Counting steps for Cycling!

[Smellie32]

So I have had my Fitbit for 6+ months. As I have researched issues, I have noticed that many people have struggles with not being able to count steps while cycling, I to get frustrated with this. Being a triathlete and competitive, want all my steps to count. What I don't understand is how after a few years of Fitbit knowing this is an issue, why have they not come up with a solution? It is more motivating when all your activities count as steps so when you are competing against friends on the Fitbit app that you feel you have a chance. I think Fitbit needs to expand their horizon to not only motivating customers to walk and run but all sports. Swimming and biking are my 2 favorites. 

[Oceanbauer7]

Does fitbit automatically time my cycling as activity I dont know how or want to keep switching on my watch. Does it record how much activity I guess is what I'm asking?

[VeganBiker2]

If you have Versa or or later device, it will track time while cycling.
>From home screen, swipe from right to left and you will see the
exercise icon. Click on that and you will see icons for running, cycling,
swimming etc. However I do not think fitbit knows that you. are cycling--it
just goes by higher heart rate duration.

[rlmadia]

Same for me. Knee replacement and I get a better heart rate with cycling

[Winsem]

Dear Smellie32 and all others,

I’ve got my Fitbit Versa3 a few days now and have noticed that the idea of an activity tracker is not applicable on this device. The ‘steps’ as Fitbit and other trackers call them, represent some form of activity. They are inaccurate to measure real activity to say the least. A better unit has to be invented for this, but OK, for ease of use let’s call them ‘steps’.

What a real tracker of activity has to do is measure *any* activity, wether it is walking, jogging, climbing rocks, swimming, rowing  or indeed cycling, as an activity.

It’s ok with me to manually start and stop an activity, but it’s idiotic that Fitbit doesn’t include my 100 km ride as an activity in the sense of the step-count. In the app I see the activity of course, but after a day of strenuous cycling I don’t even reach my 10.000 steps threshold to count as a healthy day.

And it’s soooo easy for even a starting programmer to include other activities to your day score.

As they say in policy terms: it’s no bug, it’s a feature. Fitbit doesn’t want it, it’s policy.

I like the Versa3 for the heart rate function and the battery life, but as an activity tracker it’s useless. Steps. Really???

[Heybales]

---

@Winsem wrote:

Dear Smellie32 and all others,

I’ve got my Fitbit Versa3 a few days now and have noticed that the idea of an activity tracker is not applicable on this device. The ‘steps’ as Fitbit and other trackers call them, represent some form of activity. They are inaccurate to measure real activity to say the least. A better unit has to be invented for this, but OK, for ease of use let’s call them ‘steps’.

What a real tracker of activity has to do is measure *any* activity, wether it is walking, jogging, climbing rocks, swimming, rowing  or indeed cycling, as an activity.

It’s ok with me to manually start and stop an activity, but it’s idiotic that Fitbit doesn’t include my 100 km ride as an activity in the sense of the step-count. In the app I see the activity of course, but after a day of strenuous cycling I don’t even reach my 10.000 steps threshold to count as a healthy day.

And it’s soooo easy for even a starting programmer to include other activities to your day score.

As they say in policy terms: it’s no bug, it’s a feature. Fitbit doesn’t want it, it’s policy.

I like the Versa3 for the heart rate function and the battery life, but as an activity tracker it’s useless. Steps. Really???

---

I look forward to your update in the future as you've solved the programming issue and have a competing product that does it all correctly.

Curious on the bike ride though - "steps" are impacts that have a distance associated with it for walking or running calculations, therefore of course you took no real "steps" on your bike ride. Mine are road vibrations, actually nothing to do with foot movement.

But why would you want a step count for cycling when it's not a step based activity, nor would the distance be correct, nor would calorie burn?

Challenges and leaderboard and such?

Just want it to auto-show up without pressing a button?

Or want stats and scores to include these?

You must have some smooth road, I'd hit probably 50K steps for a 100 km ride. Then again mine is on body at that point, not on wrist.

