Charge 2 and spin/stationary bike

[Kamau]

I have no idea how to get the charge 2 to track this activity properly. The HR monitor counted 26 minutes of cardio + 14 minutes of fatburn, that's correct(at least it matched the HR numbers from my chest band). Somehow this counts as 0 active minutes and only 184 calories burned. A simple calculation puts the calories burned using the avg heartrate closer to 600 calories. 

I saw a few older posts concerning this but none of them seemed to have an answer. Is there a way to get the fitbit to calculate the calorie burn from this activity properly? Is there a way to enter the calorie burn manually for an excercise?

I got the fitbit with the goal of consolidating multiple apps and a logbook on the side into one app/peripheral. If it can't calculate cycling I'm going to cry.

[Rich_Laue]

A person walking while holding their arm still in relation to their body. Tjis means that their arm moves up/down with the bodies movement with each step.

[eltoo]

Thank you - that explanation is very helpful.

When cycling, I've experimented with strapping my Charge 2 on my ankle -
either on a stationary bike or real bike. That allows for step counting of
the pedaling movement. However, the HR tracking is somewhat compromised,
as the ankle doesn't appear to be an ideal location for reliably and
consistently detecting the HR, and the HR tracker intermittently drops off
and then re-engages. But it's better than nothing. Thanks.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi guys! Nice to see you again @Cookspencer and @eltoo! Thanks for your input @Rich_Laue! 

@Cookspencer This is a good workaround, thank you for sharing it.

@eltoo I understand your point, but Fitbit Charge 2 was designed to be worn on the wrist for that specific reason; HR information is easy to read in that way. Otherwise, your Fitbit will be having issues picking up HR readings from your ankle, as you already noticed. As mentioned before, you will get steps information basically just when you're doing based step activities (cause your body is moving forward). But thanks for share your doubts, it's great to know that you're interested in knowing how Fitbit trackers work. 

Let me know if you have any other question! 

[Cookspencer]

There is no "spinning" option under exercise shortcuts

There is no spinning option! Stop telling people that.

[eltoo]

Thank you.  If the FB could revise the software so that it would work on a spin bike the way it does on an elliptical (in neither case is there any real forward movement, only simulated), that would be great.   But, thanks for all the information.  Much appreciated.  The Charge 2 is still a great device that I use every day.  

[Rich_Laue]

@eltoo I'm not sure exactly what is being referred to. Both spinning and eliptical have multisport modes.

If your refferring to the auto detect, this might be a while. On the eliptical the arms are moving back and forth in a prescribed pattern. While spinning the arms usually have no movement while holding on to the stationary handlebars.

[eltoo]

Yes, I was referring to auto-detect.  Thanks.  In my experience auto-detect seems to work even when the arms are not moving (i.e., arms held stationary at the front console), but perhaps that's not so based on your post.  Thanks.

[123lynette]

Attach the fitbit to your left shoe to get a more precise reading during spinning

‎10-08-2017 11:58

Attach the fitbit to your ankle - use your sock to keep it in place. You’ll get a more accurate reading of calories burned while spinning

[123lynette]

Attach the fitbit to your ankle - use your sock to keep it in place. You’ll get a more accurate reading of calories burned while spinning

[Rich_Laue]

Does the heart rate work better on the ankle? 

[YojanaFitbit]

Thanks a million for your comments guys! So glad to see you joined to the conversation, welcome! @123lynette

@Cookspencer In regards to your input. Have you tried these steps to get the "Spinning" option on your Charge 2? Give it a try and let me know if you have more questions! 

Thanks for the tip @123lynette, this is something to consider. But as @Rich_Laue mentioned not sure if it will be a good option for people that wants to get more accurate HR information, although it might work for steps count! 

You're welcome @eltoo, thanks for sharing your findings!

See you around! 

[eltoo]

In my experience the Charge 2 does work on your ankle, but it's a bit more temperamental.

