If you are anything like me, I had recently delivered my sweet baby boy when I began to think about how many more weeks until my OB cleared me for workouts again. Until then, it was just walking...great. But did you know you could be pushing that stroller WRONG? Below I am going to show you two pictures of me pushing my kids in the double stroller.
Let's point the obvious first. My head and eyes are down and the rest of my body is following the same direction including my chest and midsection. Second, my arms are stretched out in front of me causing my chest and midsection to fall down even further. Third, my booty is sticking waaaay out there. Fourth, and maybe not so obvious, my core is unengaged. I may be walking some calories off, but I am not adding any extra benefit by pushing the stroller up my driveway this way.
Alright, let's compare that with the picture below. My eyes and head are up looking out towards the horizon. And again, my trunk is following the same direction - chest is up. Second, my elbows are comfortably bent which forces me to engage my core and not having my booty way out there and in a neutral position further engages and assists my core to stay activated.
Below are two side by side pictures from a slightly different angle, but again same principle applies as explained above.
It seems funny and unnatural to be walking with elbows fully extended and booty sticking out, but sadly this was me after my first baby. I was visiting my sister in Wisconsin and we would do daily stroller walks up and down those country hills and I remember joking with her how we would extend to push up those hills.
If you are pushing the stroller with bad posture, you aren't helping yourself out. Slow down if you have to and activate that transverse abdominus in a functional movement!
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