (spoiler alert to anyone at 515 reading this before October 1) and thought I would share it here as well.

"But I don't want to get too bulky..." People have a lot of excuses when it comes to CrossFit, or working out it general. This one (obviously) usually comes from the females, and it has got to be the one that bothers me the most.  [Momentary digression] -- Of course, most people that work out do it, to some degree, for aesthetic reasons. But there's a reason (most) CrossFit gyms don't use a "Look Good Naked!" or "Fat Blasting Workouts!" marketing platform. CrossFit is different from other "fitness" programs in that it is truly about fitness and health over how you look physically. We want you to track your progress in terms of faster Fran times and clean PRs, not in terms of inches lost or pounds on the scale (more on that later). It just so happens that hard work (constantly varied functional movements performed at a high intensity) translates into an attractive physical appearance. You know, turning 7s into 10s. Ok, so maybe I have to take back what I said about the marketing platform ... Anyways ... Let's get back to the point. The "I don't want to get too bulky" thing bothers me for a few reasons. First, it's just not true. Girls -- lifting weights will not make you "bulky." Thanks to a little hormone called testosterone, women don't build muscle the way men do. Yes, there are female bodybuilders out there that I certainly don't want to look like, but it takes an incredible amount of work, dedication, and - ahem - steroids (probably) to actually look like that. Just because you throw 65# on a barbell and eat a chicken breast doesn't mean you are going to look like this:  Second, if someone tells me she doesn't do CrossFit or is apprehensive about starting CrossFit because she doesn't want to get "gross and muscly," I take that as her saying she thinks I'm "gross and muscly." ... Because I do CrossFit ... see the connection? I've also heard "I have to be careful because I build muscle really easily." Well, I doubt that - refer to above paragraph. Sure, lifting heavy things does build muscle, but it's neither gross nor something you should be careful to avoid. Definitely not gross Finally, I just don't relate to the mentality because I've always thought being strong was cool and attractive. (Disclaimer: In high school, I was a softball player. And on the bowling team. So you know I know what cool and attractive is all about.) I never thought it was attractive to be the girl someone might look at and think "she is literally the last person you would ever want to have with you in a life or death situation." Physical helplessness is gross.   I think there is some truth to what the ladies talk about in the video below in that CrossFit is helping change the social perception of females' bodies.  CrossFit - Beauty in Strength A lot of women starting CrossFit come in thinking "I want to lose 15 pounds," or "I want to target my butt and thighs because those are my problem areas." That's natural, but the quicker you get away from that way of thinking and focus on performance goals, the more successful you will be. You might lose 5 pounds of fat and gain 5 pounds of muscle. The number on the scale hasn't changed, but I guarantee you look better, feel better, and are performing better. Summary: constantly varied functional movements at a high intensity (CrossFit) = more muscle, less fat = harder to kill, more useful hottie.  I guess the point is: Strong is Sexy. Beauty in Strength. Strong is the New Skinny. Stronger is the New Strong. Someone should put that on a T-shirt.

In other news, I feel like I'm totally back to my regular self with my workouts, and I'm looking forward to competing in Libertyville, Illinois next weekend at Fitober Fest at CrossFit Freedom! Perhaps a preview of next weekend, here's Jaime and me throwing down in partner Grace vs. Michelle and Kady:

And of course a blog post wouldn't be complete without some pictures of cute little Landon :)

The Bobby Noyce Strength Plan

Uncle Godfather Bobby Noyce & Landon

Two things I've learned:  (1) It's hard to keep up with a blog when you have a 10 week old baby, and (2) for some reason, my blog gets a lot of traffic from people googling "Bobby Noyce," so I'm going to exploit my brother's CrossFit notoriety and drop the Bobby Noyce name a bunch in this post.  Thanks, bro!

Coach Bobby Noyce is doing (a lot of) my programming these days.  (I don't always listen).  Following the B Noyce prescription means doing a lot of volume and picking up a lot of heavy shit often.  It's what he's done to get himself from a bodyweight metcon specialist to a pretty damn strong dude + metcon ninja, so I can't argue with his system.  Thursdays and Sundays off, and crush your body the other 5 days of the week.  Lucky for me, Landon loves napping at the gym, so it's not too hard to get in there and do work.

