help menu

Join us on the Community Forums!

  • Community Guidelines

    The Fitbit Community is a gathering place for real people who wish to exchange ideas, solutions, tips, techniques, and insight about the Fitbit products and services they love. By joining our Community, you agree to uphold these guidelines, so please take a moment to look them over.

  • Learn the Basics

    Check out our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on Community features, and tips to make the most of your time here.

  • Join the Community!

    Join an existing conversation, or start a new thread to ask your question. Creating your account is completely free, and takes about a minute.

Not finding your answer on the Community Forums?

Cancel
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Dominant vs Non-Dominant

Replies are disabled for this topic. Start a new one or visit our Help Center.

‎04-10-2022 09:48

‎04-10-2022 09:48

I have sensitive skin and no matter what type of band or band material, and no matter how tight or loose I keep it, my skin will become extremely irritated after just a day or two. Taking an hour's break a day doesn't make enough of a difference.

 

So I've long since learned to swap all my wrist-based fitness trackers (and even regular watches) from arm to arm, sometimes a couple times a day. This saves my skin from all kinds of nastiness. I've been a Withings user for a long time and just purchased a FitBit Charge 5.

 

However, I've noticed the dominant/non-dominant setting in the FitBit app. How much difference does this setting make? Do I need to switch this setting every time I switch arms? Thanks!

Best Answer
0 Votes
3 REPLIES 3

‎04-10-2022 10:19

‎04-10-2022 10:19

What that setting does is to try to eliminate extra "steps" resulting from dominant arm movements.  Examples might include brushing your teeth, petting a dog for a long time, etc.

I personally switch arms occasionally for an hour or two but do not bother to change the setting.  But you would have to judge for yourself, maybe taking into account your type of activities.  For instance, you might try to coordinate arm switching so the setting is correct at the time you would be brushing your teeth or hair.

But since calorie burn comes from heart rate, I think it is only step count that is affected by that setting.

Before posting, re-read to see if it would make sense to someone else not looking at your Fitbit or phone.

Best Answer

‎04-10-2022 10:51

‎04-10-2022 10:51

Hi @kmb63! I have sensitive skin too. I wear my Fitbit on my dominant wrist at night and my nondominant wrist during the day. I leave the app set to nondominant all the time. I've been doing that for years and it's worked really well for me. I do get a few steps at night from moving around in my sleep, but I'm not bothered by that. 

Community Council Member

Amanda | Wyoming, USA
Pixel Watch 3, Inspire 3, Sense | Android


Best Answer

‎04-10-2022 14:18 - edited ‎04-10-2022 14:22

In response to alexthecat

‎04-10-2022 14:18 - edited ‎04-10-2022 14:22

That's pretty much what I do, too...change arms as I'm getting ready for bed. But there are times when I'll swap during the day as well. 

 

I'll try leaving the setting on non-dominant and see how it goes.

 

Thanks to both of you for your responses!

 

I'm also going to try these bands out. I've tried many bands without much luck, but these look pretty good.

Best Answer