calories burned accurate?

[GetFitFargo]

How accurate are the estimated calories burned?  I'm killing myself with T25 workouts and I feel like I burn more calories than it's telling me.  I thought fitbit flex would estimate properly - but it doesn't seem right?  Feel I bought the wrong type of monitor.  Any suggestions?

[Mary · Accepted solution]

I don't know what T25 is but Fitbits don't track resistance exercise.  They're designed more for the other 23 hours of the day, or all 24 if your workout is walking, running, dancing, aerobics, or something else steps-based, I think.  I'd say get a heart rate monitor but those don't do resistance well, either.  

[Vanille · Accepted solution]

You should manually log non stepping activities to get a more accurate number. You could wear a heart rate monitor for the activity and then log the calories after.
https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/413311-how-do-i-log-or-record-an-activity-

[GetFitFargo]

Thanks Vanille...think that's what I'll end up having to do.  A little bummed as I thought this would do that for me...guess not.  Thanks for the help!

[GetFitFargo]

T25 is the new workout series by Shaun T - the guy who brought us Hip Hop Abs, Insanity and the Asylum Workouts.  I feel it's a condensed version of Insanity - if you're familiar with that workout - but it's only 25 minutes a day/ 5 days a week. 

Anyway, think I'll just have to break down and purchase a heart rate monitor on top of the Fitbit.  Am a bit disappointed - I thought this would do it for me - but I guess not. 

Thanks for the advice.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

Anyway, think I'll just have to break down and purchase a heart rate monitor on top of the Fitbit.  Am a bit disappointed - I thought this would do it for me - but I guess not.

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It's the result of clever marketing by Fitbit: they are selling you a pedometer, but if they called it a pedometer, you would balk at the price and wouldn't buy it; so they call it an activity tracker and there you're happily splashing your dollars.  But in the end, it's still a pedometer (albeit a fancier one), so it will only track well those activities that are step-based.

OTOH, a HRM is also a nice gadget and a good complement to your Fitbit.

[GetFitFargo]

Thanks Dominique that's extremely helpful!  I'm know noticing the different "levels" we're assigned as a use...i.e. "Jogger", "Strider"...of course - associates with walking/running.  Smart!

Well, although it's a little tough in our part of country to get in a walk - this year's North Dakota winter has been brutal! - I do walk when I don't have to worry about frostbite!  So at least I'll be able to track my steps - as well as - my sleeping habits.  That has been a BIG problem for me - getting enough sleep.  So it wasn't all for nothing. But still a bit disappointed.

Thanks again for the information - VERY helpful!

[Dominique]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

Well, although it's a little tough in our part of country to get in a walk - this year's North Dakota winter has been brutal! - I do walk when I don't have to worry about frostbite!

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Don't worry, I'm in Finland! Here is my longer walk of the day, temperature was -11 Celsius (12 Fahrenheit):

[Dominique]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

Anyway, think I'll just have to break down and purchase a heart rate monitor on top of the Fitbit.

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Speaking of HRM, here is the kind of stats you can get about your workout (in my case 1h20m walk):

The nice thing about walking outdoors is you get fresh air and changes in elevation (I got about 100 "floors" on my Fitbit One today).

I can also see how much time I have spent in each heart rate zone:

55 minutes spent in the fat burning zone!

I'm using Runtastic Pro on a Nexus 4 (Android 4.4), with a Mio Alpha HRM watch.

[GetFitFargo]

That's pretty cool to track where you walked.  My son has son sort of an app on his phone that allows that.  I haven't yet figured things out!  Is that something available on the Fitbit 🙂

11 degrees seems pretty warm compared to what we've been dealt this winter...negative 28 to negative 30 below zero Fahrenhite with negative 60 below zero windchill!  Like I said, brutal!  But soon it'll all be over and we'll soon see the grass 'peeking' through the mounds of snow!  Looking forward to it!

Thanks again for your help!

[Dominique]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

That's pretty cool to track where you walked.  My son has son sort of an app on his phone that allows that.  I haven't yet figured things out!  Is that something available on the Fitbit 🙂

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No, there is no GPS in Fitbit, nor a heart rate monitoring function. As I said, I'm using Runtastic Pro, in connection with my smartphone and a HRM that can link to it. I usually start (and stop) an activity at the same time on my Fitbit One and in Runtastic on my phone. The Runtastic lady is talking all the time to me, telling me which heart rate zone I just entered, how many kilometers I've completed etc.

