Running with a stroller is a high-intensity workout, on par with shoveling heavy snow. The number of calories you burn by running and pushing a stroller will depend on several factors, including the terrain, your pace, your weight and the weight of the child.
Function
Pushing a stroller while you run adds a resistance element to your workout, particularly if you travel uphill. In 2007, the American Council on Exercise published the results of a study showing that women who walked with a 30-pound stroller on a treadmill with a changing incline at a 3.5-miles-per-hour pace burned 7.4 calories per minute, or 444 calories per hour. According to the ACE online physical activity calculator, a 130-lb. woman would normally expect to burn 224 calories per hour walking at the same pace without a stroller.
Considerations
With any exercise, the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn. By the same logic, a heavier child will add more resistance to your workout, and will also increase your calorie burn. A hilly course will use more calories than a flat one. Increasing your pace or the duration of your run will also increase the calorie burn.
Running
According to the ACE physical activity calculator, a 130-lb. woman running at a 6.0-mph pace on a flat surface without a stroller would burn 590 calories in one hour. Although there are too many variables to pinpoint exactly how many calories a stroller will add to your total, it's definitely a way to take your workout up a notch.
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