"So what if full recovery took me 11 months? It's nothing in the grand scheme of things."
Sally Dixey hated her first five months of pregnancy.“I felt out of control, bloated and fat,” she says.
Before pregnancy, Dixey didn’t adhere to a strict diet, but limited white carbs. When she got pregnant, the diet went out the window. “I just ate whatever I felt like eating because I was tired and it was easier,” she says.
But being a trainer at CrossFit London UK, Dixey knew how to scale her workouts accordingly. “I was fully prepared and knew how things would affect me, both good and bad,” she says.
When it came to CrossFit, Dixey learned listening to her body was more important than anything else. “Classroom knowledge was just obsolete,” she says.
Recovery Time
After the Caesarean-section birth of her son, Sebastian, Dixey began to feel the stress her body had been through. “Closing a heavy drawer was a huge strain on my stomach,” she says.
Dixey noticed she stooped as she moved and even lifted herself out of bed differently. “Pelvic floor exercises and short walks were my limit,” she says. Dixey also found standing for long periods of time extremely uncomfortable; washing dishes was a challenge.
Listening to her body, Dixey didn’t rush back to CrossFit. “Although the outer layer appeared healed, deep inside, I was still not myself,” she says.
So Dixey cleaned up her diet, which gave her more energy. “After going paleo, I didn’t feel so wiped,” she explains. Within a few weeks, she stopped using coffee and sugar to keep her energized throughout the day.
A couple months after the C-section, Dixey returned to the box. There, she kept it simple. “I went back to basics,” Dixey says. “Drilling with light bars and PVC, playing with strength and then fine tuning it … nothing fancy or new — just starting fresh.”
At first, she focused on regaining her strength. She began by bench pressing, back squatting, strict pressing and deadlifting at no more than 65 percent of her working max most of the time. In between those sets, she threw in additional sets of either band-assisted ring dips or pull-ups. Fellow CrossFit London UK trainer Chris Howard also sprinkled in some Westside Barbell-inspired programming, including Anderson squats, good-morning box squats and banded bench presses. And she stretched — a lot.
By May, Dixey was feeling “so much stronger.” She noticed she could perform daily activities like transporting the baby stroller down the stairs or carrying groceries. “This is the whole point of CrossFit, isn’t it?” Dixey says. “To make you fit for what life throws at you.”
More recently, she’s been increasing the weight up to 80 percent of her max and doing pull-ups without a band. “Slowly over the weeks I have added more accessory moves,” she says, referencing such movements as the L-sit hold.
Nine months after giving birth, she regained her pre-pregnancy squat and did a pull-up. The new mom says she’s pleased with her progress. “After the weight gain, the pregnancy and the surgery, I am the happiest I’ve ever been with my body and skin because I know the amazing things it can do, and how well it recovers,” an almost-triumphant Dixey says.
But her moment of truth came when she smashed through Karen in 5:51. “I was over the moon,” Dixey says. With such a performance, she obliterated her fears that she would never return to her old self. “So what if full recovery took me 11 months? It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things,” Dixey says.
Likewise, she recommends the same approach to any woman who’s had a Caesarian section or anyone has had serious abdominal surgery. “I was determined for it not to (affect) my life as I have heard so many stories of women who have ‘never been right again’ after a C-section,” Dixey says. “Other (than) a small scar, I wouldn't know it was there.”
Besides giving her body time to recover, she also has slowed down her life. “Sebastian turned 1 and I feel like I just blinked,” Dixey says. “You need to enjoy every second.”
