Lately, thanks to the “Toomey case”, the CrossFit–pregnancy pairing has become a topic of discussion for many people, including those who had never given it a thought before.

So, thanks to the media exposure that the multiple CrossFit world champion is rightly getting, even people who have no idea what actually happens inside a woman’s body during those nine months, after watching her recent pre-birth videos, have raised an eyebrow and thought: “Whoa, that’s a bit too much!”

But is it really too much? What do we actually know about what a woman can or cannot do during pregnancy?

What do we actually know about the real risks you face when doing certain exercises—or rather, can there actually be real risks?

Let’s clear things up a bit together, starting with a premise: using Tia Toomey as an example to talk about what can be done during pregnancy is like talking about a car’s performance on the road using a racing Ferrari as your case study; basically, if you drive a Panda, with all due respect, the conversation just can’t be the same.

I think we can ALL agree that she is an absolutely outstanding athlete, with abilities that, at present, can only be attributed to her.

So, starting from this premise, the answer to the first question is implicit: it’s clear that for us ordinary “Pandas” carrying a bump, it is UNTHINKABLE and probably dangerous to handle those intensities, those loads and those volumes, whereas for her they are most likely lower percentages than what she is used to managing and where she feels completely comfortable.

In addition, I personally want to stress that on social media we see one percent of what her real training routine looks like, so you can understand how hard it is to truly grasp what precautions she took during this delicate period.

The only things I am certain of are that:
1 Those performances during pregnancy can only be done by her
2 Being an athlete is her job, and this means that on her personal scale the balance of benefits vs. risks is completely different from ours
3 As a mother, I am sure that even if it seems “too much” to us, when making her decisions she put her daughter’s safety first.

But let’s get back to talking about us, STRONG PANDA MAMAS, who are still amazing machines—are we taking risks by continuing to train with CrossFit despite being in this delicate condition?

The answer is: if done consciously, it’s very unlikely, but in any case it is highly subjective!
In fact, what we can and cannot do depends on several factors, first and foremost what kind of pregnancy I have.

Is it physiological? Are there any complications? What fitness level am I starting from? What sensations do I feel when I move? And so on and so forth…
I could go on until tomorrow! In short, it’s clear that there can’t be rules that work for every woman. Now, quite rightly, you’ll be asking: “Are there things that, without a shadow of a doubt, are not recommended during pregnancy?”
The answer is “yes, of course”, but to find out what they are you’ll have to wait for the next chapter.