Hefting hand weights while walking . . . seems to effect step count

[Stefan_Orenco]

Since my dog (who I jokingly referred to as my exercise coach) died in September, I've been bringing hand weights with me on my shorter (.5 miles - 1.25 miles) walks. I lift the 5 lb. in various directions as I walk, doing sets of eight of seven "moves" and then repeating.

I've noticed that my FitBit HR seems to undercount my "steps" while I'm doing this. I know that I'm getting in the additional exercise, and needed upper body workout stuff, but at the same time I'm kind of bummed that there's no apparent way to make it "official" and get a calorie count.

Has anyone noticed this effect? Could I strap the FitBit to an ankle to get a proper step count?

[alexthecat · Accepted solution]

@Stefan_Orenco  Fitbit calculates calorie burn based on your heartrate, not on your steps, so using weights when you walk won't affect your calories.

As you've noticed, it will affect your step count. That is because your Fitbit counts steps from the movement of your arms. If your arms don't swing naturally while you are walking, you may miss steps.

You asked about putting the Fitbit on your ankle. That might improve your step tracking, but the heart rate your Fitbit detects may not be accurate. That could lead to an incorrect calorie calculation. 

If I could offer some friendly advice, it would probably be better just to walk without the little 5-pound weights. Then, after you're back home, do some actual weightlifting with heavier weights and lower reps. That's how you build muscle and get stronger. 

[Stefan_Orenco]

Thank you, Alex! Good explanation.

It makes sense to separate weight lifting and walking, but doing the two together works out well for me, motivation and time wise. An easy add-on to my shorter walks. After a month it is already having an effect.

I'll keep an eye out for heftier weights at Goodwill. I'm retired and would hate buy new equipment I end up not going all in on. (My parents' treadmill ended up as a clothes rack! 😁)

SEJ

[EdmundC]

Putting a little weight into a backpack and walking with 5 or 10 lbs would help, this doesn't strengthen your arms but does have the possibility of helping your back and leg muscles.  I'd wear your fitbit on the left wrist and walk swinging both arms in sync with your walking.

[Stefan_Orenco]

Thanks for the replies. I've started doing the hand weights only on short walks that don't add much to my daily total. E.g., a loop around the neighborhood, which is about .4 miles and lets me get in three sets of hand weight exercises (eight reps of seven motions). This is more than sufficient for the endurance training I'm interested in.

I typically walk 6 - 8 miles a day, so not having less than a mile registered isn't going to bother me.

I did notice someting interesting. I walked path I know to be about1.25 miles while swinging the weights. The FitBit app though I'd spent 15 minutes on an elliptical machine!

[EdmundC]

I expect that the Fitbit is detecting our movement with a set of accelerators in the wrist device, so walking results in us swinging the arm forward and then backward, without any rotation of the device.  But on an Elliptical your arm is normally higher up and moving forward on a straight line and then back again, normally at a fairly constant rate and motion.  So the movement is different as detected by the sensors - for example walking swings the fitbit forward and backwards with a slight curvy motion but walking with your hands wrapped around your neck is only a slightly jerky motion that always forward and doesn't swing back much.  That makes it harder  to sense what you are doing ... it can see that motion is happening but not what the motion is being driven by.

[Camptime38]

This is an interesting post. I recently got a Charge 4, had a Zip years ago. My concern was not getting credit for steps when I'm not swinging my arms. My sister has a Charge 4 and she did some testing for me before I purchased. My before breakfast is 90 minutes of running in place and around the house. My arms are up like a running and not swinging. For some years I have been using Samsung Health on my phone. It tracks everything that Fitbit does except HR, as it's a phone app. I still use Samsung Health and am finding the steps are pretty close. I do a lot of carrying firewood daily and wanted to get credit for the steps, it's not a problem. My heart rate raises faster with the extra weight of the firewood. I do a lot of outdoor walking in our fields. The extra weight right now of my heavy coat, snowpants, snow boots raises my heart rate quickly. How much are your steps undercut? My opinion is that the extra action of the weights is well worth it unless you are really into steps. I'm very happy on how my Charge 4 is crediting me with steps without using my arms.