Elliptical help please

[Bunnybear_05]

what model elliptical do you have that your fitbit correctly registers the strides and auto recognize the exercise?

My nordic track elliptical hybrid doesn't mesh well with my fitbit. I use to have a really really really old elliptical and it worked just fine.This Nordic Freestrider...not so much. ( I've tried everything. its really just the motion the elliptical makes) So I'm looking for something new, but cant really test out the auto recognize feature in stores or in a persons house that I'm buying it from.

[USAF-Larry]

@Bunnybear_05, I have a Bowflex Max Trainer M5, which is a hybrid between an elliptical and a stair climber, and I have not had any problem with my Fitbit auto recognizing it.  But, I very seldom use the AutoTrack feature, and manually record the Elliptical exercise using either my Charge 2 or Ionic tracker - by manually recording it, it gets the entire exercise instead of guessing when I started or stopped.

[MarciM]

I too have a Bowflex Max and I use the auto feature and check the time on the Bowlfex to see how accurate the auto tracking is and its usually pretty close, sometime a 1-2 min short, but not bad. 

[SunsetRunner]

I'm too poor to own one, I just use the one at the gym which is a Starline and like @USAF-Larry I record the exercise manually via the watch app for pretty much the same reasons.

[Rich_Laue]

Don't worry about the distance being off, Fitbit uses the heart rate to calculate calories. 

Also the distance reported by the machine is a virtual distance based on how far a stationary wheel rolled. Your Fitbit can not measure virtual distances. 

As for stride you would need to figure out how far the wheel turns with each arm movement, then add some for the coasting times. 

This of course will mess up any distance reported during a walk. 

[Bunnybear_05]

yeah I am not too concerned about the distance. I just want it to get my step count right. It doesn't get mine at all. my machine will show 1700 steps and my fitbit shows 500....

[USAF-Larry]

@Bunnybear_05, it is unlikely you will get the "step count right" on an Elliptical. The Fitbit tracker uses arm movement to detect steps, and the arm does not swing naturally on an elliptical. For the most part, the arm is moving straight forward and backward on an elliptical, not swinging in an arc like when walking.  I do the HIT training on the Bowflex, but don't pay much attention to the Fitbit recorded steps or distance, because I know they are not anywhere near the number of steps.

[Rich_Laue]

Since the user is not moving it is also unlikely that the Fitbit tracker will be able to determine the made up virtual distance reported by the elliptical. 

[emili]

I use the one at the gym and my trackers- no matter which one I use- counts three up downs as one step. I get 10K steps on my tracker which is equivalent to almost 10 miles on the elliptical. I also don't use the arms- I hold on. I don't care about arm swings on it, I use it for cardio so I need my legs to move above 9 miles per hour the entire hour...