Active minutes. I don't think it calculates correctly. Any thoughts??

[eakelley]

I am using the Fit Bit to try to keep track of activity but I don't think the active minutes calculates correctly.  I take one or two arobics classes a day and the most active minutes I have recorded is 8 minutes.  Any suggestions??

[patty5]

i didn't think it was working right either.  but you actually have to log the activity you did and for how long.  so you need to click on to the activity minutes.  in the upper right hand corner you will see a plus sign.  click on that. go into the search mode type what you did and you should see what you are looking for.  you might have to put in the minutes you did 

hope this helps 🙂

[LZeeW]

I agree that you have to add the activity manually.

Here are three real life examples from my history.  One -- shoveling snow.  The steps alone didn't account for active minutes, but manually entering shoveling snow as an activity sure did.  Two -- treadmill at an incline.  My walking pace isn't fast enough, but the treadmill at a 5% incline is.  The third is the funniest.  I once used the Activity Record while using a recumbent elliptical.  Because no steps were recorded, my Fit Bit thought it was a sleep record.  I manually recorded  the activity and calories from the workout summary and voilà.

There are a couple of "aerobic" choices from the activity list that you can choose from.  I think it will help you a lot.

Fit Bit counts steps.  Sometimes it needs help.

[Mary]

I wouldn't think you'd have to manually log aerobics.  

[LZeeW]

Fit Bit is great with steps.  Effort based steps, not so much.  As another example, I just took a segment of time where I was doing laundry.  When I made an activity log of that time to light intensity aerobics (same number of steps), the calorie count went up to the moderate -- yellow range.  When I edited to to be high impact aerobics, it went to the very active -- green range.  Same number of steps.

The newer numbers looked nice, but I re-edited it back to the recorded steps.

[slysam]

Are you looking at the phone app or the website dashboard? I recently noticed I all of a sudden will only get about 4 very active minutes on the app, but more are on the website. I think there is something wrong with the app. As far as fitbit tracking intense activities involving steps and hops. My fitbit One has always done so. The calorie burn is based on the speed of the steps minute by minute and how large the movements are and the impact. For example jumping rope, my fitibt calorie burn tends to match my heart rate monitor and I would get very active minutes assuming I sustained the jumping for most of or at least one minute at a time (I tend to jump rope in intervals alternating with a low impact exercise). Walking, I do need to walk fast--at least 4 miles per hour which is pretty brisk considering I am only 5' 1". The speed others need to walk may vary by their height (I think it is more about steps per minute plus the impact than actual speed in miles per hour though). When all is working, very active minutes are meant to be for vigorous activity of at least for the high end of moderate as defined by the center for disease control. Well, brisk walking at 4mph is not vigorous for me personally, it really is more "moderate activity" but I guess they need a dividing line somewhere. Most of my aerobic exercise tends to be classed as "moderately active" by fitbit. Other than the brisk walkign or jogging, it really needs to be pretty vigorous to count but I think that is what is intended. Saying that, last I noticed the phone app was incorrect--strange considering I sync through my phone. Look and see if it is any different on the web dashboard.

[slysam]

LZEEW, what type of fitbit do you have and where do you wear it? I think it varies by device, but my One actually counts the elliptical just fine. It can overcredit it if I go fast with zero resistance on the machine. It does underestimate if I use high resistance. I wear my One clipped to my bra. I've heard that some people find with the wrist worn fitibt devices if they are holding railing, etc the fitbit cannot feel the movement impact as well. Well elliptical isn't impact, but I think up and down movements count. A tri-axis accelerometer (the movement tracking device in fitbits) can track motion side to side, up and down and forward and back. My one seems to credit lateral movement and up and down more than in place movement or forward and back movement. Not sure why on the lateral, but the up and down may be why higher impact tends to count higher (i.e. the jump roping example I gave). But my One does fine with elliptical if I use light-to moderate resistance, it over credits if I use no resistance and under credits if I use very high resistance. The calorie burn is based on how much and how fast I move each minute. I am really surprised it would count the elliptical as sleep in your case. I've had it count exercises as sleep namely ab work on the floor, stretching or some yoga practices.

[patty5]

> Ok so for the activities logged are we not supposed to put anything?

Patty

[LZeeW]

I have a One.  I wear it on my bra, in the little pocket on my workout pants, or on a belt loop.

In my elliptical example, it is a recumbent (sitting) elliptical.  It couldn't sense any movement.  Next time I will try it on my foot.

I also heard others say that the wrist worn fitbits don't count all the steps when holding the treadmill rail.

I manually enter the activities that the Fitbit underreports -- like the snow shoveling.  And I use the computer dashboard.  I do look at the app, just haven't used it for recording activity.

[Mary]

Putting a One on your foot is going to over-estimate your calorie burn by 2-3x, in my experience.  A One assumes it's on your torso, detecting walking/running motion on a body that is upright and unaided and unhindered.