Running on Treadmill

[mattw]

I ran 5 miles on a treadmill and my fitbit force only logged 3.5 miles.  Any suggestions other than logging the activity manually. I'm concerned that it not accurately counting my treadmill runs.

[kitten1231]

What I had to do with running (though it was outside) was to use my GPS watch which showed me exactly how far I went and then took the number of steps that my fitbit tracked for that time and divided the number of feet ran by the number of steps and adjusted my running stride.  It is now very accurate.  I have noticed on the treadmill though that the faster I run, the less accurate the distance is.  Outside it works quite well.

[Jami]

Hi Matt.

Are you wearing a flex or wrist type fitbit? If you hold onto the handlebars during the workout, those steps often won't be counted. The device is apparently sensitive to swinging and concussion (when your feet hit the ground). The first time I wore my flex on the treadmill, like you, I got about 3000 steps for a 5 mile workout. I was hanging on to the handlebars which have a metal band to measure heart rate. I also held on during a change of tempo, such as when I sped up the treadmill to jog. In short, I held onto the handlebars much of the workout and that period when my flex hand was holding still weren't counted as steps. I now don't hang on to the handlebars and get a much more reliable count.

[Lauran]

I seem to remember setting my stride length somewhere when I first got my fitbit... I wouldn't be surprised if your stride on a treadmill is different than what it is on the ground... just a guess. But I will pay attention to distance on my next treadmill run and see if I have that issue too...

[flyboy]

Your running / jogging stride should be significantly different from your walking stride.  Be careful if you recalibrate your stride for jogging or running, it will greatly over estimate your walking distance from there on out.  Also be aware that running on a treadmill isn't as challenging as running outside.  The movement of the belt beneath your feet "helps" you to run at a faster pace and longer distances than you'll be capable of in the real world. 

[Jami]

Good point flyboy!

I keep my stride fixed to my walking stride which is longer than my putter-about-the-house step but shorter than a workout walk, jog, or run. I hope the steps more or less even out over a day's time.

[Doug]

Some studies suggest that putting a treadmill on a 1% incline (which may or may not be a "1" on a treadmill incline setting) will most approximate outdoor runs though it depends somewhat on the speed.  A conversion chart of treadmill vs outdoor equivalents at various inclines can be found here . 

Personally, I don't find much stride length difference in walking on a treadmill vs outdoors.  However, whether on a treadmill or not, if I walk at about 3.9 mph or faster, Fitbit uses my "running stride length".  My normal treadmill walking speed is 4.2mph, so to get accurate distances I need to set my running stride length to my walking stride length.

[kitten1231]

Keep in mind, the fitbit has a running stride length AND a walking stride length

[Dominique]

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@kitten1231 wrote:
Keep in mind, the fitbit has a running stride length AND a walking stride length

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Sure, but this doesn't help people who walk fast, for the reason mentioned by Doug. If you are walking fast AND running, Fitbit won't let you get correct distances (and calories) for both activities.

[Doug]

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@Dominique wrote:

Sure, but this doesn't help people who walk fast, for the reason mentioned by Doug. If you are walking fast AND running, Fitbit won't let you get correct distances (and calories) for both activities.

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In the end, my "solution" was to just set my running stride length to my walking stride length.  I still do more power walking than jogging, and this makes those walks more accurate.  My running stride length is never shorter, so all that happens is my runs don't log as many miles as I really go.  I'm ok with that.  I still have an accurate step count.  And if I am running outdoors, I'll have the GPS mileage from my workout app (in my case Digifit iCardio).

I'm still easing my way into jogging / running.  I care much more about my heart rate and the time I spend in each interval than the overall distance.  And while to a degree I care about analyzing the pace per split, and accurate pace requires accurate distance, that is coming from iCardio and not the Fitbit distance anyway.

[flyboy]

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@kitten1231 wrote:
Keep in mind, the fitbit has a running stride length AND a walking stride length

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I wasn't aware that there were different stride lengths.  Does FitBit set those by default using your height when you set it up initially?  How would I reset mine since I have short legs and a relatively short running stride for my height?

[Doug]

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@flyboy wrote:

I wasn't aware that there were different stride lengths.  Does FitBit set those by default using your height when you set it up initially?  How would I reset mine since I have short legs and a relatively short running stride for my height?

