Solution for inaccurate HR during intense exercise

[Brackforce]

Bottom Line Up Front: Fitbit won't pair with a chest strap for accurate HR monitoring during exercise, but Endomondo will, and Endomondo will sync with Fitbit to automatically upload exercise results (including stuff like indoor rowing, boxing, etc.) The two apps work together flawlessly and have solved my accuracy problems.

Let me start off by saying I love my Blaze. It has pretty much everything I want in a fitness tracker/smart watch (at least it will when the update hits), and I really like the design (especially compared to the competition). I also love Fitbit's dashboard and stats, so I have been weary of switching to Garmin or Polar. The big problem for me is that wrist-based HR monitors are so inaccurate for many of the exercises I do often, such as weight lifting and indoor rowing. I've been using my Polar H7 chest strap to monitor those types of activities (as well as my bicycle rides) to get a more accurate picture of my fitness level and caloric burn. I've done a bunch of tests recently to see if I can trust the Blaze to keep up when my heart rate gets into the higher zones, and it just can't. Many times it averages out to a somewhat close reading, but the caloric burn is usually off. Because of this, I've been doing a lot of research into other options, with the main contenders being offerings from Garmin and Polar. I haven't been able to find the right fit for me, though. It seems like all of the products out there have something missing or features I don't want or need, poor designs, quality issues, or are too expensive. I kept thinking, "if Fitbit would just allow me to pair with my HR strap, then I would be set." I found the answer when I discovered an old post that mentioned Endomondo (which I had never heard of) and decided to give it a shot. It works perfectly for what I want, so I get to keep the features and fit of my Blaze with the additional ability to pair a more accurate HR monitor during intense sessions.

Endomondo is a free app, but you can pay $29.99 for an annual membership to get additional features and remove advertisements. Once you link it to your Fitbit account, it automatically uploads workouts onto your dashboard, and it transfers Fitbit steps to your Endomondo account. It also has GPS tracking and other features from your phone. Here's a screen shot from my dashboard showing how it works:

As you can see, anything I track with Endomondo gets listed as an entry from Endomondo. On a side note, I was playing around with MapMyFitness linked to my Moov Now app, so there are a bunch of overlapping entries. You will probably notice the double entries from Fitbit as well. During my tests, I used both Endomondo and my Blaze to track the same exercises and compare results. What I found is that Fitbit recognizes the time stamps, so it will not give you double credit for something. It works great. As you can see, if caloric burn differs, then you get credit for the difference. You get your steps from Fitbit, but no steps from Endomondo, since Fitbit has already accounted for steps during that time frame. Also, as you can see from the screen shots below, Fitbit will not show the actual heart-rate data from Endomondo. Instead, it lists the HR readings it recorded during that time frame.

Now I wear my Blaze all the time, but simultaneously track workouts in which I want to use my Polar chest strap with Endomondo. If I start a session on the Blaze, I still get all of my stats to include GPS, but the extra calories burned get added after Endomondo ads the extra entry. This way, I get my Fitbit steps when appropriate plus caloric burn from the more accurate HR monitor all automatically, plus Fitbit resolves the double entries so it doesn't give me too many active minutes, steps, or excessive caloric burn. I think it's a great work around and highly recommend it to anyone who loves using Fitbit and their Blaze but wants to pair with a chest strap during certain activities. I'm very happy with this setup and am no longer shopping around for trackers from other companies. Hopefully this post will help out any of you who are looking for a solution to similiar issues.

[mcrmama]

Thank you. I will check this out. I downloaded the app last week but was struggle to figure out how they were linked.

[Brackforce]

Check out this link, which tells you what you need to do:

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1290

Make sure you are logged onto Endomondo.com, not your phone app, to link the accounts. Also ensure that you click the box that says "Auto-post new workouts to Fibit." If you don't, Endomondo won't add anything to your Fitbit dashboard. I made that mistake at first and nothing was showing up, but once I checked the box, it worked great.

[mcrmama]

I will make sure I have the box checked. Thank you.

[mcrmama]

I did a run today with Endomondo. I did not have a hear rate monitor attached but just wanted to test out the link. I did an interval run. Anyways, it looks great but the one thing I have noticed is the Endomondo run came in at the wrong time, appears to be 3 hours ahead. I went into the Endomondo app and it has the correct time. Any ideas on how to fix this? It seems that my active minutes may be doubled up.

[Brackforce]

Hmmm. That is weird. I haven't had any problems with the time. The one weird bug that I have noticed is that the Endomondo app and online dashboard won't agree on my birthday. If I put the right day on the web dashboard (July 31st) then it will show one less day on the app (July 30th), but if I change the app back to the right day (July 31st), then it's a day ahead on the dashboard (August 1st). It just doesn't make any sense, but I didn't worry too much about it because it really doesn't matter. Everything else seems to be working fine.

Anyway, did you go into your settings at endomondo.com? There's a spot where you set the time zone. Mine was wrong when I first set up the account, so I had to change it. If I had to bet, I would say your time zone is off, but the app is showing the right time since it's reading from your phone. When it logs the workout maybe it's adjusting for the time zone because of your settings online and logging the workout according to where it thinks you did it.

