03-16-2014 03:59 - edited 03-16-2014 04:04
03-16-2014 03:59 - edited 03-16-2014 04:04
At 59, I am routinely in higher percentiles (80-89%) of activity for my age group, and this corresponds with my daily experience when compared with others my age. I don't drive and live in a city where I do a great deal of walking, and I work out 3-5 times per week.
Because of this, I've been turned off by the Fitbit Trainer report which assesses me as "lightly active", accompanied by a description which simply is not congruent with my actual activity level. It's very discouraging and doesn't encourage me to use the Trainer app.
Fitbit, should you not align your Trainer activity level assessments with your other measures ie. make them relative to age and more congruent with the activity level percentiles on your site ? I appreciate that percentiles reflect averages rather than ideals, but when someone engages in a healthy lifestyle involving significant amounts of exercise, "lightly active" just isn't accurate.
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03-16-2014 07:34
03-16-2014 07:34
Under Premium, Benchmark, Single Demographic, you can set the chart/info to have you relative to a gender, age range and body type, right?
I've only begun to glance at the Premium stuff but I too found it discouraging to see myself classified as 'sedentary' and told I'm in the 17th percentile for activity for women my age and overweight. It says I burn around 550 calories/day in activity and the average for that segment is over 840, which may be, I don't know. It doesn't sound right since if you go to any online calories estimator if you put in you're 'sedentary' it multiplies your BMR by 20%. My Fitbit estimate of 550 is like 40% over my BMR and would usually call me 'lightly active' at least. I average 8000-10000 steps a day lately. I know it's not 'active' but 'sedentary' is demoralizing.
03-16-2014 11:24
03-16-2014 11:24
Sam | USA
Fitbit One, Macintosh, IOS
Accepting solutions is your way of passing your solution onto others and improving everybody’s Fitbit experience.
03-16-2014 13:48
03-16-2014 13:48
I'm going to consider it wrong. 10,000 steps a day plus 6 non-step workouts a week isn't 'lightly active' in my book.
03-16-2014 20:23
03-16-2014 20:23
The Trainer activity levels are measured within ourselves. I have included my last 2 x 12 week periods.
1. The 1st ending October 2013 shows I'm Lightly Active because I dropped my Trainer Goal.
2. The 2nd shows I have gone up to Active just based on this 12 week period with the fixed aTrainer Goal.
3. The weekly report ending Saturday March 15th 2013 still shows me Active.
It will be intersting when I finish this 12 week period in a couple of weeks to see what I'm judged at. I'm averaging around 9,000 steps/week, but meeting my weekly calorie goals.
03-16-2014 21:47
03-16-2014 21:47
"The Trainer activity levels are measured within ourselves."
What does that mean, Colin? Mine is definitely comparing me to people besides myself.
03-16-2014 22:58
03-16-2014 22:58
@Mary Apologies. I meant the actual Trainer and Activity reports are rated against yourself, but what constitutes the activity levels.is definitely hard to quantify. It has taken me nearly 2 years to have a stabilised result.
The Benchmark is measured against the Fitbit population over the current 9 months which is an improvement on what we had and of course we don't know what that population is, at least it is updated every month.
03-16-2014 23:03
03-16-2014 23:03
@MaryTrainer calories are supposed to be activity calories only, outside of BMR. So your 550 maybe close. I say maybe because, there is an error the way Fitbit calculate Trainer Calorie Burn because it does include some BMR and it shouldn't.
I have reported this a few times and hopefully the new Premium product team are correcting that.
03-17-2014 04:18
03-17-2014 04:18
03-17-2014 06:37
03-17-2014 06:37
Thanks, Colin! I don't mind 'activity calories' as a measure of focus but I don't find a lot of use in being compared to Fitbitters in general as long as there are ones that put theirs on their Jack Russell Terrier (yes, I do know of one in my age group) or even ones that legitimately rack up 30k+ steps a day because they believe that 4 hours of treadmill a day must be ok if Jillian and Bob and Chris Powell have people do it on TV to lose weight.
03-17-2014 10:32
03-17-2014 10:32
Sam | USA
Fitbit One, Macintosh, IOS
Accepting solutions is your way of passing your solution onto others and improving everybody’s Fitbit experience.
