So does running with a buggy burn more calories than running without?

[overmydeadbody]

Just wondering really.

My watch doesn't know the difference, and I guess I run a bit slower with it, but do you think it burns more calories compared to running the same distance solo?

10kg toddler in it if that makes a difference

I would think so just from a physics point of view it will take more energy to do a distance while pushing a weight than the same distance without a weight. I might be talking bollocks.

I suspect opposite (burn less) b/c you will end up slowing or even stopping to fiddle & won't be able to run a natural pace, always have to adjust, so won't keep it up so long.

Wear a heart monitor when you're doing the course, without & with buggy, & you can tell us. If by 'watch' you say your fitbit or HRM says less calories with buggy, then I believe the 'watch'.

Daily, my watch (polar flow) predicts the same number of calories for the distance, give or take for speed.

I don't start and stop, or fiddle, it makes very little difference to my running overall ( maybe ten seconds per mile slower with the buggy) but my heart rate is definitely higher with the buggy.

Due to being pregnant I'm sticking to no higher than 160 BPM on all my runs, and I get there faster with the buggy, so just wondered, of it burns more, I could run less

Maybe not though, of your right and it burns less

Negligible

Ok I'll experiment, I'll run the same course exactly with and without the buggy and try to keep to the same speed and see what polar says!

The buggy makes no difference to the distance I can keep running for... It's more the toddler inside

If sticking tot in there makes it easier for you to get out, then you will deffo benefit.

Cals you burn is dependent on the HR (& a bunch of other factors that won't change within a single week). If your HR was higher on avg, you burnt more cals, & the Polar should say so.

If anything I would say it burns less. You're almost taking pressure off your body by having the buggy as a support.

Running economy might be slightly lower because of having to push the buggy
the energy cost of running might be slightly higher with the added burden of the buggy these two would probably cancel each other out
My guess is that the calorie cost of running a given distance at a given speed would be very slightly higher with a buggy compared to running without it

I don’t see how pushing something can burn many calories.

but my heart rate is definitely higher with the buggy
If your heart rate is higher with the buggy than it is running at the same speed without the buggy then that tells you that the energy cost of running is higher
so you burn more calories with the buggy than without it

Thanks everyone.

For the sake of science I did the experiment! I ran the same route with and without the buggy, with the buggy first, matched the speed for the run without, and I burnt 30 calories more, so about ten calories per mile.

Negligible

Hey, that's half a tangerine that is. You earnt it.