Advertisement Greany bought a jogging stroller and started walking with her first child, Thomas. When she had her second child, Rosemary, Greany continued to walk with a double jogging buggy.
 |
“It was really a workout of moderate intensity, walking and pushing the children,” Greany said.
Greany, who has a doctorate in nutrition and is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, knew a colleague, John Porcari, was always looking for new ideas for research.
Porcari, director of UW-L’s Exercise and Health Program, has conducted most of the research on physical activity and exercise equipment for the American Council on Exercise.
He liked Greany’s idea and so did the council, which funded the study at UW-L. He and Lisa Bush recruited 15 female subjects, ages 19 to 41 years, who walked the strollers with a load matching a 1-year-old child on a treadmill.
The subjects were tested for oxygen consumption and heart rate and were surveyed for perceived exertion.
“I wasn’t surprised by the results,” Greany said.
As predicted, walking while pushing a stroller burned more calories than simply walking alone, Porcari said. More calories were burned going uphill, he said.
The research found the exercise intensity and calories burned were 18 percent to 20 percent higher than walking alone. The subjects burned 372 to 444 calories an hour, Porcari said.
“That’s like mowing lawn or riding a bike at 10 miles an hour,” Porcari said. “It’s a pretty good workout of moderate intensity.”
The results were better than predicted, he said. The study was published in the American Council on Exercise’s journal, FitnessMatters.
“We found out that it’s a great workout for moms who don’t always have the time to get out and exercise,” Porcari said. “They can do it with their kids.”
Porcari said studies have shown mothers with young children are less likely to get even the minimum amount of exercise they need to stay healthy compared with women who don’t have kids.
“Jogging strollers could be the answer for these women,” he said.
With the strollers, moms don’t have to leave their children when they exercise, Greany said.
“This study should encourage moms who want to get back into shape or stay in shape,” Greany said. “Jogging strollers are a way for moms to incorporate exercise into their life, and it’s fun for the kids.”
Picking the right jogging stroller
Source: Kristen Horler and American Council on Exercise FitnessMatters
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@lacrossetribune.com or (608) 791-8227.