I know some aspect of the issue is likely you have the settings not best yet, only a few days use to not discover sensitivity tweaks best used.

I'll mention this - the devices are for the average daily usage case scenarios - my activities never were - device was good for the avg 22-23 of 24 hrs daily, not always great for the 1-2 hr unless running, even then preferred other device to track it.

[Rich_Laue]

@Winsem. I ha ace to agree with @Heybales 

You say it is ironic that Fitbit doesn't include steps for an activity that doesn't have any steps? 

When the user does not take any steps during a bike ride, how many steps should be recorded? Do we also record steps for weight lifting and swimming? How about Yoga? 

Yes fitbit has always had a better way to compare exercises. Even back in 2014, and still does, fitbit uses calories as the standard to compare exercises. 

Fitbit no longer says that they include bike distance in the daily total distance, this change was made on the fitbit users request.

Users where getting upset that distance for non stepping bike activity was being included in the days step distance totals. However biking calories are included in the daily calorie count. This is why fitbit uses calories, not steps, to compare activities. 

As for step counting, when a tracker is on the arm. The tracker really has no way of knowing what the feet are doing. The tracker can only look at what the arms are doing. The tracker is looking for arm motions that will happen when the feet are stepping. Yea at times the tracker may miss steps or give credit false steps. Yes compared to a waist mounted device, an arm based tracker is very good at averaging. I found some months the two devices where within 200 steps for the month. 

[Kaprock63]

I would agree and it makes no sense. I have to tie my device to my sneak
and still does not do it accurately...

[TheVinny]

If I get on a bicycle, and PEDAL, then I should get a step for each time I do so. Your point, for years now, that "why should anyone get steps when biking" is ridiculous and foolish. I use close to the SAME amount of energy when I walk for 20 minutes as I would for biking for 20 minutes. Why should my steps remain at say 6000 because I choose to bike for 20 minutes, but if I spent that same time walking would be about 8000 steps total. I want CREDIT for biking since my feet are moving. Otherwise, despite my 20m minute bike ride, I'm only showing 6000 steps.

Now, if I get on an AirBike, and start pedaling AND using the arm bars at same time, then I for sure expect credit since even my arms are swaying. But, so far, on my new AirBike it doesn't count any steps which is discouraging. I'm playing around with different grips and body parts to see what might work which is also what led me to Google it and landed here. But your constant "why would anyone want steps when biking", since 2018, on this thread alone, is just plain laughable. Many people want steps counted when biking. I understand Fitbit can't do that when hands are on handle bar (same with pushing shopping carts) but I dont understand why not when using an AirBike or even elliptical with arms moving.

And that's what I (as well as many others) would like to know if there's a known remedy for. Not listen to you complain about our question.

[Winsem]

Vinny,

you’re right. I think a way to end all this is when activity trackers leave te term ‘steps’ behind and call them ‘units’  or  something. And find a way to count other activities than only walking/running as a real activity. And if the tracker isn’t able to count the movements like cycling/pedalling, rowing etc. as activity units, then a way for the user to enter them manually. With cycling it’s perhaps possible to count either pedal strokes with a cadans measuring device (easy to set up, cheap)  or the distance compared with weight, altitude etc.

This whole steps discussion is something between the orthodox Fitbit walking/running users that find the step units the best in the world and other sports enthusiasts that want their activity measured too. 

I’ll think for now we non-runners have to settle with the calorie count. That’s something at least.

Have a nice ride and run everyone !

[Rich_Laue]

Why would a person want a step for each pedal especially when a person doesn't take steps while on a bike? Your stride also will depend on the wheel size and gear ratio. A few feel that counting pedal strokes are cheating. 

There are requests for bike, both stationary and real, mileage to be converted to steps here and here. However no thoughts on what the conversion should be and there only is half the votes. In short it seems, where the votes count, that no one seems to care. 

We also have a suggestion to have steps calculated based on the equivalent calories burnt. This makes sense, since calories are the common data between all exercises. 

