I'm a dog groomer and I feel the step reading is just getting my arm movements

[Aquamanda]

Do you think I should wear my fitbit charge 2 on my ankle while I work because I use my arms a  lot for bathing, grooming, picking dogs up and down. Sometimes the fitbit counts this as a workout too even though I'm just at work. It's a physical job but I don't know about a workout. 

[SteveH]

That's a tricky one.

If you were to wear it on your ankle you'd probably only get a few steps registered and it will not get your heart rate reading so my guess it will underestimate your calorie burn.

On the other hand (pardon the pun), worn normally it may overestimate your steps and therefore your calorie burn.

My feeling is that although it's not a workout you are being active and it's probably best to keep it on your wrist. 

[Dominique]

I have seen the same phenomenon being reported by a hairdresser. I would conduct the following experiment: 1) on your Charge 2, start a "Workout", do one hour of your usual grooming, then stop the activity, 2) on your Charge 2, start a "Walk", do one hour of walking and stop the activity, 3) compare both for things like steps, calories burned, active minutes. If grooming does produce extra steps, but the total count is far less than when actually walking, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. As @SteveH said, your job does include physical activity, which is captured by the move of your hands and your HR. 

[AB22]

My girlfriend is a nurse so obviously she moves her arms alot and she's not allowed to wear any jewellery or wearable tech for policy reasons. She usually wears her Inspire HR  above the ankle. Measures the steps but heart reading or calorie count may not be accurate which is not a big deal for her. She only uses HR when exercising. 

[emili]

I think that what your fitbit is capturing is the activity that you are doing. it may not feel like a workout to you because you are so used to it, but based on the level of movement and your HR, it actually is. Even though your tracker may be overestimating steps, it is capturing your movement and the physical activity you perform every day. My daughter is a camp counselor. Every day her fitbit gives her active minutes for trying to get kids settled for lunch. You would think it is crazy, but going back and forth from the fridge to the tables to the microwave all the while sternly telling kids to sit and be quiet, gives her a workout. I would imagine it is similar to you holding, lifting, soothing, walking and in some cases "wrestling" a pup who does not want a haircut or bath and for sure does not want the blow dryer.