Andrea Nisler, 9x CrossFit Games athlete, has had quite a busy few months. 

On March 13th Andrea and her husband Bob welcomed their first daughter Riley into the world. Andrea has been very active on her Instagram account posting her workouts throughout her pregnancy, and postpartum. On March 28th, Andrea posted a video of her back in the gym with the caption: “The phrase “bounce back” gives me the ick 🤢Get back in the gym to feel strong and fit again- to expect your body to look like it did before you made and carried a human is unrealistic and unhealthy. Instead let’s start encouraging women to FEEL good postpartum instead of focusing on how they look 😑.” 

Andrea was able to complete the Quarterfinals workouts and is currently sitting in 5th place on the leaderboard for the women’s 35-39 year old division. This is an incredible accomplishment in her postpartum journey. 

The Morning Chalk Up, a CrossFit media outlet, posted about Andrea’s accomplishment on their Instagram. And the post was met with… interesting reactions. 

Upon reading the post, I was shocked to see how many negative comments were being made.

Many of the comments implied that this was an unsafe message to share with other women as it promotes an unhealthy return back to exercise postpartum. Many said it should have come with a disclaimer, and many questioned Andrea’s choices as a mother and as an athlete. 

This not only diminished an accomplishment for her as an athlete, but also led to people openly criticizing a new Mom for her decisions. Andrea is an elite athlete, and therefore her pregnancy and postpartum journey has been very different than most women’s journeys. But… the main point here is that regardless of if she is an athlete or not: her pregnancy journey is HER journey, and her postpartum journey is HER journey. Period. 

Mom shaming is a very real issue that women deal with. While another Mom might not make the same decisions that you do, bringing them down and judging them does NOTHING for other women. Being a mom is hard enough, why do we have to add woman on woman hate to the mix too? 

Andrea responded to the comments like a true professional: “hi guys- andrea here- just to clear some things up-

1. all my workouts were to the workout standards

2. i was not pregnant for 23.3

3. im working with medical professionals who have cleared what i’m doing

4. let’s celebrate others peoples journeys instead of being keyboard warriors

5. for those of you supporting me- love you”. 

Andrea, we support you in anything you choose to do with your own body. Congratulations on qualifying for semifinals!!!