Under the Bobby Noyce plan, I've been lifting a lot more than I ever did before my pregnancy, especially olympic lifts.  I've got a ways to go to get to semi respectable (or at least non-pathetic) numbers on the CrossFit competition scene, but I'm making progress.

Thanks for the wod equipment, Jaime and
Bobby Noyce!

Some of my post-prego PRs:

Back Squat:  165# (pre-pg PR 175#)
Deadlift:  275# (pre-pg PR 305#)
Front Squat:  145# (pre-pg PR 170#)
Squat Clean & Jerk:  135# (pre-pg PR 145#)
Squat Snatch:  105# (pre-pg PR 110#)

Ramping back up after my pregnancy was more difficult than I expected at first, but I feel like I've progressed quickly.  Long, light workouts are still a challenge (i.e. I did Filthy Fifty 2 weeks ago in 23:34; PR is 19:08), but that's what I was good at before my pregnancy so I think that endurance will come back without me putting too much focus there.  Most excitingly, I did my first post-pregnancy muscle up today!  Muscle ups stopped happening about half way through the pregnancy, and getting up on top of the rings for the first time in 8 months felt damn good.  Fun way to celebrate Landon's 10 week birthday!    

Bobby Noyce's nephew

I haven't cared much about where my weight is at post-baby, but I was a little excited when the scale said under 130# this morning (129.6# to be exact).  (I was somewhere around 126-128# before I got pregnant.)  Bobby Noyce wasn't too excited about that. He is determined to beef me up before the 2013 CrossFit Games season rolls around and will probably start sneaking creatine in my water bottle.

Bobby Noyce.

Landon goes to the CrossFit Games

Landon is 7 weeks old today, and he's already started traveling the world. Two weeks ago, we packed (a lot!) and headed out to California to watch my mom, Shelley Noyce, compete in the 55-59 masters division at the CrossFit Games. Landon was a little trooper the whole trip and slept right through every flight (with his dad and uncle), as well as most of the competition.


As you would expect, the spectators at the CrossFit Games are a fit crowd, including a lot of pregnant women and new moms. I always think it seems like there are more pregnant women at CrossFit events than other places, and the Games was no exception. The age demographic of many crossfitters probably has something to do with it, but my theories are that (1) crossfitters are generally healthier and more fertile than the rest of the population, and (2) there isn't as much "is she pregnant or fat?" speculation. In any event, I assume many of these women are continuing to do crossfit throughout their pregnancies, which I hope may eventually help change the accepted recommendations about what women should / should not do during pregnancy.

Go, Grandma!

Crossfitters much more influential than I am are leading by example. Heather Bergeron competed with her team, CrossFit New England, this year just 9 weeks after delivering her son on May 11. Here she talks about CrossFit and pregnancy. I completely agree with everything Heather says in the video, especially about diet and nutrition while pregnant. Mainly, it's not any harder to eat healthy when you're pregnant than when you're not pregnant! And it's more important than ever to do so.






Seeing Heather ready for competition at that level so quick after having her son (is insane and) motivated me to get after it when we returned from California. So I've been taking advantage of not having to go back to work until August and spending more time at the gym. Luckily, Landon loves hanging out with all his friends at CrossFit 515 and has no problem sleeping through the loud music and weights dropping.










In the past week, I power cleaned 135# (PR is 145#) and squat snatched 100# (PR is 110#), and I feel like I'm able to push harder through workouts. I'm back to loving burpees, but running and box jumps (which used to be strengths of mine) have gone way down hill. I've attempted muscle ups a couple times ... but failed. I still have a ways to go to be where I was pre-pregnancy, and while it's frustrating, it's also kinda fun seeing a lot of progress quickly, like being new to CrossFit all over again.

