Stairs down???

[mlys]

I think the # of stairs is ok, but only if you count the # I go down..? I'm easing into this and walk down the stairs at work almost always but rarely up them.

[PureEvil]

Hello @mlys,

Welcome to the community!

The reason why Fitbit counts the stairs going up is because, in theory, going up stairs requires more work...  Hence the reason the expressions "climb the highest mountain" and "coasting downhill" exist.

[mlys]

Let me clarify - the One is counting too many stairs. It shows flights up that I did not do. Could it be counting all the steps I do going down? I take the elevator up and the stairs down I cannot have done as many flights as it is showing

[TandemWalker · Accepted solution]

@mlys. Your Fitbit One counts floors via a sensor called an altimeter which tracks barometric pressure changes. For every change in elevation of 10 feet or more, if accompanied with movements, the barometric pressure change will be sufficient for the altimeter to react to it and the tracker will record a floor.

However, your tracker can also be fooled in counting floors when there weren't any due to barometric pressure changes caused by factors other than elevation. For example, a regular walk on a familiar course with no hills or stairs should not cause your One to record any floors; but do the same walk on a very windy or stormy day, and odds are that it will indeed report floors and sometimes many of them.

Should false floors bother you? They sure don't bother me. For one thing, they do not carry any incremental caloric burn, except perhaps for a small increment for those who have a tracker with heart rate monitor. So for me, false floors serve as a reminder that I had to fight the elements on a stormy day; or else they make up for the dozens of true floors I do weekly that never get logged because they fall shy of the 10 feet elevation threshold.

Another thing to consider is that all steps taken when doing floors, both upwards and downwards, do form part of your step count, regardless of the floor getting counted or not; and each of those steps carries its due share of caloric burn.

So essentially, the floors metrics is just that, a statistic, aimed at enticing people to be more active, encourageing them to take the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator at the mall or at the office.

TW

[mlys]

Ah!!  That makes great sense!!  🙂  Thank you!

[TandemWalker]

You're welcome @mlys. Enjoy your One on your quest to a more active lifestyle and healthy eating habits. Cheers!

TW