Running with your baby in the stroller is a fantastic way to get fit again and burn fat same time entertaining your little one. There are things to take into consideration though to prevent you developing pain in certain areas and risking injury.
TIPS FOR RUNNING WITH A STROLLER
1) CHOOSE THE RIGHT STROLLER
The average strollers are not built for jogging with bumpy terrains or moving at higher speeds. If you are going to do jogging with a stroller regularly it may be worth investing in a jogging stroller. They come with larger sized tires, better suspension and brakes for downhill.
2) GET YOUR FOOT POSITION RIGHT
Adopting the feet turning outward (duck feet) or inward (pigeon toed) is a common occurrence. The feet not facing forwards causes a loss of stability then with every step your body has to work harder to compensate for the loss of stability. This causes your body alignment to be off and your core muscles including butt (glut muscles) cannot work properly. Hip and knee pain can often develop and your arches collapse.
Try to aim for your knee caps to be in alignment with your second toes.
3) BEWARE OF PRAM BUM!
This is really common and often can see it when catch a mum running past you with a stroller. Becomes even worse on going uphill. Means you are leaning forwards and commonly happens when you become tired. Try and keep your lower back in the neutral position keeping upright rather than sticking your bum out. Aim to run in the same way you would without a stroller.
4) LET MOMENTUM DRIVE YOU
You should not feel the need to ‘push’ the stroller when on the flat but instead momentum is driving you forwards. This is when a good jogging stroller comes into play. If you do not push it also helps you stand more upright rather than lean forwards leaning to the good old pram bum mentioned before.
5) BETTER ARM AND SHOULDER POSITION
Try not to lock your arms into being straight but have a slight bend in the elbows and keep them closer to your sides so they do not stick outwards. If you have a double stroller then widen the distance between your hands on the handle bar. Keep your wrists in a neutral position so they are not hyperextended ie bent a lot
6) WHAT ABOUT DOWNHILLS
This is when you are risk of losing control of the stroller and even slipping so try to keep the stroller close to you keeping the arms and shoulders in the correct position above. Keep your fingers lightly over the break to be able to break easily when need.
7) IF YOU LIKE TO RUN AT A FASTER PACE WITH ONE HAND ON THE STROLLER
Make sure to change hands. By just running with one hand on the stroller most of the time this will cause issues in the mobility of your upper body and pain around your upper back, shoulders and waist can develop. It also will over time cause issues in other joints like your hips and knees from staying in one posture.
8) DO SOME PRE STROLLER RUNNING STRETCHES
There are the typical running stretches that we advise to do after your run (see running stretches section) but we advise doing a upper body preparation stretching and movement routine before going for a stroller run. This is because having your hands on the stroller means that your upper body does not do slight turning like it does when your arms are swinging by your sides which can lead to you becoming quite stiff in this area. See our Stretch Section to see the pre run warm up exercises.