Here's a video of me doing an online competition workout, CrossFit Believe online competition "unbroken wod":

For Time: (all must be unbroken)
50 Double Unders
40 Deadlifts (95#))
30 KB Swings (35#)
20 Pull-ups
10 Front Squats (95#)

My time - 4:28

Post-Baby Weight Loss and Benchmark Workouts

Landon is just over 3 weeks old, and other than adjusting to an unpredictable sleep schedule and never getting more than 2 1/2 hours of sleep at a time, I'm pretty much feeling like my normal non-pregnant self and have started to get back into a regular workout routine.

Post-pregnancy weight loss summary:  In the 3 weeks I was pregnant following the final weigh-in, I didn't gain any more weight. I weighed myself when we arrived at the hospital and was 165#. When I left the hospital two days later, I weighed in at 150#. The following week or so, I lost about 1-2 pounds per day and was down to 140# about a week and a half after Landon was born. The weight loss slowed after that, and I'm currently about 135-138 pounds (depending on the time of day). I'm still about 10# heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight, but I don't really have a weight loss goal ... I just want to be good at CrossFit again. (And Bobby is happy to let me know that currently I am not good at CrossFit.)

I didn't ask my doctor many questions about what I should / should not be doing as far as working out because I figured I wouldn't listen anyway. She told me not to lift anything heavier than Landon in his carseat for 6 weeks ... ha, ok.  I'm just following the same philosophy as when I was pregnant and listening to my body. Within a week of having Landon, I started going on walks, and 11 days after he was born, I did a workout with rowing, pull ups, and push ups. I felt super light doing the pull ups and push ups, but my body also got really tired really quickly.

My plan now is to do a bunch of benchmark and hero wods over the next few weeks to get some times to beat. Here are the ones I've done so far:

Helen, 6/22/12 -- 11:39 (PR 8:29 on 7/9/11)
Jeremy, 6/25/12 -- 5:43 (PR 4:40 on 5/3/11)
SQT, 6/26/12 -- 3:58
Jackie, 6/27/12 -- 10:30 (PR 7:38 on 7/26/11)
Cindy, 6/29/12 -- 14 rounds + 5 reps (PR 15 rounds + 11 reps on 2/21/11)

It feels weird, and a little scary, being able to push myself hard again, and I'm realizing it will be harder than I thought to build back that mental toughness. This week, I plan to include some longer workouts and workouts with heavier weight.

Landon and Uncle Bobby

As for being a new parent, I'm loving it.  Justin and I are convinced we have the cutest baby ever, so we asked Bobby whether we are just delusional parents or if he really is as gorgeous as we think he is. Uncle Bobby's loving response was:  "Babies r not gorgeous, they r pale little blobs of fat, there r only ugly babies and just babies, Landon is just a baby." He then changed subjects to the Magic Mike premier and his crush on Channing Tatum ... but I'm pretty sure he really thinks Landon's the cutest baby ever.


25 days old :)

Labor and Delivery WOD

I posted awhile ago during my pregnancy about my thoughts on natural / med-free childbirth. Why not fully experience everything my body is supposed to feel and go through during the labor and delivery, right? To help Justin and me through the process and to have a level head there for support, we hired a doula, Katie, to be there with us at the hospital. Here's how everything went down to bring this little cutie into the world.

(WARNING:  Read with caution as this post may include some details you don't want to know. i.e. If reading about the progress of my cervix dilating is going to gross you out, you may want to skip this post. I'll throw in lots of adorable baby pictures to balance it out though.)




The last several weeks of my pregnancy were a bit of a roller coaster.  At my 38 week appointment, my blood pressure was high (160/100), and the doctor warned me that if it didn't go down by the end of my appointment after laying on my side, she would want me to go to the hospital for immediate blood tests and to have my blood pressure monitored, and if it still didn't go down after monitoring, they would want to induce. (The concern with high blood pressure is pre-eclampsia, which can lead to seizures and organ failure, and the only known cure is delivering the baby.) When the nurse retook my blood pressure at the end of the appointment, it was down (148/74) - thank goodness! (They look more at the bottom number, and over 90 is where they get worried.) This same pattern went on at my 39 week appointment and my two 40 week appointments. Over these couple weeks, they took several blood tests and had me do a urine test where I collected all of my urine for 24 hours. My doctors (there are six in the practice) knew I didn't want to be induced, and nothing from the blood and urine tests indicated that it was medically necessary to do so, but I felt like I was negotiating for more and more time at each appointment. In the meantime, I tried a bunch of "natural induction methods," including several workouts with jumping rope, squatting, and lunging (very light and low intensity) and TONS of walking. The baby just wasn't ready to come out.    

