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Is wearing your Fitbit Charge on you ankle fair?

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I have recently started wearing my FitBit Charge 2 on my ankle and have noticed a significant increase in the number of steps recorded. Does anyone else do this. My husband says I'm cheating but I feel like I'm getting a more accurate count of steps. I'm 5'3", so have a shorter stride than he does which, to me, translates into more steps that are being accurately counted. I did have to buy a larger band so the instrument would fit on my ankle.

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Yes it is fair, and inherently more accurate: on the wrist and depending on how hard your foot strike is, it can miss ~5% of your steps, and pick up extraneous fast wrist movements and count them as steps. On your ankle, the foot strikes are more detectable, even for the other foot (which is more closely coupled through the pelvic girdle, better than coupling to the wrist). Obvious disadvantage is that you need to use the phone apps if you want readings on the go. 

 

You can also just test it, go out and walk the way you usually do and count off a couple hundred steps (I find it much easier to count one side and multiply by 2) and see how accurate the Fitbit count is.

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Yes it is fair, and inherently more accurate: on the wrist and depending on how hard your foot strike is, it can miss ~5% of your steps, and pick up extraneous fast wrist movements and count them as steps. On your ankle, the foot strikes are more detectable, even for the other foot (which is more closely coupled through the pelvic girdle, better than coupling to the wrist). Obvious disadvantage is that you need to use the phone apps if you want readings on the go. 

 

You can also just test it, go out and walk the way you usually do and count off a couple hundred steps (I find it much easier to count one side and multiply by 2) and see how accurate the Fitbit count is.

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Many thanks!! That helps a lot and certainly makes sense.

--
"“Impossible is just a big word thrown abound by small people who find it
easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power
they have to change it.” Muhammed Ali
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@Ruffian22, I'm trying to figure out how folks can actually fit a Charge (or any other Fitbit for that matter) on their ankles.  I've had two different Fitbits (a Surge and an Ionic), and while my ankles are by no means large, there is easily an inch between the end of the strap on one side and the end of the strap on the other; the gap between the last hole and the clasp is even greater.

 

Are there strap extenders or something available?

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@shipo Yep - take a look here for Charge/HR/2 band extender.

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To answer your question..yes there are extenders and I just needed an extra
large, so no problem.

--
"“Impossible is just a big word thrown abound by small people who find it
easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power
they have to change it.” Muhammed Ali
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@Ruffian22 wrote:

I have recently started wearing my FitBit Charge 2 on my ankle and have noticed a significant increase in the number of steps recorded. Does anyone else do this. My husband says I'm cheating but I feel like I'm getting a more accurate count of steps. I'm 5'3", so have a shorter stride than he does which, to me, translates into more steps that are being accurately counted. I did have to buy a larger band so the instrument would fit on my ankle.


why do you care so much about steps with an HRM?  Steps are just a function to get caloric burn in a non-HRM model, but the HRM uses heart rate to get your caloric burn.  Seems like you are trying to inflate something that has no relation to you getting healthier.

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@shipo, I can get all the size large Fitbits on my ankles.

 

However, they are definitely not designed to be worn that way, because the algorithms that turn your movements into step counting are based on a presumption that the Fitbit is worn on your wrist.

 

The official advice from Fitbit is not to wear any of the devices on your ankles.

 

I might try an experiment for a while wearing the Flex 2 on my ankle and comparing it to a wrist worn one and see the results.  If I remember I will report back.

Sense, Charge 5, Inspire 2; iOS and Android

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@Mukluk4 wrote:

@Ruffian22 wrote:

I have recently started wearing my FitBit Charge 2 on my ankle and have noticed a significant increase in the number of steps recorded. Does anyone else do this. My husband says I'm cheating but I feel like I'm getting a more accurate count of steps. I'm 5'3", so have a shorter stride than he does which, to me, translates into more steps that are being accurately counted. I did have to buy a larger band so the instrument would fit on my ankle.


why do you care so much about steps with an HRM?  Steps are just a function to get caloric burn in a non-HRM model, but the HRM uses heart rate to get your caloric burn.  Seems like you are trying to inflate something that has no relation to you getting healthier.


It kind of depends upon what your goal is.  Personally I could care less about calorie burn (I mean, the metric is interesting but not of pressing interest), but steps and heart rate are of definite interest to me.  Why?  Steps is simple, if I log an average of 10,000 steps per day per quarter I get a $40 discount per month on my health care through my employer.  As for heart rate, I can track it to see how I'm doing with my conditioning and such.

