Calories burned are lower when no training mode is active-Charge 3

[Knuhben]

Hi

I noticed enormous fluctuations in my statistics based on what training or no training

I start on my watch prior to my workout.

I'm 1.85m at 85kg. When i start the weightlifting mode on my watch, I burn around 550 per hour

with afterburn accumulating to around 1000 additional calories when the day ends.

So a day without exercise whatsoever ends with 2400 calories.

A day with one hour workout with 3400. A day with 20 minutes HIIT is around 3500 calories.

However, if no training is selected prior to working out, those values are A LOT lower.

Totalling in whats basicly my value when i've done not excercise at all.

So is Fitbit only calculating its values based on my weight when a training is started on the watch,

instead of actually measuring what I'm doing???

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[EdsonFitbit]

Thank you for visiting the Fitbit Community @Knuhben.

Thanks for the information provided.

Fitbit devices combine your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the rate at which you burn calories at rest to maintain vital body functions (including breathing, blood circulation, and heartbeat)—, your activity data and your heart-rate to estimate your calories burned. For more information about how Fitbit estimates your calories burned, please visit this article.

See you around.

[Knuhben]

Nice copy and paste right there. But this isnt answering my question.

I wanted to know why the so called calculations are so far apart from one another.

If activity data and heart rate estimates what i burn, why doesn't it do that when no training mode is active?

I noticed this also works to the contrary. Leaving my training mode on does miscalculate the burned calories AND my heart rate measurements.

I clearly have a pulse of around 60 and if my training mode is on, at least double is displayed and therefore calculated.

Totaling my burned calories to over 1000 additional than usual. I am on my bike on several days a week. This is the result from experiments:

Training time: 06:45 - 07:15

No Traning mode active = overall 150 additional burned calories throughout the whole day.

Training mode active from 06:45 - 09 :30 = overall ~750 - 850 additional burned calories at the end of the day

Leaving Training mode active from 06:45 - 12:30 =   1700!!!! additional burned calories at the end of the day.

It seems this whole measuring is just a scam!

[EdsonFitbit]

Thanks for your response, @Knuhben.

The difference you see is caused by the algorithm your Fitbit Charge 3 uses to estimate your calories burned while performing an exercise. The Tracker won't know that you are weightlifting or performing an activity until you program it.

There are some activities that your Tracker can identify by itself:

• Walking
• Running
• Outdoor biking
• Elliptical

• Sport—Includes high-movement sports like tennis, basketball, soccer, and others. Sports that might not be recognized include those without continuous movement or that vary in intensity level, like golf.
• Aerobic workout—Includes aerobic activities with continuous movement, such as Zumba®, cardio-kickboxing, and other dance classes.

If you perform an activity like HIIT, which is not part of the Exercise Shortcuts nor in the list above, your Tracker might not be able to provide an accurate estimate of the amount of calories burned while performing this activity. Whether you start an activity from your Charge 3 but don't perform it, your device will still provide an estimate of the calories burned from the exercise you are supposedly doing based on your BMR (height, weight, sex, and age), the type of activity and your heart-rate readings.

For those activities not available in the lists mentioned above, we recommend manually logging them. If the activity is still not available in our database, you can go to the online dashboard at fitbit.com > Log > Activities and create a Custom Activity:

Then, you will be able to manually log it from the Fitbit app. For instructions, please visit this article and open the menu "How do I manually log exercises in the Fitbit app?".

Please let us know if you have any other questions.