By my 41 week appointment on June 5, I was 9 days past my due date, and I knew I was going to have to schedule a date to be induced. Even though it's normal for pregnancy to last up to 42 weeks, OBs get nervous when you pass your "due date" and especially when you get close to the 42 week mark. I had an internal exam and was dilated 2-3 cm, the same as I had been at my appointment 4 days earlier. My doctor was adamant that she did not want me to go beyond 42 weeks, but she was willing to give me more time as long as I did a non-stress test (NST) and ultrasound where they look at fluid levels surrounding the baby. With the NST, they monitor the baby's heart rate and look for it to increase when the baby moves, then go back down. It took awhile for the baby to get moving, but then everything looked good. While were we in the room for the NST, a nurse came in and said she had scheduled for me to be induced at 9:00 p.m. that night. I was like, "what?! NO!" The nurse looked super confused. Apparently the doctor had just written "schedule induction" in my chart, so I told her the doctor said I could have more time as long as the baby looked fine. Everything looked good with the ultrasound as well, so we talked to the doctor again.  Because 42 weeks would be a Sunday and they don't schedule inductions on the weekend, the latest the doctor was willing to schedule it was to start Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. They start in the evening because they insert something that ripens the cervix before starting pitocin. (I think next time I'm pregnant, I may figure out what day of the week my "due date" will be and lie about the date of my last period by a day if it's going to be on a Sunday again.)

I called Katie to give her an update with what was going on, and she suggested that I consider taking castor oil.  I had read that castor oil can be very effective at starting labor, but it causes horrible diarrhea in the 2 oz dose recommended to start labor. Would I rather get diarrhea and potentially go into labor or be induced?  I decided I would take my chances with the castor oil and had Justin go buy some (it's with the laxatives at the drug store). I took 2 oz with OJ around 8:00 pm Tuesday night, and around 9:30, I was having fairly regular contractions about 12 min apart. I tried to go to bed, but was too uncomfortable when the contractions came to get any sleep. I took a shower, laid down for awhile, took a bath, laid down for awhile, took another shower. Around 3:30 a.m. I woke Justin and told him he may want to get up and pack. This definitely seemed like labor, but I still wasn't completely sure it wasn't just nasty effects of the castor oil. (BTW, it did not disappoint as a very effective laxative.) By 5:00 a.m., contractions were getting much more intense, and I text Katie to let her know what was going on.

7:00 a.m. -  I started thinking I might want to go to the hospital soon, and we left about 45 minutes later. When we were checked in and in our room, the nurses took my blood pressure and hooked me up to monitor the baby. I knew my blood pressure was also going to be an issue at the hospital. It was 175/108 (yikes!), and they drew blood for more lab tests. Then, the baby wasn't responding to my contractions, and the nurses were worried he may have had a bowel movement in the womb. (This can cause problems if the baby inhales it and is more common in babies born after their due dates.) They gave me some juice, and he started moving around. My blood pressure also went down some after a little time in bed. After checking me (dilated 4 cm, which didn't seem like much progress from 2-3 at my appointment after being so uncomfortable all night), it was about 9:00 a.m., and they let me get of of bed. I went from the rocking chair to a birth ball, then I got in the whirl pool. I was in a lot of pain during the contractions at this point, but the whirl pool felt amazing and made it so much easier to relax during the contractions.