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@Julia_G wrote:

@shipo, I can get all the size large Fitbits on my ankles.

 


Wow, I'm impressed; my ankles aren't even close to fitting any large sized Fitbits.  Oh my; I guess I'll have to send my new Ionic back.  NOT!  🙂

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I actually bought an extra large charge 2 band that works great. I'm small
to begin with and the large Charge2 band worked but it was a stretch and it
actually came off in a movie theatre. I had just noticed it was gone and
headed back to the theatre...saw the clean-up guy coming out and that
tell-tale green glow. He'd found it. That's when I decided to buy the extra
large and be able to fasten it with band to spare!

--
"“Impossible is just a big word thrown abound by small people who find it
easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power
they have to change it.” Muhammed Ali
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@shipo, these days I fear I am regularly referred to as a little old lady...

Sense, Charge 5, Inspire 2; iOS and Android

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Me too! I'm 71 and rockin' along

--
"“Impossible is just a big word thrown abound by small people who find it
easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power
they have to change it.” Muhammed Ali
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I actually take the band off my Charge 2 and carry it in a small waist/belt clip pouch at the small of my back. Seems to count steps perfectly - at least every time I've checked it. I can still pull it out for on the fly readings, but of course I loose the HR function. It never worked that well for me anyway - so I turn it off and save battery charge. When I do need reliable HR, I tend to use a different tracker.

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@Julia_G wrote:

@shipo, these days I fear I am regularly referred to as a little old lady...


@Ruffian22 wrote:
Me too! I'm 71 and rockin' along

--
"“Impossible is just a big word thrown abound by small people who find it
easier to live in the world they have been given than to explore the power
they have to change it.” Muhammed Ali

Hmmm, well, at 60 I'm not exactly a spring chicken, but I still have a ways to go to get to a young and rockin' 71.  🙂

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So I am with @Mukluk4 on this one. If the primary goal is step count- why does one need a wrist tracker with cool functions way beyond step count. For that you can get the zip or the one or any other pedometer on the market. You can actually download an app to count your steps- that's free.

It just seems like a waste of technology and inaccuracy in other metrics that the tracker can give you way beyond steps. My opinion of course and obviously a bratty one.

Elena | Pennsylvania

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@emili wrote:

So I am with @Mukluk4 on this one. If the primary goal is step count- why does one need a wrist tracker with cool functions way beyond step count. For that you can get the zip or the one or any other pedometer on the market. You can actually download an app to count your steps- that's free.

It just seems like a waste of technology and inaccuracy in other metrics that the tracker can give you way beyond steps. My opinion of course and obviously a bratty one.


In my case I'm also a competitive age group runner and I use my Fitbit with in-built GPS as a training aid.

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Ruffian2:  The only time I wear my Fitbit on my ankle is when I'm on my stationary bike, not because it gives me a better step count, but that's the only area I can wear it that monitors my heart rate accurately, thus giving me a truer monitoring of my heart rate and calories burned.

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@Corney wrote:

Ruffian2:  The only time I wear my Fitbit on my ankle is when I'm on my stationary bike, not because it gives me a better step count, but that's the only area I can wear it that monitors my heart rate accurately, thus giving me a truer monitoring of my heart rate and calories burned.


The only problem with that is a step on a complex machine is different than a step without said machine.

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I use my Fitbit for motivation. Step counts do not or ever have been of
interest to me. I use it to keep track of my heart rate, calories burned
and resting heart rate. I believe in cross training because it works on
different muscles depending on what I use, rower( legs, arms and core
muscles), stationary bike for my legs and elliptical for legs. I also lift
weights on the days I ride and use the elliptical to continue my rehab on a
shoulder surgery( torn supraspinatus, infraspinatus, long head of the
biceps, along with a slap lesion( superior tear of the labrium
anterior/posterior. My weight training concentrates on my shoulders but
also the quadriceps. I believe in the theory of specificity, doing one
exercise like walking trains the muscles to do one activity, walking. I
doubt anyone who only walks 50K steps per day could finish my workout on
the rower or stationary bike without specific training on either, because
their muscles have not been trained for that specific activity, despite
having the aerobic capacity. Therefore I have great admiration for anyone
who competes in a triathlon. Now I'm ready for the deluge of negative
comments concerning what I've just said, but please agree that we can
disagree in a civil manner.
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