Difference between using an exercise bike and walking

[CRSunrise]

I did a half hour on my exercise bike, and my screen says that I biked over 7 miles, but my steps only show about 1 mile. Would there be any way to get these numbers much closer together? Or do I just have to use my bike a lot more.

[Beader]

I'd like to know this too because there are some days when I'm on my feet most of the day, sometimes with some quite heavy gardening and it doesn't seem to count.  Yet when I walk the dog generally for about an hour it shows as high volume.  I wondered whether I might be better off purchasing a pedomitor instead.  Has anyone any views of this please?

[Beader]

Forgot to mention in my reply about the exercise bike.  I wonder how it would work if you tucked the Fitbit down your sock.  Perhaps they should make one to attach to the leg rather than to a wrist.  They could give you a band for leg & wrist.  I'd definitely give it a try if I had a much larger band.

[CRSunrise]

I do wear my Alta on my left ankle, so catching the motion isn't the problem. It just seems like something isn't quite matching up unless I'm misunderstanding something.

[Dominique]

I think with an exercise bike, you should forget about steps and miles (not very meaningful), and focus on calories (= energy expended) instead. The energy you expend on the bike depends on the resistance (most exercise bikes allow you to adjust this). If your Fitbit is HR-enabled, a higher resistance should translate in a higher HR (and therefore more calories). If it is not HR-enabled, it probably won’t be able to pick up the resistance you’re getting from your bike.

[CRSunrise]

Is the Alta HR enabled?

[Dominique]

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@CRSunrise wrote:

I do wear my Alta on my left ankle, so catching the motion isn't the problem. It just seems like something isn't quite matching up unless I'm misunderstanding something.

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Biking isn’t a step-based activity, so there’s not much point in putting your Fitbit on your ankle in an attempt to catch more steps. However, biking is a physical activity that burns calories: try to figure out how much energy you are expending at your biking intensity and manually log the activity.

[Dominique]

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@CRSunrise wrote:

Is the Alta HR enabled?

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No, it isn’t.