A picture of 33-week pregnant Lee-Anne Ellison of California doing an overhead squat in a CrossFit workout has gone viral this week, and the piranhas have come out to eat her alive. Critics have swarmed to her Facebook pictures, racking up over 16,000 comments, some in support, but many just to inflict extreme criticism on her as a mother, according to ABC News. According to huffingtonpost.com, one person wrote,”You may have mastered the squat but need to work on motherhood…8 months doing an overhead squat really??!!!”
You should always get a doctor’s opinion before exercising during pregnancy, and that is just what Ellison did. Examiner.com reported that her obstetrician gave her the okay before she continued her regular exercise regime. Robin Elise Weiss, Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator (LCCE), Master of Public Health and Pregnancy writer on About.com, said, “If you were doing something that your body is used to, there’s no real harm in it,” according to Examiner.com. Ellison was lifting up to 190 pounds before her pregnancy, and now in her third trimester, she is lifting 75 pounds at most. Crossfitmom.com has tips on how to train safely in each trimester, and the key is always to scale the workouts.
CrossFit is a sport centered around strength and conditioning, a community so broad it is made up of people from any and every part of society. “Our program delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive. Our specialty is not specializing,” wrote CrossFit.com. The beauty of CrossFit is that anyone can scale any workout to their ability. That is why CrossFit is known as the sport for everyone from teenagers to grandparents. It is impeccably fit for beginners. “The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience. We’ve used our same routines for elderly individuals with heart disease and cage fighters one month out from televised bouts,” according to CrossFit’s official website.
“8 months pregnant with baby number 3 and CrossFit has been my sanity. I have been CrossFitting for 2 1/2 years and…strongly believe that pregnancy is not an illness, but a time to relish in your body’s capabilities to kick ass,” Ellison said on Facebook. She’s a veteran of both pregnancy and CrossFit and has been under the watchful eye of her doctor, but critics still think they know her body better than she does. “Why would you risk hurting your baby just to stay in shape?” asked Facebook user Stephanie Herrera. “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” Exercising during pregnancy improves the health of the mother and therefore the baby, according to MayoClinic.com.
Three out of four pregnant women do not get enough exercise during pregnancy, according to Wedmd.com.They also say that women who exercise at least thirty minutes a day have lower risk of hypertension, gestational diabetes and depression. Studies show that babies of exercising moms tolerated the stress of labor and delivery better, at one year of age performed better on the standardized Bayley Scales of Infant Development compared to non-exercising moms and that continual exercise during pregnancy will help the mother’s body heal efficiently postpartum, according to usnews.com. “I’ve been doing CrossFit for three years and have known many pregnant women who workout up to their due date. As long as they have proper coaching and aren’t doing movements that are harmful to the baby, they’ve come back and told me the baby was born healthy and the mothers get back into great physical condition faster,” said Brian Funari, U.S. Marine and CrossFit Competitor.
I have done CrossFit in the past and hope to continue in the future. When you join a CrossFit gym, you are actually joining a community. You aren’t just signing up for a training schedule– you’re stepping into a new circle of friends that will become a key part of your life, a group that will understand a part of you like no one on the outside can understand. The trainers tell you what the workout is and instruct you on how to do it, but it’s up to you to decide how hard to push yourself. They countdown “3, 2, 1, GO” and from that second on, everyone in the gym shouts words of encouragement. It’s a support system like no other and a great place for a pregnant woman to be. Before and during her pregnancy, she has a second family at her gym that she can confide in and turn to for support and encouragement. CrossFit isn’t an enjoyable fit for everyone, but the people who like it are passionate about it.
“Sure you look and sound cool, but we’re only human… why would you risk hurting your baby just to stay in shape? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s not a time to kick ass, it’s a time to be protective of your unborn child. Normally I’m for CrossFit, but this doesn’t make any sense to me,” one comment read on Ellison’s Facebook photo. But since she had lifted weights seriously for at least two and a half years before this pregnancy, her body was accustomed to it. Instead of helping the baby, stopping her normal exercise routine could have had a negative effect on her health as well as the baby’s since exercise increases blood flow, decreases stress, improves sleep and prepares the body for birth, according to kidshealth.org.
Luckily, none of the backlash has gotten Ellison’s spirits down. She is confident in herself. With the help of her obstetrician and trainers, she knows what’s best for her body and her baby. “I can’t believe this photo has caused this much stir but it makes me hopeful that it will inspire other strong healthy moms to continue on doing what they love,” she wrote on her Facebook soon after the attention began to flood in. The California mom is doing what she loves, taking the criticisms in stride and becoming an inspiration to many. The female human body can grow another human being inside of it– I think it can handle a few squats. I have some advice for those critics: get off of Facebook and join Ellison in the gym, and you may learn something.
Avery Twible can be reached atavery.twible@spartans.ut.edu
