PROVO, Utah — Pregnancy can make you sick, slow you down or even leave you bedridden. But some women aren’t letting a baby on the way get in the way of their daily CrossFit routine — lifting for two all the way up until the day they deliver.
It’s 9 a.m, and the day is just beginning for the crew at Vitruvius CrossFit in Provo, Utah. Six days a week, never missing a beat. Barbells, deadlifts, and squats. It’s a high intensity workout, not for the weak.
Chrisi Hammer has caught the CrossFit craze, and not much can stop her from missing a class.
She’s nine months pregnant, expecting a baby girl any day. While many women avoid lifting heavy objects during pregnancy, she’s breaking personal records – back squatting 210 pounds and front squatting 285.
“Everyone just keeps teasing me that I have this pregnancy strength, cause I’m stronger now than I was before I got pregnant,” Hammer said.
Hammer joined CrossFit two years ago, as a way to get the baby weight off from her previous pregnancies, and the results were incredible.
So when Hammer and her husband Matt announced baby number three would be joining their blended family, the very next morning they were back at the gym.
During her first pregnancy, she gained almost 80 pounds, this time around she’s gained only 30. The only thing she’s done differently is CrossFit.
Peter Rechman, who owns Vitruvius CrossFit, said the exercise program is becoming more popular among pregnant women.
”We had one woman, whose water broke here in the gym and she went straight to the hospital,” Rechman said.
But these workouts aren’t coming without controversy, attracting heavy criticism on social media. Many people are asking if these workouts are safe and others are accusing the soon-to-be moms of endangering their baby
Emily Breeze, a CrossFit games athlete and trainer, kept up her routine and fought back.
“I am completely baffled that people would think I’d do anything that would harm my baby … I won’t allow someone’s uneducated opinion to deter my doctor-approved workouts,” Breeze wrote in an Instagram post.
