Charge HR exercise logging strategies

[Knaidel]

I have had a Charge HR on my wrist most of the time since mid-July. So far, I love it! It seems to track my steps and my heart rate with reasonable accuracy. I wanted the one with the heart rate because I love to take spin classes at the gym, and sometimes the teacher tells you a target heart rate. 

When I go to the gym and take spin class, or use the rowing machines (I'm not ready to say "the erg" because I am a novice!) and when I ride my bike for transportation, I can enter the exercise in three ways. If I'm not wearing the FitBit, I just write down how long I was doing whatever. Since I'm nearly always wearing the FitBit, though, I have to chose between pushing the exercise timer button or not pushing it, and then logging the activity I did during the time. 

When I use the rowing machine, I get a huge number of steps, but the number of calories seems to vary really widely. When I do a spin class, it sometimes gives me a very few steps but more calories--again, I cannot see a relationship between this and my heart rate. 

Which is better: to press the exercise timer and then edit the session, telling the software what I did, or just to do the exercise without timing it, and then log the session? Either way the HR is checking my heart rate and estimating my activity, but I don't get why sometimes 35 minutes on the rowing machine is 131 calories and other times the same 35 minutes is 341 calories.  Should I just not care? I'm going to go to the gym no matter what, because I like it. 

Am I right that Fitbit is set up to like walking the best? 

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

Hit the exercise button so it starts per second heart rate logging - for better calorie burn estimate.

The steps are immaterial at that point (as long as enough for it to think you are still moving for a workout anyway).

If cardio based like Spin or Rowing - leave the Activity Record as is - perhaps edit the name to something meaningful, include some stats in the notes is always good (like distance or watts accomplished in that time with that avgHR makes for interesting review later).

If anaerobic or intervals or lifting - then you can manually log the workout activity for better accuracy as HR-based calorie burn won't be correct for anything but steady-state aerobic, same HR for 2-4 minutes.

The farther away from that valid use of HR-based calorie burn - the worse the inaccuracy - usually inflated.

If running intervals - just use the total distance avg speed as shown by treadmill perhaps, and manually enter in workout record.

I'd keep the activity record though as good snapshot of HR and such for further review.

That does NOT duplicate or increase the calorie burn incorrectly.

Activity Record is a snapshot of Fitbit stats.

Workout record is overwriting the Fitbit stats in the daily totals, not the snapshot though.

[Knaidel]

Thanks! You answered my underlying question, which was whether the button actually gives a better or worse estimate of calories, steps and so on. It sometimes seems mysterious, because the results vary so much.