Never mind Pilates, yoga or spinning classes – the best exercise for shifting the baby weight has been under your nose all the time, according to a poll by Mothercare.
The average new mum pushes her baby buggy almost 750 miles per year – the same distance as walking the length of Britain! The poll revealed that on average, active mums take their tot out and about six times a week, tallying 2 miles per trip.
The poll of 2,000 mums found that 72% preferred the local park for their daytime strolls with their pushchair in tow, while 8 out of 10 admit that pushing the pram was their main source of exercise.
“Who would think that a daily walk with a pushchair would add up to so many miles. Getting out with your baby is a great way of getting back into shape and staying healthy,” Liz Day from Mothercare has said.
Mums in Norwich fared the highest in buggy miles, trekking 21 miles a week, which equals 1,113 miles a year, whereas Wolverhampton mums get out the least, managing 428 miles per year.
With an average 30lbs gained during pregnancy, 52% of the mums polled claimed to have lost an average of 9lb through pram pushing in the first month after giving birth.
So if that isn’t enough incentive to get pushing, we don’t know what is!
Mums who walk the most miles per week:
- Norwich – 21.4
- Wrexham – 19.49
- York – 17.31
- Portsmouth – 16.69
- Newcastle – 16.29
- Plymouth – 16.08
- Worcester – 15.72
- Oxford – 14.87
- Edinburgh – 14.03
- Liverpool – 13.97
And those who walk the least miles per week:
- Wolverhampton – 8.24
- Birmingham – 9.93
- London – 10.58
- Cardiff – 11.55
- Leeds – 11.77
- Leicester – 11.9
- Manchester – 12.3
- Cambridge – 12.47
- Coventry – 12.5
- Brighton – 12 .63
