March 31, 2011 in Member Profiles by Turbo

March 2011 Member of the Month: Lise Durand Bale

Lise & William

Lise is my cousin and I love her, in fact I was maid of honor at her wedding.  She’s always been in great shape and I had no doubt that she would love CrossFit. She may not know how much she inspires me.

I wanted to profile her story here because she, along the other CrossFit moms in our community, can make a real impact on us future moms. They’ve somehow managed to make me less afraid of childbirth! Lise has shown us that it is possible to stay in amazing shape throughout pregnancy.  She continued to train, with some modifications, right up until the day before William was born.  She was still doing unassisted pullups to the very end of her pregnancy!  Her last pre-baby workout was on Thursday evening; did some bench press, snatches, ring dips and sumo deadlift high pulls (!!?!?).  She went to work the next day, her last day of work before her planned maternity leave.  In the evening,  she made her way to her brother’s home, where she had a home birth planned.  The midwife was called around 8:30 and William was born just after midnight.  Both mom and baby are happy & healthy, no complications.   Lise, we are so proud and happy for you!  And I want to be just like you when I grow up…

– Coach T.

PS: Lise answered these questions before William was born.  She may have something to add since then…

Age: 32

Height: 5’4″

Weight: 110 (pre-pregnancy), 135.5 (36 weeks pregnant)

What is your favourite exercise or workout? Deadlift, box jump, GHD sit-up combo! There’s something about that combination that just makes me feel strong, plus it gives me lots of happy endorphins .

What is your least favourite exercise or workout? It’s a tough call between wallballs and burpees. When we do them in a workout, I definitely prefer to get them out of the way at the beginning.

Tell us something interesting or surprising about yourself? I can still do a pull-up at 38 weeks pregnant. I was never able to do pull-ups until I started CrossFit and it seems unbelievable to be able to continue to do them now.

What is your favourite hobby, pastime or sport? I love camping and hiking, but not in the rain because I hate being cold. I am a nerd and I love to do crosswords.

What changes have you seen in yourself or your life since joining CrossFit Winnipeg? I feel more in control. CrossFit makes me feel like I can do anything. It’s probably because when people ask me about it, I get reactions like “Really? I could never do that!”

Do you have any special memorable CrossFit Winnipeg moments? We were doing a thruster ladder. No one had completed 15 rounds that day, so Coach Pascal said he’d buy breakfast for anyone who completed 15 rounds. Baby Bale and I will be collecting on our breakfast with Coach Pascal: at 36 weeks pregnant, I not only completed 15 rounds, but I went on and completed 16 rounds (136 thrusters – CFM Rx’d)!

What advice would you give to a newbie or someone just joining CrossFit Winnipeg? Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Ever. CrossFit is for all skill levels and all ages. Strive for improvement, not perfection and repeat: “I will promise to do my best. My best will vary from day to day. From hour to hour. From minute to minute. But in that minute, I will do the very best that I can.”

What is your biggest accomplishment at CrossFit Winnipeg? Definitely continuing my CrossFit workouts throughout pregnancy. It’s been rewarding physically as far as coping with the changes to my body, but also psychologically as I prepare for the challenges ahead. I also read that babies of CrossFit Moms are better able to cope with the stress of birth. I compare giving birth to doing a CrossFit workout – it’s hard work, it gets progressively harder till the end, it’ only a minute of work at a time and you can cope because quitting is not an option and, in the end, you get a great reward.