Biking and Steps

[Hlthnutwnnbe]

The steps are not being accurately counted during cycling.  I went cycling for two hours and it only counted about 3,000 steps.  I can walk/run on the treadmill for 90 minutes and get almost 15,000 steps.  The difference between the two is extreme.  The workout I received during the cycling was much more intense and cardio intensive than the workout on the treadmill.  I should have received at least 10,000 steps during the two hour cycling trip.  I understand if the steps count is slightly less for cycling than for walking/jogging but the difference is too extreme. I thought steps were suppose to be indicating of the activity and calorie burning level to help with weight loss.  It is not being accurately  represented for cycling.  There should be a way to make the steps counted during cycling adjustable so that the people that want the steps to count can have them count and those that feel that cycling shouldn't count that much can have the amount of steps they want reflected as well.  I am very disappointed in fitbit for making such an extreme adjustment for counting steps for cycling.

Please correct this.  Thank you!

[JohnnyRow]

The measure you want to pay attention to for weight loss is calorie burn.  For people who get most of their activity from walking, steps can be a decent approximation.

Cycling is not a step-based activity.  Fitbit does not do any adjustments to give you appropriate steps for non-step activities.  Whatever steps you got from cycling are just from the road vibrations being picked up as steps, and would probably be considered false readings.

Even without the steps, you should still get the calorie burn and active minutes from cycling based on heart rate.

[Hlthnutwnnbe]

I had a charge HR and it counted my cycling as steps.  It did a bit of over counting.   It would be nice if some of the stepping motion used in peddling would count with the Charge 2 HR. Obviously, coasting should not count as steps. 

[JohnnyRow]

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@Hlthnutwnnbe wrote:

I had a charge HR and it counted my cycling as steps.  It did a bit of over counting.   It would be nice if some of the stepping motion used in peddling would count with the Charge 2 HR. Obviously, coasting should not count as steps. 

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Curious what would you use as "correct" base to judge over-counting?

[Hlthnutwnnbe]

On my the first charge it counted approx 20,000 to 30,000 steps for an hour to hour and half ride.  That seems a bit excessive.  I would think between 5,000 to 10,000 steps would be more reasonable.  The charge 2 counts approx  1,500 to 2,000 steps for a couple of hours.