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Yes, the default is based on height and gender.  The defaults are used when you have not measured your own, or if you reset the length to zero.  Instructions for measuring and setting them are here.

Personally, I prefer using longer distances such as a high school track.

[flyboy]

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@Doug wrote:

Some studies suggest that putting a treadmill on a 1% incline (which may or may not be a "1" on a treadmill incline setting) will most approximate outdoor runs though it depends somewhat on the speed.  A conversion chart of treadmill vs outdoor equivalents at various inclines can be found here . 

Personally, I don't find much stride length difference in walking on a treadmill vs outdoors.  However, whether on a treadmill or not, if I walk at about 3.9 mph or faster, Fitbit uses my "running stride length".  My normal treadmill walking speed is 4.2mph, so to get accurate distances I need to set my running stride length to my walking stride length.

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Doug,  I wasn't trying to incite controversy here, just wanted to mention that the difference between a treadmill and running, jogging, or walking outdoors is often significant.  Sorry if I over stepped my position here. 

I also wasn't aware that FitBit had a different setting for running and walking. I appologize if I upset you.

[Doug]

Not upset at the least.  I was trying to add more information to the mix by suggesting using a treadmill incline can help compensate for not being outdoors.  Secondarily, for those not aware of it, that power walking may well get construed as running by the Fitbit.  Depending on your walking vs running stride length settings, that can really effect the distance estimations.

[Cybertekkno]

I have to agree that a person's stride length when running outdoors is different from the same person's stride length when running on a treadmill.  I have been having difficulty getting a relatively accurate stride length setup in my Fitbit settings because my stride on the treadmill is shorter than it is when I run on the ground.  When I try to measure it on the ground my stride is too long; and, it's impossilble to measure ten strides on a treadmill.  Everytime I run on the treadmill Fitbit's mileage is off by as much as 2.5 to 3 miles by the time I finish my run. So, my solution for this is to wear a heart rate monitor watch when I workout.  I enter my treadmill run stats into Fitbit based on the miles the treadmill display shows, along with the calorie burn data from my heart rate monitor watch.  Once I enter the data in Fitbit, my step count increases to where is should be.

[tdfischer]

There was a GREAT thread in this regard in the "old forums".  I'll try to find it and copy paste for the group as I can't remember the specifics but it was pretty informative since I noticed the same discrepancy.

[mvega]

Matt, this Michael V. and I do the tread mill a lot when I need to jog or walk indoors. I always had fairly close results while wearing my Flex wrist band. It must be your strides are uneven and up and down when they should be consistent and evenly spaced. And your arms / wrists should be low and by your sides not high above your waist. Try this out and see what happens. I am curious what kind of results you get. 

Good Luck.

Michael V.

[moiram]

I have been using my Flex on the treadmill for the past few days.  I figured out after the first day that it was under-reporting because of holding on, and have been very conscious to not hold on since then.  I don't care that much about distance; I track that elsewhere.  I do care about steps.  If the active minutes is any indicator it's still under-reporting.  Today, I was on the treadmill for over an hour, and it only reported 40 active minutes.

Any ideas?

[flyboy]

Moiram,

I've noticed a significant under reporting on my Flex as well.  I'd thought I was walking more than I was getting "credit" for at work and yesterday during a couple of Terminal Inspections I counted my steps, then when I got back to the office I synced my FitBit and noticed that it was shorting me around 15-20 %.  I'm not sure what the deal is, I know that an old pedometer that I used to have always showed about the same loss rate, that was a belt clip model.  I'm thinking of switching my profile settings back to non dominate hand (I wear a watch on my left wrist so I wear my Flex on my right) and see what if any difference that makes.

If you figure out a good workaround, please let me know.

[clamb13]

If I am just going for a walk or somthing the Fitbit is fine.  If I go for a run, I do not trust it inside ro outside.  For runs, I use my Garmin and have a footpod on my shoe.  It will calcualte the steps and distance more acturatly for a run than the Fitbit will even on a treadmill (that is the best use of a footpod).  Even the treadmill can be inaccurate for distance due to step pace and your stride length so as long as you calibrate the footpod correctly it is much more accurate for runs.

You can also sync the Garmin activities into your Fitbit profile.

For walks, the fit bit is fine though.