05-18-2014 07:29
05-18-2014 07:29
Well I'm pleased to know that I am not the only person who finds the Trainer not reflective of my perception of my activities. I am 75yrs old. I walk between 2 and three miles daily. I do housework and laundry every day. I market and walk. I live in Florida (it's flat here) and in a house with no stairs, so I have to go looking for steps. I have met my 10K step goal more than 50 % of the time and when I didn't, I was working or in the midst of a family crisis. To be called sedetary and overweight is snarky, to say the least. I got the Fitbit to help me stay active, and it's doing that. I resisted the "trainer" option until today, but truly did not expect to be insulted by it. Get a Grip, Fitbit. Not everyone who uses the product is a 25yr-old hardbody wanna-be.
05-18-2014 08:51
05-18-2014 08:51
I agree 100 % - I tried to vote for your post but my browser isn't displaying the plus sign, so this is it ! I'm 59 and hope to be as active as you are now - the Trainer should reinforce and encourage us.
05-18-2014 10:19
05-18-2014 10:19
Right. I expected encouragement and instead got called fat and lazy by a "device." Sounds to me as if you're working out as you should and the Trainer should take into account the activities that real people do on a day-to-day basis. When the trainer does six loads of laundry, dishes three times a day, takes out the trash, washes toilets and scrubs floors, I would like to hear that this is a sedentary lifestyle. One of the only things that gets my fitbit to say "active minutes" is winding yarn on my ball winder, so obviously it has something to do with arm movement.
05-18-2014 10:23
05-18-2014 10:23
Oh, and another thing. The trainer tells me to be more active, but makes no suggestions about what to do, how to get more active, things I might try.
05-18-2014 13:13
05-18-2014 13:13
I'd like to join the consensus - it's not ideal, but it does work as an incentive. That little bit added every week over a 12-week plan does work. But the criticism we're voicing here is well founded and I have every reason to believe that the fitibit team is working on a lot of enhancements to the Premium functionality and attributes. Let's hope that the new paradigm will be more aligned to various age groups.
05-29-2014 08:46
05-29-2014 08:46
And to various sexes!!! I am convinced that the "trainer" is a guy whose mom or wife does the housework/childcare.
02-23-2015 13:30
02-23-2015 13:30
I agree. Does not seem worth paying for premium until this is sorted out. I too am in the 90-percentiles and am told I am "lightly active". People half my age think I'm nuts doing the things I do!
11-05-2016 10:57
11-05-2016 10:57
I am also classified as 'lightly active' most weeks, despite typically doing at least 2 grueling weight training sessions and getting at least 6500 - 7000 steps in each day. Seems like someone would have to exercise at least 60 - 90 mins per day to get to active status. A bit demoralizing, but I suppose a bit motivating as well.
@shaokid wrote:I agree. Does not seem worth paying for premium until this is sorted out. I too am in the 90-percentiles and am told I am "lightly active". People half my age think I'm nuts doing the things I do!
11-05-2016 18:18
11-05-2016 18:18
@willpl03 From my experience with using Premium for over 5 years it is all about "effort and resulting calories". Since I have been using the wrist type Fitbits I have moved into the Active area. While I was using the Ultra and the One I was consistently, lightly active.
But I have found with my age at 77 my fatburning HR starts at 72 which pushes my calorie burn up. My RHR averages 52. I'm overweight, but stable for the last 12 months and my lifetime step average has dropped to 9,300/day from 10,500/day.
Hiit, heavy gardening activities, walking up gradients definitely pushes up my active calories and keeps me in the Active area of Premium.
@willpl03 wrote:I am also classified as 'lightly active' most weeks, despite typically doing at least 2 grueling weight training sessions and getting at least 6500 - 7000 steps in each day. Seems like someone would have to exercise at least 60 - 90 mins per day to get to active status. A bit demoralizing, but I suppose a bit motivating as well.
@shaokid wrote:I agree. Does not seem worth paying for premium until this is sorted out. I too am in the 90-percentiles and am told I am "lightly active". People half my age think I'm nuts doing the things I do!