Getting some love from Bandit

Around 10:45 a.m. - One of the nurses came in the bathroom and told us my lab results had come back, and I was going to have to be in bed. Because of my blood pressure, my doctor wasn't happy they had let me move around in the first place. My doctor then came in and said based on my blood pressure and labs, I was borderline HELLP Syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count ... it's hard to find much out about pre-eclampsia or HELLP syndrome because there isn't a known cause or even really a definition of what it is, but HELLP is basically really bad pre-e and can lead to seizures, liver and kidney failure, and hemorrhaging due to blood clotting problems.) It was weird to hear because I felt completely fine. I think the fact that I felt fine is also why it didn't really freak me out that much, even though I knew it was normal to feel fine and still have really severe problems. Other than the high blood pressure, I didn't have any of the other symptoms - headaches, nausea and vomiting, upper right abdominal pain, blurry vision.  Looking back, I think the swelling in my legs was probably "excessive," but the doctors always told me my swelling wasn't bad at all.

I was not looking forward to being stuck in bed, so I took my time getting out of the tub, going to the bathroom, and getting dressed. I was given magnesium sulfate through an IV to prevent seizures. The nurse made the magnesium sulfate sound absolutely terrifying and guaranteed to make me feel like complete hell. Katie later told me that other women she had seen given it spent the rest of their labor vomiting. Luckily, it didn't make me feel like crap, or maybe I was just too focused on managing the pain of the contractions to notice.    

11:30 a.m. - The doctor checked me again, and I was at 7 cm, which was amazing news because I didn't know how well I was going to manage being confined to the bed. She broke my water, and it was clear, another huge relief because of the concern that the baby had passed a bowel movement in there. At that point, I started crying. I'm not sure why; I think I was just so relieved to be getting some good news after what seemed like a lot of bad news. Being in bed completely sucked, but this part is mostly a blur. I just remember it was crazy painful, then feeling some pressure like I had to poop during a contraction. The nurse told me if I felt to urge to push to resist until they checked me. All of the sudden during a contraction, my body just started pushing. It kind of felt like a really intense, uncontrollable urge to poop. The nurse tried to get me to breath through it and not push, but holding back was pretty much impossible. I think this only went on for maybe 2 contractions.

Already working on his
overhead squats

A little after 12:00 p.m. - They checked me, and I was 10 cm. Ready to push for real! I pushed from my side for awhile, then switched to my back. I remembered Katie saying how most women like to push ... I did not. It hurt. A lot. Without thinking about it, I was screaming (extremely loudly) through the pushes until the nurse told me I would make more progress if I held in the noise. I kept my eyes closed most of the time and had my head turned toward Justin, who was sitting up by my head (he didn't want to see what was going on down there; I don't blame him!) Justin said it almost felt like a CrossFit event with everyone standing and encouraging me. Justin, Katie, the doctor, and I think at least 4 nurses were in there. It started feeling like I was pushing forever and that they were lying to me with all of the "you're doing great" and "your baby's almost here" comments. I thought about stories I had heard of women pushing for hours. Then I thought of my mom bragging about pushing her babies out in one push. Neither thought was very motivating at the moment. I also thought about finally getting to find out whether our baby was a boy or girl; a much more motivating thought. Each contraction was like a set a 3 pushes, and I set my mind to just make as much progress as possible each contraction and get this over with as soon as possible.

12:37 p.m. - Landon James Vaught was born! Once the head came out, it felt like the rest of the baby and all of my insides just fell out after it. Weirdest feeling ever. It seemed like it took Justin a really long time to announce whether "it" was a boy or a girl. I think I asked twice "what is it?" before he finally said "BOY!" We were both completely convinced we were having a boy so it was like I already knew before he said it and that was just confirmation. (We hadn't even fully settled on a girl name.)

Landon was a completely perfect and healthy little guy. And even though there were some scary moments and everything didn't go quite as planned, I really couldn't be happier with the experience. Katie and Justin, even though he was terrified much of the time and may be traumatized, were both absolutely amazing. It was the hardest, most painful workout ever, but I would do it all over again in a second.  

10 days old :)

Landon James Vaught is here!

