So I saw this....

[Connor Davies]

Crossfit

 

http://www.odditycentral.com/news/photo-of-heavily-pregnant-woman-weightlifting-sparks-online-controversy.html

 

I feel I should add that not all crossfitters are like this, but some of them really give the sport a bad name...

[Joakim Andersson]

Lea-Ann Ellison has been doing CrossFitt constantly for over two years, and says she has modified the exercises as not to put her pregnancy at risk. “Nobody in their right mind is going to put their unborn child in danger, that’s just pure insanity,†she told HLN News.

 

 

I don't get what's bad about this. Is it dangerous to work out during pregnancy?

[ADRIANO FLORES CANO]

Bad name because someone else choice? I think Crossfit has nothing to do with her.

 

But I've to say that there are a lot of haters, above all woman circles.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

I don't get what's bad about this. Is it dangerous to work out during pregnancy?

huge disclaimer here(i dont know how much of this is true because im not a professional or have seen case studies with this phenomenon) 

 

in neurology and im sorry but the name escapes me, i had a practitioner make comments about certain stages of development of the fetus and how the stimulus of the mother is what the fetus "records" in it's assessment of what it needs to excel in to be prepared once it's out of the womb. 

 

two things that i found interesting that we talked about:

 

1. when we were talking about the stages of developing limbs(including hands, fingers, feet, toes) I sneezed. he said that (sneezing, in this case) reflected a "contained agony" within my body because of something my mom and dad went through their pregnancy(effectively, my dad was worried i would be born with 4 fingers, like him)

 

2. when we talked about women who exercise during pregnancy, it showed that for some reason, the offspring had something distinct going on with their thyroid. (my mom used  to be an aerobics instructor when she co-owned a gym with my aunt and gave classes to pregnant women, pre- and post-pregnancy....at the age of 9, i had a tumor in my thyroid.) 

 

like I said, i don't know the variables, so take this is as a "pointing out something that i dont have the full scoop on" and if it's re-hashed should be reitorated as such. 

[Jennifer Rodriguez]

I don't get what the big deal is.   Pregnancy is not a disease.  

[Keilani Gutierrez]

I don't get what the big deal is.   Pregnancy is not a disease.  

it isn't, just that some people(and this has to do with their baseline physical shape at that moment) engage in exercise when their supposed to be doing things within their limits. the criticism of the woman in the article was criticized for undertaking too much load but she indicated that it was within her range of being able to perform.(which really isn't our business because we don't have all the information to be able to form an opinion.) 

 

seeing it through the lens of doing too much pulling or pushing work with your arms and it creating tendonitis makes much more sense. if you do a certain amount of volume for pitching with your arms BW + a baseball, you will have a spectrum of safety-to-danger. 

 

now add a wrist weight that parallels the stresses of a pregnancy and that spectrum decreases, widening the chances to develop tendonitis(in this case) if you undertake the previous unweighted volume.

 

now to say that she's done that, is not really my business, but i wouldn't let Nicole do something like that unless it were out of my control(like ignorance/simply not knowing) but we're using a combination of common sense and physic's to apply stresses to other areas of the body. (because it's not like your knees follow one set of physics laws and your elbows follow another set, they're supposed to be one in the same)

[Jennifer Rodriguez]

The only thing I would caution is that during pregnancy your joints do get more loosey goosey so you need to be mindful of that.    When I see the picture posted above I think it's a great testament to what a woman's body is capable of.   I'm not familiar with the brouhaha surrounding this picture.  Is it supposed to be a PR that she achieved during pregnancy?

 

I can assure you that most women use pregnancy as an excuse to eat whatever they want and be as lazy as they want.  

[Jon Douglas]

I also don't see a problem. I would put this on 'Crossfit is doing something right.' She's clearly indicating that she's being careful and I highly doubt she would do anything to put her child remotely at risk.

Strong woman about to become a mother. I applaud that. I know my mother was playing tennis until I literally interfered with that

[Connor Davies]

I'll admit I heard of one woman practicing bridges up until the day she gave birth, which I see no problem with.

 

What I do see a problem with is stressing the core musculature that much while there's another person cocooned in it.  I'll admit that to a large extent the "women shouldn't lift heavy things while pregnant" advice is hocum, but overhead squats are certainly very taxing on the core.  I'm just worried the baby is going to get crushed!

 

I'll admit, it's not as bad as the guy snatching with a baby strapped to his chest.  But I dunno, it just irks me....

