Pushing Stroller with Child

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Brizoeller
Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a question for the mom's(or anyone who has any idea!) out there. Almost every day i take my son on a walk/jog in the jogging stroller. I don't have a heart rate monitor, and I want to know about how many calories i am burning. I know it is more than when I walk alone, but on mfp "pushing or pulling stroller with child" doesn't burn any calories so i know that is incorrect. Any ideas? I have been logging just walking, but the stroller is 20 pounds and my son is 30 pounds, so I know i am burning more than when i am walking alone. I don't want to underestimate since I am at the point on my journey where i have to start eating more calories. Thanks so much!!
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Replies

  • zaithyr
    zaithyr Posts: 482 Member
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    I've been curious about that too. Other sites with calorie burn calculators come up with similar numbers as mfp but I would think the fact that you are adding resistance in with your walk would up the calories? I know I have to work harder when using the stroller. I need to get a HRM because I want to know how much I'm really burning.
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    I just know i sweat more lol. I guess there isn't a for sure way to know without a heart rate monitor. But i wanted to see if anyone had any ideas.
  • Ekoria
    Ekoria Posts: 262 Member
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    This is slightly different (for starters I don't have a child!) but when I was carrying my very young collie puppy around before I could walk him I was logging this as hiking carrying a 10K weight (I think?) This definitely saw an increase in the calories I burnt (and gave me a whole new level of respect for heavily pregnant ladies trying to walk through woodlands!) I wonder if something like that would be useful to log, I bet it is much harder to walk/jog with a stroller and child!
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    Hahah I love that you carried your collie puppy. Made me smile! Thank you for the advice :)
  • StayMe
    StayMe Posts: 12 Member
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    I don't rememeber from the last time I walked and I didn't enter it here, but I will have an answer for you tomorrow :) I have a 22 lb baby girl and I will be starting back up tomorrow with her in the jogging stroller (just walking) am still healing a broken toe from 4 weeks ago. I have a HR watch/monitor and I usually walk 5K in about 54 minutes, so maybe that will help you out.

    See ya tomorrow :)
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    You are awesome! Thanks so much. I guess i will break down and buy an HRM soon!
  • angieleighbyrd
    angieleighbyrd Posts: 989 Member
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    I input "pushing or pulling stroller with child" today under exercise and it said 107 calories.
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    I input "pushing or pulling stroller with child" today under exercise and it said 107 calories.

    Right, which is significantly lower than what it should be. I walk in an area with a lot of hills, and also at a brisk pace of almost 4.0 mph. So walking without the stroller i burn about 150 to 170 calories. So i know when i push my child in a stroller i know it is more than that. I also do the 30 DS and am trying to build muscle, so its important to me to know how many calories i am burning, so i can eat the majority back :) i just don't want to underestimate, bc when I have, I hit a plateau!
  • angieleighbyrd
    angieleighbyrd Posts: 989 Member
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    I input "pushing or pulling stroller with child" today under exercise and it said 107 calories.

    Right, which is significantly lower than what it should be. I walk in an area with a lot of hills, and also at a brisk pace of almost 4.0 mph. So walking without the stroller i burn about 150 to 170 calories. So i know when i push my child in a stroller i know it is more than that. I also do the 30 DS and am trying to build muscle, so its important to me to know how many calories i am burning, so i can eat the majority back :) i just don't want to underestimate, bc when I have, I hit a plateau!

    I only broke a slight sweat and we weren't walking very fast. I plan on getting a HRM soon.
  • stephyy4632
    stephyy4632 Posts: 947 Member
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    I actully burn quite abit pushing my double jogging stroller while jogging ( 70ish pounds of kids since there are two little ones in the stroller). the burn really is quite different each time I go out and the effort I put into the jog but its normaly almost double what I would burn just jogging alone.
  • urasweethart
    urasweethart Posts: 123 Member
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    I went to a couple of calulators dedicated to this questiona got about the same answer each time
    but if you get a heart rate monitor it will definetly give you the closer amount

    this is from Self had me about 15 cals more then the second was still close:

    http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/caloriesburned/pushing_stroller

    this is the Myfitnesspal calulator:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/calories-burned/pushing-or-pulling-stroller-with-child-106

    hope these help.
  • urasweethart
    urasweethart Posts: 123 Member
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    http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/caloriesburned/pushing_stroller
  • Ekoria
    Ekoria Posts: 262 Member
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    Hahah I love that you carried your collie puppy. Made me smile! Thank you for the advice :)

    Lol your welcome :)
  • StayMe
    StayMe Posts: 12 Member
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    OK here are the numbers. I weigh 169 lbs and am 41 years old. Pushing a Jogging Stroller with a 22 lb baby at approx. 3.5 mph for 60 minutes I burned 521 calories.
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    OK here are the numbers. I weigh 169 lbs and am 41 years old. Pushing a Jogging Stroller with a 22 lb baby at approx. 3.5 mph for 60 minutes I burned 521 calories.

    Wow. Yeah I need an HRM. I push a 29 pound baby for about a half hour and have been been entering about 170 calories, except for yesterday i upped it. I am 25 and weigh 145, so I still have been under. Any reccomendations on a good HRM? off topic i know!
  • Val_from_OH
    Val_from_OH Posts: 447 Member
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    I use the one for walking carrying an infant or 15 lb load. Of course my stroller + 30lb kid weighs a lot more than 15 lbs, but it has wheels :-)
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I would say it only burns significantly more calories if your going up hills or the child is very heavy - when my kids were in strollers, I had nice ones that rolled very easily and it was like nothing pushing them around in it.......unless the pushing is making you short of breath I doubt it changes much.....
  • jamie1888
    jamie1888 Posts: 1,704 Member
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    Yes, HRM is your best bet! I can run 4 miles, pretty easily and at a pretty good pace. But, when I have to push that stroller with my 40lb son; it's brutal!

    I have the Polar FT7 HRM and love it! I use apps on my iphone to tell me my pace & distance. If you don't have a smart phone, you can buy a HRM that has built in GPS. I think Garmin makes good ones.
  • Brizoeller
    Brizoeller Posts: 182 Member
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    I would say it only burns significantly more calories if your going up hills or the child is very heavy - when my kids were in strollers, I had nice ones that rolled very easily and it was like nothing pushing them around in it.......unless the pushing is making you short of breath I doubt it changes much.....

    From what i hear with an HRM, it does burn significantly more. Yes a lot of hills are involved. So definitely makes me more out of breath pushing a heavy load up a hill. An article in a parenting magazine said you can actually burn over 100 calories in 10 minutes pushing a stroller! And i have a nice jogging stroller, doesn't make much of a difference though when a child is placed in it.
  • classc1
    classc1 Posts: 42 Member
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    I would highly recommend the Polar FT4 HRM. I've had mine for a few weeks now and it seems very accurate. I use it when I run with my 30lb toddler in her jogging stroller. It was one of the best purchases I've made because now I feel more comfortable eating back all those exercise calories without worrying about going over.

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