Landon James 

He was fashionably late (10 days), but Landon James Vaught finally made his appearance at 12:37 p.m. on June 6, 2012, weighing 7 lbs 8 oz (0.2087 pood), measuring 20" long, healthy, and super cute.  Labor and delivery definitely lived up to all the hype -- hardest wod ever but completely worth it.  For now I'll just show off some pictures, but I'll post more of a birth story and update later.

Super excited to be going home!

    

First trip to the gym :) 

 4 days old

Training Pregnant Crossfitters

At some point, I think most CrossFit trainers will have a pregnant client.  I'll admit, before being pregnant myself, I would have been pretty clueless about how to approach training a pregnant client and probably very nervous about it.  Now that I've experienced crossfitting while pregnant, I wanted to pass along some tips for training pregnant crossfitters.  I also wanted to get some input from other CrossFit trainers that haven't been pregnant.  So awhile back, I asked Jaime and Bobby Noyce, the owners and trainers at CrossFit515 (my brother and sister), to help me out with a "tips for training pregnant crossfitters" post.  They did such a good job that I decided to make it the post for my final week of pregnancy ... before being overdue, anyway.

First, here are my quick tips:
- (This one is coming from me mostly as a lawyer).  Consider having a separate waiver that says she's talked with her doctor about continuing / starting CrossFit while pregnant.
- She's the one that feels the pressure of keeping the baby safe and knows how her body is feeling, so as much as possible let her use her own judgment about what movements and weights she should be doing.  This will be a moving target as her pregnancy progresses, and you can't be expected to know her changing abilities without a lot of feedback from her.
- Focus more on form and range of motion, not intensity.
- Encouragement is good, but don't let it take the form of "Go! Go! Go! Keep moving! Get through it!"  CrossFit trainers are usually trying to get clients to push out of their comfort zones, but a pregnant crossfitter should be staying in her comfort zone.  Let her decide how hard she's comfortable pushing.  

And now, my guests:

Jaime:

When Lindsay asked Bobby and I to write a little about what we've learned as trainers about how to go about helping other pregnant women do CrossFit, I thought it was a great idea.  I didn't know anything more than Lindsay did on this subject to start with, never having been thru any of it before, so I've learned a great deal.  I think it's important for trainers to know how to approach training their pregnant crossfitters too.

Whenever I'm with Lindsay and she gets asked by someone outside of CrossFit if she has still been working out, I think it's funny when she kinda just laughs and is like "yeah, I've still been working out."  It's pretty great, because I know the reason why Lindsay has had one of the easiest pregnancies of anyone I've known is because of the healthy lifestyle that she and Justin choose to live.  And when people ask me if I think it's a good idea that she has still been doing CrossFit, I really have to try not to laugh and just say "Yes, I know it is."

Partly I've found that training someone who is pregnant is no different than dealing with anyone else in our gym. Just as everyone has to scale WODs at some time or another, either because of injury, illness, ability level, etc, training someone who is pregnant for me has just involved figuring out (a lot of times on a daily basis) what movements the person can do and is comfortable doing. I tell everyone to listen to their bodies, while still trying to push themselves to do what they can. I guess the only difference from this aspect is most of the athletes I'm used to working with find that they can do more and more all the time, whereas obviously during pregnancy athletes might stop being able to do certain things as they gain weight and the baby grows.

The other big difference I've become aware of with training pregnant women is to be careful to scale the intensity down a little too, and I'm extra careful not to push too hard to go faster during the workout. I try to encourage in a slightly different way, that's all.

I definitely don't think I'm alone in that I've been so incredibly impressed with what Lindsay has done over the past months.  What she does in the gym every day is inspiring.  I've also been so impressed by her and Justin already as parents before their child is even born.  The amount of care and research they have put into the decisions to be made already is so great and I'm glad they are sharing some of them for others to see.  I've been very grateful for the learning opportunity.