[Graham Smith]

The important thing to remember is that every body is different.  This woman felt that her workout was within her means, that's great but as general advice to be taken by a broad range of women, it's probably not appropriate.  During very late pregnancy, the hormone relaxin kicks in in order to allow the pelvis to separate.  This hormone loosens all the joints considerably, and may increase the chances of injury.  Further more, the rectus abdominus muscle separates entirely to make room for the developing child, which once again, may lead to injury.  Even post birth, certain isometric contractions such as planks are not recommended as they can delay the repair of the rectus abdominus muscles.  Add to that the increased chance of miscarriage with excess abdominal pressure that can come from working out in such a manner, and the general advice should certainly be to be careful.  Again, some alcohol and caffeine intake is probably going to be fine, but the general advice should be for safety's sake to avoid it entirely.

 

This woman seemed to have a great understanding of her body's capabilities and how it was feeling.  Kudos to her, but just because she can do it doesn't mean that all women can to that degree.

[Mark Weaver]

As long as you don't start some crazy new regimen, you can generally keep doing whatever you were doing before you get pregnant.  My wife was running 3-4 miles right up to a couple weeks before our 1st child was born.  You don't want to take away from baby's needs for proper development.  And some workouts maybe need to be dialed back a bit.

 

But my wife also prepares nutritionally and physical before conception, and generally eats pretty healthy, so maybe it's different for someone following the SAD.

[Joel Tomkins]

The most likely to occur risk is early labour which can be brought on by physical or mental stress and the level at which that may occur are different for everyone and at different stages of pregnancy. She is close to 9 months pregnant so a workout induced labour is not a huge problem - in fact women close to full term are encouraged to be physically active to bring on labour because by that stage things are getting very uncomfortable and everyone (dad included) just wants to get that baby out. No doctor is going to recommend weight training because something like the placenta tearing from the uterus is fairly dangerous for the baby, albeit unlikely.

[Mark Weaver]

in fact women close to full term are encouraged to be physically active to bring on labour because by that stage things are getting very uncomfortable and everyone (dad included) just wants to get that baby out.

I really liked the advice our midwife gave us for getting the baby out!

[Connor Davies]

.....in fact women close to full term are encouraged to be physically active to bring on labour.....

This is because labour is induced by the energy requirements of the fetus exceeding the amount of spare energy that the mother has to give, and exercise saps energy, right?

 

Not really relevant, I just wanted to sound smart.  The general consensus on this thread seems to be contrary to my stance, so I'm just trying to save face..... 

[Keilani Gutierrez]

This is because labour is induced by the energy requirements of the fetus exceeding the amount of spare energy that the mother has to give, and exercise saps energy, right?

 

Not really relevant, I just wanted to sound smart.  The general consensus on this thread seems to be contrary to my stance, so I'm just trying to save face..... 

no one was born knowing everything, making mistakes and learning from them are a humane thing to do(speaking directly to your statement, not the OP.)

[Connor Davies]

no one was born knowing everything, making mistakes and learning from them are a humane thing to do(speaking directly to your statement, not the OP.)

I am the OP.....

[Joel Tomkins]

This is because labour is induced by the energy requirements of the fetus exceeding the amount of spare energy that the mother has to give, and exercise saps energy, right?

 

Not really relevant, I just wanted to sound smart.  The general consensus on this thread seems to be contrary to my stance, so I'm just trying to save face..... 

I have no medical background or experience- other than my fiance being a nurse - but when you do go through pregnancy you end up learning a fair bit about the process. I don't think energy requirements of the fetus is the sole trigger for normal labour - it is much more complex than that. In the case of an early labour brought on by stress it is more about the mothers body feeling endangered (for whatever reason, including not having the energy required to support a child but more likely in this case to do with stress hormones like cortisol) and deciding that its own chances of survival are greater by ending the pregnancy early - obviously an evolutionary trait that is beneficial for to the continuation of the species.

 

Getting on your hands and knees to scrub floors is one old wives tale that is said to bring on labour due to the baby pushing down on the cervix and moving lower down in the womb ready for labour. Exercise can work for the same reasons.

 

 

I really liked the advice our midwife gave us for getting the baby out!

Ha! I think I know the advice - one that Dad is happy to help with

[Biren Patel]

I am the OP.....

I lol'ed way too much at this

[Keilani Gutierrez]

I am the OP.....

i was refering to the statement that i quoted, not the one you started with

[Connor Davies]

i was refering to the statement that i quoted, not the one you started with

Oh okay.  Original Post vs Original Poster.  I get you now.

[Brian Li]

Yeah, this topic has caused a lot of controversy in the last few weeks I believe or was it like a month ago? From what I read, she knew what she was doing and did scale down from her usual workouts.