Snowshoeing

[Captain-Canuck]

I am not too concerned about the accuracy of the step counter anymore, as I have figured out it is not really intended to translate into the distance. Google results tell me 10,000 with my stride=about 4km.

Fitbit...not even close. Fitbit urges me to about double that. And it seems no 2 trackers produce the same number. So, I just pay attention calories in/out lol. My Apple 3 watch and Samsung Gear3 fared no better. 

Yes, there is a question in here lol. Snowshoeing and weight. 

Is FitBit planning to add more algorithms for snowshoeing and pack weight?  I can tell you from experience snowshoeing is BIG in Canada, and depending on conditions....cross country, trail breaking etc, it can be a brutal calorie burner. There is no possible comparison to walking.

Also, is there a setting to add the weight of pack contents? food water, spare boots etc? 

And speaking of boots, I dread the time of the year when I have to switch to my Muck Wetland boots, but it is the only way to do trails, fields, and forests here. They weigh about 2.5lbs each..compared to my featherweight Merrills. Is there a setting to adjust for heavy boots parkas etc? It would fun to compare seasonal workouts. I get that a HUGE number of Fitbit users are city dwellers, but us country bumpkins have needs too 🙂

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@Captain-Canuck wrote:

Is FitBit planning to add more algorithms for snowshoeing and pack weight?  I can tell you from experience snowshoeing is BIG in Canada, and depending on conditions....cross country, trail breaking etc, it can be a brutal calorie burner. There is no possible comparison to walking. 

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If you have a Fitbit that features a HR monitor and will let you record an activity (e.g. Ionic, Versa, Charge2/3), just record it as "WORKOUT". The brutality of the activity should be reflected by a high HR, which itself will inflate calories burned.

[Captain-Canuck]

Thanks so much, I wasn't really quite sure what that setting was for.

[Dominique]

"WORKOUT" is just a handy generic activity type for uncommon activities for which there’s not a pre-defined activity type. It’s important to remember there are 24 hours in a day, and what matters is your total energy expenditure for the day. What you burn during formal activities is often a small portion of the total daily expenditure, even when these activities are very intense.

[Captain-Canuck]

I hear ya. Although dogs sledding, breaking trail through 4'snow,,cross country skiing are not an activity in Nigeria or Miami, it most definitely is here. They would fall under a yet-to-be created activity titled..."brutal" lol. I can't wait to compare calories burned snowshoeing vs hiking. Gonna be fun 🙂
Typically, breaking trail will see your max hr in very short time.

Dave

[RHHFit]

Workout doesn't use GPS and you would want that for snowshoeing. Hike is the closest feature to snowshoeing on Fitbit. It uses GPS to track your route and calorie counting is proportional to the intensity. I hope Fitbit will bring snowshoeing as an option. Google Fit has it and it works pretty well. 

[Captain-Canuck]

Well in retrospect, if one does not care about routes and distance, and is only in it to bank 500 calories or more per day for weight loss, or break even to maintain, The activity really is moot, as the data is calculated by HR. Calories in, calories out for a lot of people wearing smartwatches.

[Faye1960]

I have used HIKE to track snowshoeing but do find it is shy on recording energy output so I use My Fitness Pal to calculate calories burned then do an adjustment to the activity record in the app.  It's not ideal but somewhat more accurate than a simple hike .. especially if doing what we had to this year in the Great White North (NW Ontario) and fight 3' of heavy snow to break trail 🙂

Two things come to mind with using WORKOUT to track snowshoeing.  One is that the steps aren't tracked, and two is that the GPS may or may not track it accurately.  That being said, I will try it on my next outing later today.

[Mralmlie]

I, too, would like to see Snowshoeing as an exercise.