 Bobby:

Hello millions.....thousands.....hundreds.....dozens.....or all 9 of Lindsay's followers!!!  I am her extremely awesome younger brother!  I go by pretty much anything: Bobby, Bob, Bob-0, Bobert, Bobaloo, B. Noyce, BuckShark, B-Bone......anything but Robert.  Lindsay asked me to do this post and here were my instructions, "Don't make it much about me or things people would already know if they read my blog.  More like, if a trainer had never had a pregnant client, what might he/she want to know?  And be funny/entertaining -- this post is riding on you!"  That's a lot of pressure, I'll try.

I have been around 2 women through their pregnancies while CrossFitting, and I guess the 1st thing I would like to point out is simply that apparently I am surrounded by badass women that don't make excuses for themselves.  Owning a CrossFit affiliate and training people all day every day I get to hear ALL kinds of excuses non-stop (I'm sure it is less than most personal trainers, but still) but the two pregnant women I have gotten to work with simply do what they are capable of and get work done.  Which makes me a really bad person to ask on how to train most pregnant women haha.  I feel that at CrossFit 515 we have gotten very good at finding reasonable ways of scaling almost every workout and movement so that anyone who has done at least a little bit of CrossFit can safely gauge their own abilities in order to get the desired outcome from the workout of the day.  My biggest piece of advice would be that obviously "she" should know what is completely within her comfort zone to stay safe while still getting all the great benefits from CrossFit and just functional movements in general.  I feel like I have been saying this a lot lately but I think it applies to CrossFitting while pregnant almost more than any other time in our training, the goal is to "stimulate" not to "annihilate."

Now on to the good stuff :)

Bobby's Suggestions for Training Pregnant Chicks (should only apply if said chick is your older sister that used to torture you every single day until you were big enough to kick her a$$):

-  Make as many fat references and jokes as humanly possible (this is a once in a lifetime opportunity so take full advantage, the goal is to actually push the boundary to whether she questions if she is really 'fat' and not just growing another human being inside of her)
-  Don't attempt a weight gain challenge during these 9 months (it can not and will not end well, i.e. Bobby = LOSER)
-  Challenge her to as many 'pregnant' workouts as possible (nothing mean here, it is just fun)
-  Try to act like you don't know she is pregnant for as long as possible and that she just wanted an excuse to eat more, gain weight, and let her times slip
-  Try to rub in the fact that she can't drink alcohol or do other fun things, like not be pregnant
-  Take full advantage of her being all-time DD (I really don't feel bad about this one after the 9,000 calls and texts at 2 a.m. all through high school)  [Note from Lindsay:  he means when he was in high school; I'm 4 years older.]
-  Finally and most importantly make sure she knows how proud of her you are for setting an amazing example that all other pregnant women should follow (in my opinion) and how excited you are to be an Uncle!!!

I don't know how Lindsay does it but I must get asked once a week about how she is doing.  Or if she is ready to be done being pregnant.  And I kind of just laugh and say she seems the same as she always is (just bigger......WAY BIGGER!).  Do CrossFit, eat paleo, and apparently life doesn't completely suck while you're pregnant, at least that is the lesson I have learned through all of this.

Well this has been a pleasure,
B-Bone Out

Thanks, Jaime and Bobby!!!  And AWESOME job at regionals last weekend!  Jaime placed 6th and Bobby placed 11th in the North Central region.  

39 weeks

Almost to the end.  Come on out anytime, Baby!  

4 days left!

Final Weigh-In





2011 North Central Regionals



2011 North Central Regionals



Bobby is headed to Chicago for the CrossFit Games North Central Regionals, and Baby V could decide to come any day now.  Which means: it's final weigh-in time. 

It's been an exciting year.  Last year's regionals was one week before Justin and my wedding.  I competed in the team competition with CrossFit515, and Bobby competed as an individual.  We were both much smaller then.  

Now, let's see the weigh-in results ...  



Buckshark

 

38 1/2 weeks



Lindsay

Starting/pre-pregnancy weight: 125 lbs.

Target weight gain: 25-35 lbs.

Ideal rate of gain: 1 lb per week 

Goal weight: 150-160 lbs.

Current weight: 169 lbs. (yikes!)

Total weight gain: 44 lbs.

Bobby

Starting weight: 175 lbs.

Target weight gain: 20 lbs.

