22 Jun Sammy Jobe & Baby Jobe’s journey at CrossFit121
Jan, 2014 – By Samantha Jobe ( CF121 Client)
My husband and I stumbled across the CrossFit Games on TV one day. “Holy Shit Balls”, we said…what is this and where can we do it? We were bored with our normal gym training and after a while we decided to look into this ‘CrossFit Thing’ and give it a go. I first started training at CrossFit 121 in February 2013 after the recommendation of a friend and feel in love with it, instantly. The trainers, the other members, the WODs and the atmosphere at CF121 Box are addictive. It quickly became my life, so much so that I changed my employment to fit in with my training schedule.
I began to train twice a day under the guidance of Chris and Maria Hogan and I could see my skills were improving, I was pushing myself beyond my comfort zones, surpassing my short term and long term fitness goals and my body was changing. It was awesome, I was feeling the best I had ever felt, even despite having an old niggling knee injury.
In June, I feel pregnant. Feeling blessed and super excited, I was still determined to train and keep the pregnancy under wraps until at least the first trimester tests were clear. The next 3 months were such a personal struggle for me. I (reluctantly) had to cut back my training to once a day and how far I could push myself to protect and care for the life growing inside of me. There were no more PR’s and pushing myself to exhaustion. I watched on as my training partners surpassed me and sometimes felt that I was left back at beginner stage again. It was tough not being able to share these feelings with anyone else and to try and explain why I was slacking off.
My Doctors advice was to keep up with my fitness regime, modifying where necessary being careful not to overexert myself. I read blog after blog about Pregnant Crossfitters trying to educate myself but about 8 weeks into to the first trimester I had to come clean to Maria and Chris about my pregnancy, knowing there were things that I probably shouldn’t be doing. Firstly, I was so happy to be able to share the news with them. Secondly, it was so much more comforting knowing that I was in safe hands, they knew exactly what I could and couldn’t do. There has never been an issue with them modifying my WOD’s and their support throughout the last 7 months has been amazing. I know that there is always a watchful eye looking out for me and someone to pull me in line when I just want to add another 5 or 10lbs to the bar. In a way, I have entrusted them with caring for my baby too and they have not failed.
Some people call me crazy getting up at 5am to go and train for an hour, but I honestly believe that doing this has made my pregnancy much easier. Aside from fatigue and day-long nausea, I felt that I have breezed through my first and second trimesters. I would show up to class on days where I felt I could barely function due to fatigue and walked out feeling energised and ready to get on with the day. There is no substitute to that feeling. I’m at 31 weeks now and still training once a day (with a view to keep it up until 35 weeks) although with much less intensity…it’s a little bit harder now with a big belly, but I don’t mind because I know that baby is growing and is healthy and happy.
Maintaining a level of fitness during my pregnancy has been important to me and even though there has been some weight gain and I have had to take a back seat to my training partners, I know that I have done the best thing for my baby and I to stay happy and healthy throughout.
A huge thank you to Chris, Maria, my husband and to the other CF121 members for your support and encouragement throughout this journey, you have all made it possible for me to continue and Baby J and I are blessed and grateful.
