Charge 6 - How to increase accuracy of exercise calorie burn?

[Raneklav]

Today my fitbit recorded 487 in an hour during which the most strenuous thing I did was pushing a snow blower a bit (which did not feel strenuous at all). In a spin class the bike says I do 480 on a good day and I really feel it. Later, it recorded 357 calories for a 3 minute 4mph walk and a 10 minute 7 mph jog. I'm 5'10/185, and according to other calculators that should be about 160.

These numbers seem really wild. I have been wearing the fitbit on the inside of my wrist (because my arms are hairy and I thought it would be more accurate), and possibly a little too loose (but not that loose, really). I'll try putting it on the back now and tightening it up, but after a half hour it's already feeling itchy and annoying, so I will probably have to loosen it again.

Moderator edit - updated subject for clarity

[EstuardoFitbit]

Hello there @Raneklav, nice to see new faces around!

Thanks for sharing your concerns with us about the calories measurements your Fitbit does.

Fitbit devices combine your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the rate at which you burn calories at rest to maintain vital body functions (including breathing, blood circulation, and heartbeat)—and your activity data to estimate your calories burned. Your BMR is based on the physical data you entered in to your Fitbit account (height, weight, sex, and age) and accounts for at least half the calories you burn in a day.

One way to ensure the accuracy of your calories burned is to make sure that your physical data is all set correctly. Please click here.

[Raneklav]

I'm aware it combines mbr and activity calories, and my height, weight, sex and age are all set accurately. And yet when I do something basic, like walking at a very specific treadmill speed it overestimate the calories I'm burning by 25 to 50%. Like I walked 70 minutes at 2.5 miles, and every calculator I find gives me about 350 for that, but the fitbit is saying about 500 above my bmr. And I did set the fitbit to "walking" exercise for that period.

[EstuardoFitbit]

Thanks for the update @Raneklav, let's try something different!

It's necessary to consider that your device not only takes into account your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), or personal data. Besides that, the heart rate (HR) monitor helps to track how hard you are going on your walk.

External calculators might not take that type of thing into account, making them not as reliable as your Fitbit Charge 6.