Steps and calories double counted

[JamesSydney]

Hey guys, I know this is a regular topic that pops up but (after much trawling), I can't seem to find a fix. I just purchased a FitBit Charge 4 and went to the gym to use it.

Before starting, my steps were already clocked at about 4,968 and my burnt calories were around 1,457.

Before starting my weight lifting session, I went to the app and selected "weight lifting" and hit "start" to record the session. It did all the right stuff - heart beat monitoring, calories burnt etc. 

But when I hit "stop" at the end of my session, I checked the data on the app and my steps had rocketed to 8,464 and my calories burnt were 2,651.

It seems to me that the FitBit counted the "weight lifting" data the way it should - but it has also registered the exercise and auto-counted steps and calories like it would with movement across the day. So it has double-counted the steps and calories burnt.

Is there a fix to this?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help 🙂

[JohnnyRow]

I'm not sure I understand your issue.  Any steps or calories in an exercise session are also included in daily total.  That doesn't mean they are double-counted.  Everything you do is automatically included on daily totals.  When you record an exercise session, the stats for that session are also shown for that workout, but that doesn't mean they are re-added to daily total.  Workout summary basically just shows a snapshot from the daily totals for the time of your workout.

[JamesSydney]

Thanks for the reply Johnny. 

I think there's still a discrepancy in the counting. Before my weight lifting session, my steps were at 4,968 (I had walked 3km to the gym). Then, after my weight lifting session, my steps were at 8,464. My weight lifting session is seated - but the app has registered that I walked the equivalent of 3km. So that's why I think it has double counted - it counted my weight lifting session that I clocked in the app (as it should). But it has also recognised the exercise automatically (like it auto counts across the day). And the app also says I burnt 1,194 calories in that weight training session, which I don't think is accurate. 

[Heybales]

You are looking at what's called an Activity Record.

It's a snapshot of the daily stats from the device, for the chunk of time referenced.

The stats for the day as a whole is what's used.

Activity Records don't add that info to the daily stats.

A manually created Workout Record replaces the stats in the daily amount for the chunk of time used.

The snapshot from the Activity Record can even remain once you've done a Workout Record with different info.

So almost 3500 steps for weight lifting session (you don't say how long, no warmup/cooldown cardio in there too?) does sound like a lot for usually not moving around.

Circuit machines counting impacts of arms moving could have added up the steps - but it sounds like correctly so, not the distance.

So while it saw an impact and counted a "step", the distance from the impact was next to nothing.

You seem to note the walk to the gym was the only real distance shown.

And yes, 1200 calories for actual weight lifting (if you mean sets and rests, and reps and heavy for you weight) that did not involve cardio, does sound like a lot too.

But that's not a result of double counting, almost always not. Fitbit is a replace-only system - you add a workout record - it replaces what was there.

You use the wrong time, the original will be there and the other chunk of time will have the info - so time stamp matters.

I thought that device correctly used the Weight's entry for an Activity - meaning it doesn't actually use HR-based calorie burn which would indeed be inflated (not by that much though probably), but rather the database rate of burn.

Go create manually a Workout Record, select Weights if that's what you did, and put in correct time/duration, let it select the calorie burn.

That's a better estimate, may seem very small compared to cardio - but that is true. Save it and the Fitbit calorie burn for that chunk of time was just replaced - your daily total should be back to better estimate.