Counting steps during train travel?

[fbax]

This question might be more appropriate in "Community Basics"; but can't start a topic there.

I have Flex (not the newer Flex 2). In a few weeks I will be travelling round-trip by train for 8-10 hours in each direction. In Canada, our provinces are bigger then states in USA; so it might surprise some people that I am not even leaving my province for this trip!

Does the Flex fitbit have some motion sensor to know that my legs are moving or does it use GPS signals to know how far I've walked on each outing?

Consider these scenarios:

a) Train is moving at constant speed and I'm walking toward front of trains.

b) Train makes slight increase in speed.

I do not expect a GPS based device is likely capable of distinguishing between these two scenarios; is it?

I'm curious to know if I'll get credit for any steps I take while on the train on this long journey?

[ThatGreen]

The Flex counts your steps by the movements of your arm. Then multiplies the number of steps with your stride length to get your distance traveled.

Your stride length is by default based on your height (I think), but you can calculate this yourself. Here is a help article about it.
You can enter your own stride length at https://www.fitbit.com/settings/profile.

Edit: Not sure if you can use workout mode on your phone and get GPS with Flex as it's been too long since I used mine and never needed GPS for my walks.
If you could do that, it would in theory pick up a lot of distance (because of the train's speed), but I'm also thinking you might not get credited for that distance, but rather the distance based on steps. If you were to be credited for the GPS distance, I see no way you could possibly get more steps since the steps are still counted by the pedometer in your Flex.

Simple answer: Yes, you will get credit for the steps you take on the train.

Hope that helps

[emili]

Yes you will get steps on the train. As long as you are walking, it will give you steps. Planes, trains, boats- doesn't matter... Enjoy your trip!

[Syty]

Your steps will be semi-accurate.  When you are walking on the train they will match as if you were walking on solid ground.  I say semi only because it depends on what you are doing when you are not walking.

I found when I was driving I was getting a lot of steps.  After some experimenting I've moved my fitbit to my left hand to fix this.  Reason?  I drive a 6-speed pickup and found that every time I shifted it was counting steps.    Not enough to blink at, but was something I noticed. 

As to your question on walking on the train another poster has the best answer with movement/stride length so you will be fine. 

[Ceskyusaie]

An interesting thread, I like to travel, especially by train. I really like to go somewhere by train!

[DavideFitbit]

It's definitely a great way to travel, @Ceskyusaie! I've done it in Europe some years ago, but there are some train rides that I'm planning to do in the future as well, the Belmond Express in Perú and the Southern Fuegian Railway! 😀

[Ceskyusaie]

Hi, I only take trains when I go to Germany, and I've never paid attention to the number of steps, so I'll study this question, lol. And in general, as I noticed, so many people use trains, despite the presence of a car. Even I, who have a car in Germany, go only by train for excursions around the city. Therefore, in order to always and everywhere keep up, I look at the train schedule in dbreiseauskunft . The next time I go, I will deal with the question of steps. When I'm driving in the car, I don't count the steps, I don't think that the train is somehow different

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dbreiseauskunft

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing that website, @Ceskyusaie. 

I'm planning a trip to Germany for next year and would like to travel extensively by train to get to know other cities and towns. 😀

[SporCj]

Of course yes

[WasapRo]

I thought I was the only one who drew attention to these details and calculated virtually every minute and step of the journey. Because I love so much to travel by train, so admiring nature, but also every moment from the moment when I am not the one who drives. These are all beautiful, but you should not forget even those tens of hours that you have to spend on the train, the first few times I could not get used to, everything being enormously tiring. Later I gave https://www.oebbfahrplan.com/de/ so I could plan my entire trip even better.