Competing While Pregnant: Erika Moburg-Jones

May 5, 2012

Stephanie Vincent

"Go as hard as I can, for as long as I can [while] listening to [my] body."

Regional competition is a demanding test of physical and mental fitness in and of itself. For one female competitor at the Mid Atlantic Regional, that test takes on a whole new dimension. She is 14 weeks pregnant. 

Erika Moburg-Jones, Director of Operations and Training at Patriot CrossFit, discovered she was pregnant the last week of the Open. “For the last workout, I was a little panicked,” she recalls. “I didn't want to psych myself out and think I couldn't do it anymore because I was pregnant. But then I decided, you know what, what the hell, let’s go for it."

Moburg-Jones finished the Open in 42nd place, qualifying for Regionals

She says her training wasn't affected much by her pregnancy. She said she is a little bit more tired and some things have become more difficult. "Handstand push-ups are more tricky."

The athletes she trains are inspired by her decision, and her athleticism. “She is my inspiration,” Jen Navarro says. “She kicked my ass in the Open all while being pregnant. Every time I wanted to give up, she was out there working her butt off. She pushed me."

Moburg-Jones says she set goals for herself for each Regional Workout and so far she has achieved those. Her goal is to make it through Event Five. Erika is in 29th place in the competition at the start of Day Two.

Moburg-Jones credits CrossFit for a healthy first trimester. ”It says a lot about being healthy going into a pregnancy."

Friend and Mid Atlantic Regional athlete Sarah Wilson says Moburg-Jones sets the bar for women. "I think this is where the bar should be,” Wilson says. “She is an example to all women out there. It's a lost art for women to stay in shape and stay healthy while they are pregnant."

Moburg-Jones says she has a plan for Regionals. "Go as hard as I can, for as long as I can."

She will scale back when she needs to by listening to her body. Wilson supports her friend in competing at Regionals and beyond. Her logic is simple. "Where do women carry their a baby? In their midsection. What does CrossFit protect? Your core."