Can spinning class add to my total daily steps?

[JuliaC123]

 Hi!

I have been spinning for few months now and noticed my fitbit is not counting this as any form of activity and my step count remains the same even though I expext my heart rate goes up massively. Is there a fix to this?

I've read that if you want accurate data you need to manually record every class. Is that the only way of marking I have actually excercised?

Moderator edit: Updated title for clarity

[NellyG]

Smart track cant recognise spin as an activity. However because the tracker has a Heart Rate monitor the calorie burn and the Active minutes should reflect what you have done as they are based on your Heart Rate. As you said, you can manually enter the Spin session in the app afterwards, but there is a down side to this. You DO end up with an activity logged, BUT the calorie burn and Active minutes are no longer based on your Heart Rate recording but on population averages. So it will probably be in the right ball park, but wont reflect how hard YOU worked. So it is a choice you have to make about whatbis most important to you.

There are other fitbits that CAN track Spinning because they have a button so you can start and stop the activity manually on the tracker after selecting the exercise shortcut as spinning. As the Alta series of trackers dont have buttons they are not able to do this. 

Edited to add that you wont get any steps for spinning as it is not a step based activity.

[alincumberland]

I've heard of some people strapping fitbits to their ankle on stationary bikes, etc to simulate step counts. Unsure if that's an option for you. 

[FerdinandFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi there @JuliaC123 @alincumberland, good to have you in the Fitbit Community Forums! 🙂

Adding to @NellyG great reply, your Alta HR can detect walks, runs, outdoor bike activity, elliptical, sport and aerobic workouts. Spinning, as Nelly mentions, is not a step based activity, so it will not add steps to your overall daily count.

Also, as @alincumberland suggested, you could try to wear your tracker on your ankle and see if this makes any difference in how you want to keep track of this activity.

If you need more help, feel free to let us know!

[JuliaC123]

Thanks @NellyG that's helpful. I will look into adding the activity manually so I can trace it a bit better in the future. I had a look on previous logs, on normal day i'd have 100- 115 active minutes, on the day I went spinning 123 and 139 so I am afraid it didn't worked that well. I will keep it as personal achievement, I know I have done 45min of spin class here and there.

If I will continue spin classes I guess it will be good excuse for a new gadget- an upgrade to my Alta HR to something more advanced 😉 

[spartyski]

I have the charge 2 (which I love) and before my spinning sessions, I set the exercise activity to spinning, start it and then put my Fitbit on my ankle using my sock to keep it in place.  Both steps and heart rate are tracked.  When the session is finished, I stop the exercise tracking and put my Fitbit back on my wrist.  

[Susibug7]

Hi, 

My husband has an ionic and it counts steps when he wears it on his wrist when he is spinning. 

I had looked it up and told him no it doesn't count steps and he was much too happy to let me know it does 😒😁.

He's just gone from about 2000 to over 10,000 steps tonight. He spins for a long time. 

I don't know why it counts steps for him. The type of fitbit? I haven't tried it myself so I don't know if mine would do the same. 

Susi

[SunsetRunner]

I have spin option on my charger 3 but it doesn't add any steps.  Can you let the community know how you're husband is synced or what he's doing that no one else can't seem to figure out?

[SunsetRunner]

I just did 11 minutes of Spinning on a stationary bike, with my Fitbit Charge 4 on my non-dominant wrist and set to Spinning exercise mode, and it added steps to my step count. In fact, when I reviewed the Spinning exercise in the app on my phone later, under "IMPACT ON YOUR DAY" it even says Spinning added 1,027 steps to my total steps taken for the day. So it would appear that Spinning exercise is being translated into and boosting my step count. That's good news for us in the frozen North!

[SunsetRunner]

My Charge 4 does the same thing when Spinning. It even says so in the app afterward under IMPACT ON YOUR DAY - it shows you how many steps were added during your Spinning session.