In the meantime, you can edit your workout from endomondo.com and put the correct start time. Hopefully that will adjust it to overlap your Fitbit readings.

[mcrmama]

Thanks, that fixed it.  I deleted the endomondo workout from the listing in fitbit and resynced after changing the timezone in Endomondo and it now resynced with the data at the right time.  I had looked for a timezone option in the app but was not finding one.  Found it on the web though.  The web had the correct time prior to changing the time zone so it must have pulled it from my phone as well.  I did edit the run on Endomondo as I thoutht that may force it to resync with Fitbit, not sure if it was needed but it worked. 

Weird about your birthday bug.  thanks so much for your help. 

Jodi

[Brackforce]

Jodi,

No problem. I'm glad it worked for you. I'm excited about being able to track my workouts more accurately. I'm loving this setup so far, and I hope it's a good solution for you as well.

[mcrmama]

Thanks! I like how it works. I will have to see if one of my heart rate monitors are compatible for use on my longer runs. I tried the interval training on the app this morning as I like to do interval workouts so nice to have some of the featured in the Endomondo app as well.

[Brackforce]

I really like it too, so I bought an annual membership. I use a Polar H7 Bluetooth HR monitor and have had no issues whatsover. In fact, I've paired it to multiple apps simultaneously plenty of times and have never had problems. If you have a Bluetooth HR monitor then you should be fine.

On a side note, have you tried Moov Now? I got one (actually two for the boxing feature) this week, and it's incredible. It's only $60 (or $90 for two) on Amazon. I'm thoroughly impressed. It's worth every penny. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

[mcrmama]

Thanks for the info! So many neat things to try it seems. 

[mroush]

Wow great response. This is very helpful. I too wish Fitbit would allow chest strap pairing. I would even pay for the Fitbit strap if needed. Hopefully in the future they will. I'll give Endomondo a try. I think it's the only one that I haven't used. Strava is good for runs but it only calculates calories based on GPS. If I use it in a spin class I get around 40 calories for an hour class. I know that's not right. Thanks again!

[mcrmama]

I just checked.  If you add a heart rate chest strap to Endomondo, it will use that data in determining calories burned.  If that is not available, it uses other factors like distance to determine that amount.  

https://support.endomondo.com/hc/en-us/articles/201861383-Calories

[Silverginger]

Just wanted to say thanks for working this out.It truly is the best of both worlds and is working great for me.

Great job !

[curt81]

I started an exercise with both the Blaze and the Endomondo App.  Are there suppose to be two workouts that show up on the fitbit dashboard?

[mcrmama]

Yes, there should be two workouts that show up.  Check if they both have the same start time within the Fitbit app.  The first time I did this it did not show heart data either due to the time stamps being different.  Even though I showed the correct time in the Endomondo time, it was syncing using the wrong time zone. Perhaps this has happened to you too?  I had to set it on my computer in the Endomondo account.  On ni did that it synced correctly.  Here is a picture of what I see when I resynced.

[mcrmama]

When I tap the actual Endomondo run in the app, it looks something like this.  

[mcrmama]

Just thought I would add, tonight I did a run with 1k intervals and 3 minutes walking in between plus warm up and cool down for a total of 5k. Fitbit Blaze had my average heartbeat at 144 and my chest strap at 147. My max for both was 177. I spot checked both periodically and they were both always pretty close. I got a new band and frame for my blaze at the same time as the update that stays put a lot better on my small wrist so not sure if either of those have affected accuracy but pretty happy with it. I have checked it twice now with similar results. I sometimes do intervals through a workout program indoors so using the blaze on its own for that and using the chest strap for my runs so I get all the data that Endomondo offers.

[WilsonFilson]

Thanks for this.  Solves an issue I've been scratching my own head over.

Do any of you also connect Endomondo AND fitbit to myfitnesspal?  Do you get funky results because of duplicate entries in myfitnesspal?

[GiovanniS]

I have read your post with interest. Thank you! I can see you know a lot about all this and I would be grateful for your advice.

I have a generic Polar chest strap ( 10 years old) and I am not sure if it will be recognised by Endomondo but I will verify. It works well in the gym as it is recognised by Technogym machines and my old Polar watch continues functioning well. I only get HR and watch/timer. No GPS on it! 

Endomondo and MapMyRun are both from UA. I wonder if same functions - e.g. avoidance of double credit in terms of caloric consumption syncronising Endomondo and Fitbit can be obtained syncronising with MapMyRun as well. I have the feeling that this is not the case and that there is a degree of overlap and duplication but I would like to have your opinion.

I have been using MMR for years and I have just recently got a Fitbit Charge 2.

I would prefer to avoid jumping from app (MMR) to app (Endomondo) if not really necessary. Moreover, I have been thinking about subscribing to MPV (payment version of MMR) to get interval training support. 

Any thoughts/advice? Many thanks for your help!