Stroller Walking: Fit For You And Fun For Baby Getting fit while spending time with your baby makes walking the perfect postnatal fitness exercise. Exercising with your baby is convenient because you don’t have to find a babysitter. You can literally walk out your front door and enjoy quality time with your child. If you are a brand-new mom, you'll need to wait 6 to 8 weeks (depending on whether you had a vaginal or c-section delivery) before beginning any type of exercise. Check with your OB-Gyn at your post-delivery check-up to ensure that you are cleared to begin exercising. Breastfeeding moms needs to make sure they are eating and drinking enough while exercising. For great advice on the nutritional needs of breastfeeding moms, visit the
breastfeeding-magazine.com
1. Stay within your
Target Heart Rate Zone.
It’s important to keep your heart rate elevated so that you are burning as many calories as possible. I find that I tend to slow down while talking to my son so I use my heart rate monitor to ensure I stay in my Target Heart Rate Zone. Read this article for my recommendations on the
best heart rate monitors.
Obviously you won’t be able to keep your arms at your sides because you will be holding on to the stroller! Try to keep your shoulders relaxed and down and maintain a relaxed grip on the handlebars. For some reason, I tend to grip the handlebars very tightly, which causes my shoulders to scrunch up around my neck. This always gives me pain in my upper shoulders. 3. Bring snacks or toys to entertain baby. My son loves to relax in his stroller and eat his favorite snack during our walks. Toys or snacks will help keep baby occupied. 4. Find an interesting place to walk. You may love the path with the beautiful flowers and trees, but baby may find that just plain boring! If your baby doesn’t have the same appreciation for nature that you do, find a place to walk that is more suited to baby’s interests. For example, walk near a school where there are children to watch. I often try to walk near the road so I can point out buses and trucks to my son. 5. Talk to your baby. Make stroller walking time educational. Point out the sights and sounds around you. There is no sweeter voice to baby than yours. Use this time to encourage baby’s language development. 6. Get creative. You may need to get creative as your baby gets older. My son loved being in the stroller until recently. Suddenly, as a very active toddler, he no longer wants to be in the stroller. In fact he says “out” every chance he gets! I had to change my walking routine to include a trip to the park. When he now says “out”, I tell him he can get out at the park, which seems to pacify him. Instead of a solid half hour of walking, we now take a 15-minute route to the park, play for a while at the park, then take a 15-minute route home. For more ideas on how to exercise with your baby, find several tips on baby activities here.  To begin stroller walking, I recommend buying a jogging or walking stroller. When I began stroller walking, I used my traditional Graco stroller, which has 4 plastic wheels. Although it’s great for shopping and strolling, the Graco is bulky and cumbersome to steer and push uphill. I noticed a huge improvement when I switched to a jogging stroller. It has rubber wheels, which makes it easier to go over uneven surfaces that I encounter on sidewalks and paths. Jogging strollers are lighter, which makes them much easier to push, especially uphill. I also find that it’s much easier to go up and down sidewalk curbs with the jogging stroller. In addition, may of these strollers have a handbrake, like a bicycle, to help you slow down when walking downhill. I recently switched to a walking stroller and love it even more than a jogging stroller! It is a wonderful all-purpose stroller that I can use anywhere. Read my own personal
BOB Revolution Stroller Review.
Looking for the best rated walking stroller for your walks? Read this article about my picks for the
top 3 best rated walking strollers.
If you would like to connect with other new moms and get support and encouragement, consider joining a stroller walking group. To find a stroller walking group in your area, simply do an online search for “stroller walking group + your city” (without the quotes). Stroller Strides is a wonderful group and is available in many cities throughout the United States. I’ve taken a Stroller Strides class and I can tell you it is a great total body workout! Not only do the moms get together for fitness walking, they also have moms night out and baby play groups. Stroller Strides truly is a great support system for new moms. These stroller walking tips will put you on the path to fitness and weight loss. You'll get a good workout and enjoy special time with your baby.
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