Tracking stationary bike exercise

[NavyLady]

I rode the stationary bike at the gym for 45 minutes yesterday and my Alta did not track it. I thought it tracked stationary bike movement?! It's only day 4 of use and I've had so many questions...ha ha ha

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Julia_G]

Hi, @NavyLady, the Alta only automatically tracks outdoor bike, because it needs to detect forward motion.  

The best thing to do for stationery bike is to log it manually.  Instructions here: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1144

[andymattmom · Accepted solution]

Along with the recommendation of logging it a few months back someone suggested putting hand on knee while riding stationary bike. I do that and it works, only thing is logs as elliptical but I get the "steps" and time. It's not 100% but you need to remember riding is not stepping and the Alta is a pedometer to measure steps:

[NavyLady]

Thanks for the tip! Will try it out.

[NavyLady]

That's really good to know. Yeah, I am aware of the manual entry from my Charge that didn't record anything. Alta is much better and tracks a bit more. I am too lazy to enter it, but appreciate the advice. Thanks again!

[beerbasket]

I have not been sucessful in recording stationay bike activity. I use treadmill and eplitical trainer and it records steps fine. I discovered if I remove the fitbit and put in my pocket it records just fine.

[AnnieFitbit]

Hi there @beerbasket! 

As my friend @Julia_G kindly explained in her post above, the Alta trackers outdoor bike only. It can track a treadmill and elliptical activity properly, because it is designed to track those two activities, but for cycling, it needs and actual distance traveled, in order to track. 

One more thing to mention is that the tracker is designed to be worn around your wrist. Keeping it in your pocket can cause it to fall or not track properly.

Keep me posted if you have any questions! 

[Olusola]

I put my alta in my pocket because the strap slips off. It tracked my stationery biking. I did a little research and deduced 1 step may burn a little more than one cycle, but it helps. I just take take the few extra (in reality) unburned calories tracked by my Alta, as the caloriea burned during untracked exercises like pushups. Hope this helps.