Strapped on the ankle, the device will count every revolution on a bike as a step - so you get the step count if that's one goal.  

And it does seem to pick up the HR as well, although it seems to periodically drop the signal and then resume, more so than on the wrist.  But it does work, and if your cycling session is long enough it will give you a good sense of your overall HR pattern even if the reading on the chart shows that it episodically drops to zero and then resumes.  

[YojanaFitbit]

Hey @eltoo, great to see you here again! Thanks for keep updating the thread with what is working for  you, this might be helpful to other users who are considering wearing their trackers in that way. I think that it's really important to do a lot of research before trying new things.

Let us know any other detail of your findings or feel free to take a moment to visit our Discussions board where you will find other members sharing their experiences and tips. This is a really good way to stay motivated towards your goals. In case that you haven't do so, check it out! You might be interested in these topics: You know you're a Fitbit addict when...... or Looking for Fitbit Friends? Find some here!

Have a good one! 

[MFitz73]

I'm having some similar problems.  The Fitbit will track my outdoor bike riding, walking or running, but for some reason when I'm spinning, it doesn't register my heart rate and puts me around 60bpm.  That's lower than my sleeping heart rate.  

[eltoo]

I don't have any issues with HR tracking while spinning. But I don't think
the FB worn on the wrist will track your "steps" while spinning. However,
I've had some luck wearing the FB on my ankle while spinning - it
effectively tracks counts each revolution as a step, although it seems to
struggle a bit with HR tracking when strapped on the ankle. There's no
perfect solution.

[YojanaFitbit]

It's great to see you here in the Community @MFitz73, welcome! Thanks for sharing that information @eltoo, some users have reported they use their trackers in that way; with positive results!

@MFitz73 That's odd t that you're getting lower readings than your sleeping heart rate. If you're getting your HR information with other activities but not while doing spinning, we might have to check these wearing tips that should improve your HR readings for this activity.

Note that while you are doing exercise on different machines there is no motion of going forward that your Surge can detect. Your tracker in the most basic form is a movement sensor and if the movement is reduce, in example: doing spinning; where your hands wont move in the same way when you walk it will have an impact on your HR and calories stats.

I'd advice trying the restart a couple of times in a row and then try these steps too:

1. Turn off the HR option on the Surge and Force sync your Surge
2. Turn it back on with the option "On instead of "Auto"  and Force sync your Surge again

 Hope this helps, I'll be around.  

[CardiganWearer]

hi.

at the beginning of this thread you said you can alter the calories of a "Spinning" session after it is synced.

I can't see how to do that on either the website or the app?

If it is an auto-detect workout I can change the name and nothing else.

If it is a session from one of the "exercise shortcuts", eg Spinning, I can't change anything.

am I missing something. probably 

[MFitz73]

Yes you can change it. It took me awhile to figure out. Click edit and delete one of the exercises you won’t use, and then add the one you want. I’m still trying to figure the rest of it out, because it doesn’t seem to read my heart rate properly.

Sent from my iPhone

[eltoo]

I think someone else said this as I wouldn't know how to do this and don't
know if it's possible.

[CardiganWearer]

---

@MFitz73 wrote:
Yes you can change it. It took me awhile to figure out. Click edit and delete one of the exercises you won’t use, and then add the one you want. I’m still trying to figure the rest of it out, because it doesn’t seem to read my heart rate properly.

yes

but it was said you could change calories after the session was recorded and synced.

how?

[MFitz73]

I changed the exercise workout to spinning, but I have no clue how to change the calories.  I'm having the same problem, because it's not giving me an accurate heart rate when I spin, the calorie count is off.  It has me at 60bpm.  Maybe it's the angle of my wrist and it doesn't read my heart rate, but I'm not sure.  I know it doesn't have a problem with outdoor rides.  It counts my bpm and distance very well, but being it's minus 10 outside, I'm not doing much outdoor riding right now obviously. Hopefully somebody else can answer these questions we have.