How did week 1 go for you? We survived 80 ground to overhead and 100 burpees to get to week two! You are in the right place if you are pregnant, postpartum, have any pelvic floor considerations (leaking urine at anytime including jumping and lifting, diastasis recti, pelvic organ prolapse), or if you are a coach.
20.2 has been announced and here is what’s on the whiteboard:
20 Minute AMRAP of:
4 Dumbbell Thrusters (35#)
6 Toes to Bar
24 Double Unders
Notes on mindset and overall considerations. 20 minutes is a long time to cycle through short sets. Pace is going to be key! Start out at a very reasonable pace, you don’t want to start out too fast and burn out quickly. Try to stick to a pace that you can easily maintain for the 20 minutes. Stick with a pace that you can talk through and breathe through your movements.
This brings me to breathing strategy. Breathing through the movements is going to be very important. Try to exhale on the exertion or the difficult part of the movement. For this workout, that would mean exhaling on the way up from the squat all the way up overhead, and inhaling as you go back down or in between reps. See below for toes to bar and double under mods and strategy.
As always, if you experience any symptoms of pain, pelvic pain or discomfort, incontinence, pressure or feeling of something falling out or your vagina, or pressure/discomfort in your abdomen/midline please stop. Try one of the alternatives for that movement, or, if the symptoms do not dissipate stop the workout. Your long term health and athleticsm is much more important than this workout.
Pregnant and Postpartum Athletes:
Thrusters
The thruster is broken down into three parts: the squat, the press, and the weight.
The squat – If you are experiencing any symptoms of pain or leaking in the squat, modify the depth and/or consider squatting to a box.
The press – If you are finding that the press is either too taxing, winding you too much, or causing pain, consider taking the press out of it and only do the squat. Focus on keeping your ribs down, as opposed to flaring out.
Weight – Choose a weight that you are extremely comfortable moving for large sets. This is not the workout to do Rx if you are only able to do sets of 5 or less at that weight when you are fresh. This is just to say that you should be capable of large sets at the weight that you choose.
Toes to bar
I do not recommend doing toes to bar or knee tucks for my pregnant athletes or for my postpartum athletes that are less than 6 months postpartum or have diastasis recti (unless you are working with a PFPT and PPA Coach that has worked on this with you and it is part of your programming). No matter how far postpartum you are, if you have diastasis recti, are coning during these movements, or have not trained them before 19.2, I would not recommend doing them. . These movements tend to create so much intra-abdominal pressure on an abdominal wall that is already stretched and under pressure due to baby. This is a risk vs. reward movement and I feel as though you get little reward for your potential risk on this one. There are many other ways you can train your midline without the added pressure. To learn more about intra-abdominal pressure and also coning you can click here.
Some potential movements to sub out for toes to bar –
Pallof Press: Wrap a band around a leg of the rig at around shoulder height. Hold the band at your sternum, and stand with your left shoulder pointed toward the rig. You want to be standing far enough away to create tension on the band. Keeping your shoulders and hips square, press the band straight out in front of your body, resisting the tendency to rotate toward the machine. Hold the position for a second, then slowly return your hands to your sternum. Depending on how you feel you could do 12 on each side, or 25 on each side. Exhale as you press the band away from your body and inhale as you bring it back in.
-or-
Slam Balls: Choose a weight that you are very comfortable lifting overhead. Make sure as you have the ball overhead you keep your ribs over the hips in a stacked position (try not to let the ribs flare out). Using your whole body, and being careful of the baby bump, slam the ball down onto the ground. Squat down to pick the ball up for your next rep. Inhale as you bring the ball overhead, then exhale and slam down.
– or –
Straight arm pulldowns. These are great because you still hit the lats as you do with toes to bar, and it is a great core movement as well without as much pressure. Exhale as you press down and inhale on the way up. In the video below I show one band around the rig for the standing version, you can do two to make it more difficult. It was too much for my core personally, so I chose not to demo it. There are both standing and lying versions, as well as options for lifting one leg at a time. Watch and feel for coning and management of pressure throughout this movement to determine if it is right for you.
Double Unders
Ok I’m going to start with something that you may not like. I do not recommend that pregnant athletes jump rope. Single unders are not a modification for double unders when you are pregnant. It is the same movement pattern, and puts so much pressure on the pelvic floor. Your pelvic floor is already under so much pressure from carrying baby. I do not recommend jump roping at all after the first trimester. Please consider the risk vs. reward here. If you are leaking at all, this is a sign from your body to stop.
I would not recommend jumping rope if you are less than 6 months postpartum, risk vs. reward with regards to your healing body. If you are past six months postpartum and are able to jump rope with no symptoms (incontinence, have prolapse, and overall comfort) go for it! Focus on your breathing through the movement, breath holding can increase pressure making it harder for your pelvic floor to not leak.. Keep in mind this is a LOT of reps as you get on in the rounds. If at any time you experience discomfort or any symptoms, please stop. Keep in mind that incontinence while jump roping is a common symptom, but there is help for it.
Some potential movements to sub out for double unders:
Quick steps: Grab a 15# or 25# plate, it does not need to be tall to be effective, and step up with one foot then the other. The idea here is to have quick feet, landing as softly as possible. You do not want to be creating any impact. Don’t forget to switch the foot that you are leading with, doing half of the reps on each side
Consider the bike/rower for 90 secs as an option here. (When rowing, ensure there is no coning as you lean back. If there is try to keep your torso upright through the movement and see if that alleviates it, see video below
Good luck everyone, I would love to hear how you do in the comments!
[Please do not participate in the work out if you do not have clearance from your Doctor, and follow any restrictions they may have in place for you]
I hope this helps! Comment your questions below or contact me directly. I will do my best to help you, but please keep in mind that an in-person assessment is the best way to give recommendations. If you are interested in meeting in person, please contact me. You can reach me on Instagram, or email me at kerri@gracefitnessandnutrition.com. I am here to do my best for you!
Want some ideas on what to substitute movements for? I have created this free resource for YOU! If you are pregnant, postpartum, or have pelvic floor considerations and want the confusion taken out of how to modify the most commonly asked about CrossFit movements, you need this.
I go through what, when, how, and also provide video demonstrations for modifications of the following movements:
– Sit-ups
– Burpees
– Pull-ups
– Toes-to-bar
– Muscle-ups
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Stay strong, stay beautiful!
Coach Kerri
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