Help me understand

[sallie901]

Hi Can someone explain to me  how this works please. I had a charge for just over a year and have now upgraded to a blaze, this is the first fitbit for me having HR monitor.  I have been recording my workout exercises and my walks (these are my two exercises i do regularly).  It appears that my walks burn more or less the same calories as my workouts 

19 Jun, 3:18 pm	Workout Edit	1,574	N/A	21:37	115 cals	View Details
19 Jun, 7:50 am	Walk Edit	2,956	N/A	29:01	142 cals	View Details

I realise i am doing more steps on the walk not too sure how as im jumping around and sprinting on the spot due to HIT. After the 21 min workout i am exhausted shattered where  i plod around on the walk, so this doesn't seem right does it?? Either one may be wrong but it seems i should burn more calories when i work out.  Thanks

[jmattwood]

Walking is a good as any workout! (obviously not for building muscle)

[bbarrera]

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@sallie901 wrote:

I realise i am doing more steps on the walk not too sure how as im jumping around and sprinting on the spot due to HIT. After the 21 min workout i am exhausted shattered where  i plod around on the walk, so this doesn't seem right does it?? Either one may be wrong but it seems i should burn more calories when i work out.  Thanks

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@sallie901 That doesn't look right to me. Without looking at your HR graph (clicking View Details says workout is private), I'd have to say that the most likely cause is that your Blaze isn't accurately recording heart rate during HIT. If your HR is too low, then Fitbit's estimate of calorie burn will be too low. 

Try going to this website:

http://www.acaloriecalculator.com/calories-burned-calculator/

And enter your weight and time, then click "Calculate Calories Burned in Activies" and scroll down. You can find calorie burn estimates for walking at different speeds, and estimates for various conditioning workouts - for example "circuit training, including kettlebells, some aerobic movement with minimal rest, general, vigorous intensity" is probably closed to HIT. I get 368 calories for 29 minutes of circuit training, to achieve the same calorie burn by walking would require 12 minutes per mile (5mph) which is almost impossible for me to walk - a really fast walk for me at 6' 1" is walking 13 min/miles, which is faster than a lot of joggers on the trail.

[sallie901]

Thanks bbarrera for your help.  I've been reading up and wonder if its the walk thats burning too many calories as i seem to consistently burn 500 calories for just under 5 miles.  From what i have read thats too high for my build im 5ft 7 in and 130 lb.  What do you think?  Thanks

[bbarrera]

@sallie901 my high school daughter is about same build, and she thinks walking 4mph - 15 minutes per mile - is fast (lol, she plays varsity soccer and is a fast runner!).

At that pace, just under 5 miles would take about 1 hour and 14 minutes, and burns about 364 calories (using website calorie estimator from above) for someone 130lbs. By comparison, I'm just over 200 lbs and burn around 587 calories at that pace and total time. Those are estimates based on data compiled by researchers over the years, averaged over a lot of people, so those may or may not be close for you (that website's estimates closely match calorie burn estimates from my garmin chest strap).

How long does it take you to walk just under 5 miles?

[sallie901]

Hi it takes me 1 hour 45 minutes to walk around 4.75 miles so really i think that should burn roughly 350 calories not 500.  Looking back over my stats i see that when i used to have my charge it was saying i was burning the same if not more!! shall i email fitbit do you think, oh and im 50 years old so probably walking at about 3 mph i would tihink.  Thanks again for your replies 

[bbarrera · Accepted solution]

@sallie901 4.75 miles in 1:45:00 is 2.7mph... if done on a flat sidewalk or road then the calorie estimator gives something like 350 calories for your weight. So yes, 500 seems a bit high if you are "average" and healthy and no history of high HR. So why is Blaze giving you 500 calories? There are several reasons I can think of:

- your Blaze is accurately recording HR, and calorie estimate is correct

- your Blaze is accurately recording HR, but calorie estimate is wrong

- your Blaze is *not* accurately recording HR, and therefore calorie estimate is wrong

- your Fitbit account settings for weight is wrong (too high) and that is affecting Fitbit calorie estimates

I'd review the last item, and if your weight is correct in your Fitbit account then call Fitbit support for help.

[sallie901]

Thanks for your help.  Interestingly my friend and i both tracked the same walk today, she has Charge HR.  We both burned within 6 caloies of each other so i wonder if its just fitbit that run a bit high on the calories burnt.  She also had run keeper going at the same time but has yet to let me know what that recorded.  Don;t know if it makes any odds but it is quite hilly where we walk.  Guess ill just be happy with what it gives me for a walk and not so pleased with the workout calories.  Probably evens itself out in the end lol. 

[bbarrera · Accepted solution]

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@sallie901 wrote:

Don;t know if it makes any odds but it is quite hilly where we walk.  Guess ill just be happy with what it gives me for a walk and not so pleased with the workout calories.  Probably evens itself out in the end lol. 

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Yes, walking on level surface takes less calories than walking uphill or downhill. Your HR will be higher when walking hills, versus walking on the flats. So 500 calories for 1:45:00 at 2.7mph on hills seems reasonable.