Ideal rate of gain: 1-2 lbs per 2 weeks

Goal weight: 195 lbs.

Current weight: 195 lbs.

Total weight gain: 20 lbs.

My weight fluctuates like crazy from morning to evening, like as much as 10 pounds, especially when it's hot and humid out.  I weighed myself the morning of our final weigh in and was 159 lbs.  I guess I'm like a camel during the day, just holding onto a disgusting amount of water weight.  I'm very glad I'm due before the super hot, summer months.  Good work on hitting your goal weight, brother.  But, I'm officially declaring myself the "winner" ... and I cannot wait to not be this huge anymore!

Here's where some of my weight gain has gone -

Estimated 30 lb Weight Gain Composition:  

Baby: 7.5 pounds

Placenta: 1.5 pounds  

Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds

Uterine enlargement: 2 pounds

Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds

Maternal blood volume: 4 pounds

Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds

Maternal fat stores: 7 pounds

I don't think I'm having a 20 pound baby, so beyond the 30 lbs, I'm assuming most of the other weight I've gained is water weight and body fat.  44 lbs is a LOT ... over 1/3 of my pre-pregnancy weight, but considering I've been able to continue crossfitting, eating paleo, and everything has been healthy up to this point, I wouldn't do anything differently.  I figure there's a healthy reason for the weight gain.  Why the "maternal fat stores"?  The body stores extra fat during pregnancy to be used during breastfeeding.  (Good excuse, right?)

Of course, I've been thinking about what my post-pregnancy weight will look like.  A baby, placenta, and lots of nasty blood and fluid are going to come out (have fun watching that, Justin).  So, even though my dad has tried to convince me this isn't how it works, I'm pretty sure after having the baby I'm going to leave the hospital weighing less than when I arrive.  Although, apparently some women swell and retain a lot of fluid if they receive IV fluids and an epidural during labor - both things I hope to avoid - and actually weigh about the same after delivery.  In the days following delivery, your body gets rid of a lot of the extra water weight so you pee and sweat a lot, losing about 4-6 pounds of water weight after the first week.  And within about 4 weeks of delivery, the uterus, which weighs about 2 pounds at birth, gets back down to its pre-pregnancy weight of about 3.5 ounces. 

After all that, I'll obviously still weigh a lot more than 125 pounds.  What am I going to do to lose the rest of the weight?  Eat paleo, do CrossFit. 

Bobby challenged me to a new weight gain/loss throwdown:  that he will hit 200# before I get down to 130#.  Challenge ... accepted!   

Prego Push Ups

Good luck this weekend, Jaime, Bobby, and Team CrossFit515!!! 

10 days left! (But feel free to make your appearance before that, Baby V!)

Full-term Pregnant Fran

I wanted to do Fran one more time during my pregnancy, so I figured it would be a good way to celebrate the 37 week mark.  Fran must have been just what I needed because, after feeling not so great a few days last week, I've been feeling amazing ever since.  Here's how it went:

Fran is a hard workout no matter what, but adding 35(ish) pounds of baby / body weight (and only being able to do a few pull ups in a row) makes it by far an easier, less intense workout.  What normally makes Fran so horrible is that there is no excuse to stop and rest.  That obviously doesn't apply when you're pregnant.  Workouts aren't nearly as intimidating when you know you have to take breaks and keep the intensity in check.   

Fran History:

July 20, 2010: 8:54

Nov. 13, 2010 (Level 1 cert): 6:31

Jan. 29, 2011: 4:15

June 14, 2011: 4:07

July 23, 2011: 3:35

Sept. 23, 2011 [5 weeks pregnant]: 3:34

Jan. 2, 2012 [19 weeks pregnant]: 5:07

May 5, 2012 [37 weeks pregnant]: 6:55
Here's 19 weeks pregnant Fran:

I'm excited to see where I'll be at the first time I take Fran on post-pregnancy.  

Next week:  final weigh-in results.  Bobby's only chance is if Baby V decides to make his/her exit from the womb before next Wednesday (I'm HUUUUUUGE).    

17 days left!