Fitbit Charge 5 is not properly recording my steps for stairclimber. My workout is a 1/2 hour each.

[DFosket]

Here is a sample:

[JohnnyRow]

FItbit, or any tracker worn on wrist, can only infer steps from movement of arms.  Perhaps on stairclimber you are holding both rails and not getting normal arm swing as if walking.  If perhaps you could let Fitbit arm swing free, you would get steps counted.  Alternately put Fitbit in a pocket and get good step count but lose heart rate and associated calorie burn.

[DFosket]

Wow...I don't know anybody that uses the stairclimber without holding on the handles...dangerous to let go!  I guess I'll just live with the results as is. Too bad I can't adjust the steps on my dashboard.

[JohnnyRow]

It's the same issue many places: treadmill, pushing shopping cart or baby carriage.  Trouble is something on wrist cannot directly know what your legs are doing, can only infer from rhythmic swinging of arms as when walking.  Some people get extender straps and wear around ankle but iffy if get heart rate.  Other side of this is that if you stand still and just swing your arms as if walking, Fitbit credits steps.  Fitbit does have filters to try to distinguish random arm move movements from steps but is not perfect at that.

[DFosket]

My bad....I assumed that when selecting an exercise, the coding would look at heart rate to estimate the steps or calories spent, depending on the exercise.

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

That's the first you mentioned calories.  If you look at calories, don't they look reasonable, even though step count is low?

Fitbit doesn't just assign undetected steps, figuring that you must have been taking them, though that is an interesting thought.

Before, you were just talking about steps.  Calories are based on heart rate.  Step count does not necessarily affect calorie burn, except that with more steps you probably are working harder and raising your heart rate.  But if, say, you could raise your heart rate with a hand cycle, no legs involved, you could still burn as many calories with no steps, no matter what type exercise you called it.

And actually the selection of exercise really makes little difference other than for your personal history and for determining which stats to show.