Anyone use fitbit on their arm for kayaking?

[Melanie40]

Went kayaking for the first time on Saturday. For anyone else on here who kayaks, rows, or canoes: has anyone tried tracking how much they row by strapping their fitbit to their upper arm? I would think it should work the same for your arms as for your legs. Would like to be able to more accurately record this activity than just by distance.

[Pril]

soon as my rivers stop freezing i'll be sure to let you know. I want to try this so badly as well. 

[Mary]

It would probably log some 'steps' and calories but it has no idea that your arms are under resistance and your body is in a vehicle.  It assigns info based on the assumption that you are moving unhindered and unaided on solid ground.  It most likely will think you're walking rather slowly, I'd guess.  

[SteveH]

Mary is right, your fitbit will grossly underestimate the calories you burn. Don't forget your fitbit is a pedometer and is designed to track steps. You don't take any steps when kayaking!

All is not lost though. You can still get credit for the calories you burn kayaking by manually logging the activity. Here's how:

http://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/413311-how-do-i-log-or-record-an-activity-

[RowerDave]

I row consistently on indoor Concept II rower and do have my fitbit on, but I would prefer that Fitbit would be better able to track rowing and not just include it under circuit training. In my opinion they need to include rowing and kayaking.

[TandemWalker]

@RowerDave - The problem with wearing your tracker for rowing or other non step-based activities is that it will record steps when in fact there were none. I much prefer not to wear my tracker for such activities and log them manually instead. In doing so, I get the full credit for my workout and avoid the distortion of my true step metrics that would otherwise arise.

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    TW     

[RowerDave]

Hi TandemWalker:

Appreciate the tip and it makes sense, but that is a work around and it would certainly be one alternative. If I have to manually log each rowing session, not sure  this justifies buying a fitbit. Given that it was a gift I will have to accept the fact that this will be addressed somewhere down the line.  Frankly, if I have to log a significant amount of activity it defeats the purpose of the device at least from my viewpoint, but overall I like it.

[TandemWalker]

Hi again @RowerDave. I hear you, but to the best of my knowledge, I don't know of any fitness tracker that would track rowing accurately and give you a fair shake for your caloric burn. I'm not sure what you mean by "...a significant amount of activity..." I always do my manual logs at www.fitbit.com. After signing on to my account and clicking on the Log-Activities page, I scroll down the page until I come to this screen and key-in 'rowing'.

Then all I have to do is put in the stat time and duration, and I'm done.

TW