Drumming

[Jodrum]

I just got a fitbit today and wondered if anyone had worn one when drumming. A lot of arm / wrist movement and sweat since I am in Florida. Maybe I should play without it but I'd like to monitor heart rate and get some credit for the workout drumming gives me.

[WendyB]

It will add steps. I dont know the model you have but some have a workout Mode And I would use that and rename it later

[Jodrum]

thanks Wendy it's a charge 2 so I have that feature, I'll see how it feels when I get back from holidays.

[WendyB]

Please let us know how it works. I'm very interested

[Chatlain]

I teach colorguard and when I hit a gock block or click sticks together it picks up additional steps, so I'm sure drumming with affect it. On days I teach I either put it on my other wrist or wear it in my shoe (I have the blaze, so it pops out of the wristband easily and tucks into my shoe)

[MarciM]

@Jodrumit may take some getting use to while drumming, but I think you will be amazed at your heart rate and calories burned. At least that is what we saw when my husband wore his while drumming. 🙂

[NvRMnD907]

I play the drums as an upper body workout every other day. I found that with the high level of movement that I came out with over 20k steps during a 3 hour practice session. I know that my activity level and heart rate during this activity are extreme but didn't want it to count towards my steps/distance. In order to track my heart rate during drumming I put the charge on my left (unused) ankle and since the strap is too small put a compression sock over it. Tracked my heart rate about as good as my wrist while not raking up unbelievable amounts of steps. I place the monitor on the inside of my ankle just above the joint (where I believe the artery is). There isn't an activity for drumming when categorizing the workout so I just put it under "Boxing". Works great! 

[MarciM]

Thank you for sharing your success @NvRMnD907. Great to know you can still get a good heart rate reading from your ankle. 

[paquer]

I tried Boxing based on your post but found the algorithm used in boxing was too high for cals burned...  I play bass / drums as well, and for all my gigs in the past for bass i've logged it as Dancing as that seemed most representative.

With drums sitting obviously, but you're still bouncing around moving your limbs etc... still a workout.

Fishing exercise (the only stationary exercise in the list that I saw) doesn't get counted as active minutes, so that's a no go.

The Dancing exercise is IMHO likely the most representative of standing/dancing with a guitar or bouncing tapping / arm flailing on the drums 😉

The 5K steps i'll get 'dancing' at a gig playing bass is as far as i'm concerned accurate... distance is moot as its all pretty much moving around in the same spot. Essentially the same with drums, except your legs aren't supporting your body weight while they're moving... Core is still activated...