[slysam]

My Fitbit calorie burn seems pretty accurate for certain activities. I actually had a heart rate monitor before I got a fitbit so I always wore both during exercise over the past three years. I have the settings in both devices as accurate as possible including some of the more obscure settings. I calibrate my fitbit stride for walking and running--this probably doesn't effect the calorie burn too much but it does effect the pace/distance stats and that makes it easier to compare the fitbit data to other sources if you your fitbit estimated distance and speed are fairly accurate. I've found in my case, my Fitbit One (formerly my Ultra) and Heart rate monitor either agree or are very close for the following activities: brisk walking on flat or slightly hilly routes; jogging; intervals of brisk walking and jogging; cardio kickboxing and cardio boxing workouts like Turbojam/Turbokick and others; step based dance aerobics involving traveling steps, larger movements and hops; jumping rope; cardio/athletic drills such as jumping jacks, football runs/fast feet, and "buttkickers", start jumps, etc. Some of this will vary, I think I seem to be in a sweet spot concerning any assumptions Fitbit makes about exertion based on speed of movement and my heart rate really doesn't get that high compared to some other people even when I am very clearly at higher levels of exertion (based on physical signs like breathing heavy, red in the face, sweaty, tired muscles, etc). Where Fitbit always underestimates lower than my heart rate monitor: any type of resistance training such as weight lifting, kettlebells, bodyweight strength exercises like pushups and burpees, resistance bands, pilates, etc. It also underestimates non-step activities like cycling, rowing, yoga, etc. My Fitbit isn't waterproof so I have to log any water exercise but I assume even the waterproof fitbit's won't do well with water exercise since the water actually provides a type of resistance. It also underestimates the calorie burn/exertion level for activities involving stairs or steps like stair laps and step aerobics. This was interesting because it does automatically give me very active minutes for these and it counts the steps fine and usually counts the floors in my stair laps just fine. But whatever assumptions about exertion are understated for me anyway. So I do log these if I am wearing my heart rate monitor, I believe it is a variation of the resistance factor involved.

[Litonya]

Thank you. This was very helpful.  I just purchased my Fitbit Force three days ago and I do Insanity, but wasn't sure it was measuring the correct calories either.

[Mary]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

T25 is the new workout series by Shaun T - the guy who brought us Hip Hop Abs, Insanity and the Asylum Workouts.  I feel it's a condensed version of Insanity - if you're familiar with that workout - but it's only 25 minutes a day/ 5 days a week. 

Anyway, think I'll just have to break down and purchase a heart rate monitor on top of the Fitbit.  Am a bit disappointed - I thought this would do it for me - but I guess not. 

Thanks for the advice.

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You've gotten some great advice here.  I just wanted to add that if T25 is mainly resistance training, even a heart rate monitor isn't really designed to estimate calories for that well.  Your best bet is probably to use the activity database.  If it's mainly cardio, your Fitbit will probably track it fairly well.  I would hate to see you buy another device to track resistance and then learn that it, too, isn't really ideal for that.

(I'm sorry I'm not more familiar with the Beachbody programs.  I don't patronize the company due to their multilevel marketing scams and other shady business practices.  Though I know they put out some awesome workout programs.)

[Kitsboy]

I've done Insanity and T25, P90X and all that good tuff. I tested fitbit and a heart rate monitor, for 40 minutes of Insanity same thing as T25 pretty much. It logged 40 minutes as 3000 steps and around 200 calories, heart rate marked it at around 460 calories. Fitbit doesn't have a heart rate monitor so it just guesses. Plus stationary moves like pushups or weights doesn't show you traveling anywhere. It's better to just take the fitbit off and add the T25 in the activities manually. To get how much you burned you would need a heart rate monitor but for t25 I averaged about 250 for the 25 minutes. Hope that helps 😉

[Haynaku]

Same here....

[GetFitFargo]

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Kitsboy wrote:

... take the fitbit off and add the T25 in the activities manually. To get how much you burned you would need a heart rate monitor but for t25 I averaged about 250 for...

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Thanks Kitsboy for the information.  I was able to find a Polar FT4 for under $50 so bought one to track my heartrate, exertion, duration, etc.  It's actually become a good thing because I can monitor where I am with my exertion - starts going wild with beeping if I start overdoing it.

I actually where both the Polar and the Fitbit while working out and just monitor the data.  The Fitbit has been a HUGE bonus for me with my sleeping habits.

My best advice is do what you can to 'research' these types of monitors and buy what you feel works best for you.  And if you decide you don't like it - you can always sell it used on ebay!

[Tannia]

I am so glad I found your post. I was wondering about the accuracy of the calorie burn in kickboxing/cardio routines. Right now I'm manually logging my weight lifting workouts, but letting the force count my calorie burn during my cardio circuits /kick boxing, and I think it's doing a good job. It's within 100 calories of what I add up on my own using my assumed bmr and my workout burn. Thank you for your help!

[DKALV]

hi vanille I'm dkalv can always add friends to share fit bit tips with

[Chan1970]

Hi.. I was asking myself the same thing.. I would do T25 as well  and the amount of calories burned does not seem accurate... I bought this hoping it would be accurate on calories but I guess not eh...