Babywearing Basics, Practical Tips

Yes, babywearing counts as exercise!

Now that you’re a new mom, you might feel stressed that you don’t have time to work out (well, you don’t have time for anything, really — but let’s stick to exercise for now).
Maybe we’ve got the wrong idea of what actually counts as exercise?

For thousands of years, back in the hunter-gatherer societies, women were mainly responsible for gathering food, while men went hunting. Hunting was essentially aerobic exercise — cardio. Gathering, on the other hand, was closer to strength training: lifting, carrying loads, repetition.

Today, we tend to do the opposite: men mostly focus on weight training, and women on cardio.
And yet, in our ancestral societies, mothers would walk up to 7 kilometers a day, carrying weight — both the baby and the food they had collected.

You might think that “exercise” means having someone watch your baby so that you can go out and do cardio. And of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to go for a run on your own! But keep in mind that carrying your baby* is actually one of the best forms of physical activity for your body. It definitely counts as exercise!
Especially for us women (our bodies are literally built for carrying, it’s part of our evolution), resistance exercise is incredibly important for our health. It helps prevent osteoporosis, which affects us much more than men.

So next time you get the chance, leave the stroller aside for a bit, put on your sneakers, wear your baby in the carrier, and go for a brisk walk. 😉

*in a proper baby carrier that distributes weight evenly, and as long as you maintain good posture, without leaning, or slouching.

based on a post by Elena Bridgers