Does the Air Bike allow the arms to move in a way natural to a walker? Probably not. I know with elliptical it doesn't. One thought is that on a stationary machine, the person is only virtually no ring forward. 

As for your tracker, it isn't able to track what the feet are doing. It looks for arm movements that normally happen while a person is walking. 

Yes fitbit has always used calories as a standard between exercises. Especially for exercises like yoga, when most of the calories are burnt while the user doing poses with no arm movement 

[TheVinny]

Winsem, counting each step/row/stroke/push-pull motion as as a "unit" would be fine enough. But I'm also okay with calling them all steps, most of which are counted as steps, as is, right now anyway. Thank you!

[TheVinny]

There you go again. I already answered your repetitive question (for 3 years now) in my first post right above yours. Hopefully, you can read it this time and stop asking the same question, to multiple people posting, that you've been asking on this thread since 2018. People who ride bikes (any kind of bike), 'STEP/PUSH' down on each pedal to make the bike go forward (or to get their exercise if using a stationary bike). In fact when I ride, I step down on each pedal multiple times. Otherwise the bike stops moving and will fall over and get hurt unless I stick my feet out. Unless you still use training wheels. Certainly not rocket science. 

So, like many others here, I would like to know if people have found a way that allows each of those STEPS DOWN on the bike pedal to count as steps on their fitbit devices.  I want the credit for stepping on bike pedal as a fitbit step. Simple as that. When I walk up a steep hill I still only get one step. If biking up a steep hill I still only want one step.

But they are MY steps (either way) and I want them counted. 

So far, the best answer out there is if you just have a bike with no moving arm parts to put the fitbit device on your ankle. I'll try that and see how it works. It sounds like has been tried and works good enough. But because I also have clear arm movements on my new Schwinn Airdyne Pro, I would think it possible to find a position or motion that would count each arm and hand movement as a step. I'm still experimenting. There is a side grip that seems to count some of them, but I don't really care for the grip that way. 

If anyone else has suggestions that work for them please do share. I'm interested in hearing about them.  I'll get back and report what I find on putting on the ankle as well as other positions. I'm not interested in being asked again why I want to count bike steps as fitbit steps. And I prefer not to have to do calculations and add steps manually each time I use my AirBike. Thank you. 

[Lucas_ox]

I'm sure counting steps while cycling might be a bit difficult because, it's not like walking or jogging. but I'm sure there's nothing impossible.

[VeganBiker2]

okay...then I will go swimming and get some steps. Then I will lift some
weights and gets some steps.

[rlmadia]

Yes and yes. Too many challenges are either step or activity related. Their
are conversion chart everywhere for steps to bicycle. Fitbit could figure
it out. The hostility is surprising though. Everyone’s suggestions should
matter. --



Romi

[Rich_Laue]

The conversion charts are based on calories. Not on pedal strokes, which have no relation to the distance, but would relate to the gearing. 

In any case this conversation has been at mostly between fitbit users. 

[TheVinny]

Yes VeganBiker, when you swim you gain STEPS on your fitbit. And when you lift weights you also get STEPS on your fitbit. By the way when you shower you also get some steps on fitbit. And why not, you are after all standing/stepping/washing.

I'm trying to find how to get steps on my fitbit by using my AirBike. Steps that I would have indeed EARNED. No cheating involved (despite silly claims by some here stating otherwise). 

Vinny

[TheVinny]

It's great to know that "this conversation has been at richly between fitbit users". But I've been a Fitbit user since early 2016 and am only now seeking a solution for counting steps while using my AirBike that I just set up 3 days ago. I hope it's okay with you that I'm here and asking/commenting and hopefully contributing, despite being so late to the conversation, so to speak. 

[Argali]

"...is redlectedrin the amoubtaif calories..." --RL

What were you trying to say there...? 😕

[rlmadia]

Good question. Not sure what that gobbly **ahem** meant. Sorry--



Romi