Charge 2 clip or ankle strap

[P-Dub-Jess]

Let me first start off by saying I know the heart rate feature will not work, and that wrist placement is recommended...

Has anyone tried an ankle strap or

clip type devise when using your Charge 2?

I will be spending quite a bit of time this summer pushing a stroller and in my last 3 weeks wearing my Charge, when I'm shopping​, pushing a cart or holding a list, walk with a baby or just don't swing my arms far enough, my steps do not count.

I plan on returning it if I can't figure out a way to accurately count my steps and getting a plain ol pedometer. It's very frustrating when you're in a challenge and you've just spent over 3 hours shopping and log less than 1,000 steps!!

[Dacus]

That's why people want to try wearing it on the ankle, because it doesn't count steps correctly when on the wrist.

[Viello]

I have worn a Fit Zip, One, Charge 2 under a sock, sometimes walking about at work, other times while peddling an outdoor bike or an indoor exercise bike, and found step counting pretty close to expected.  For the Charge 2, heart rate seems to work better when the sensor is on the inside of the ankle.  Importantly, the sock comes up over the Fitbit high enough that the device doesn't fall out.  

[Rich_Laue]

Ok I wonder how many none step false pedals are counted.

[Viello]

Today I counted pedal "steps" while cycling and the Ionic on ankle was exactly the same number; same with walking test...the ankle works great!

[Rich_Laue]

There are many who would call this cheating, we have a popular request to have all false steps recorded during a bike ride removed.

[Lilyba]

This is cracking me up. I don't get steps counted when I mow or shop. I'm moving and stepping. With biking, you are stepping- every 3 miles equals 1 mile of steps.

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[Viello]

1 step = 1 revolution of the pedals is NOT cheating.  

Not everyone runs for exercise. My family bikes (and rows)... but if you remove all our cycling "steps", then the Fitbit becomes worthless to us and we would have to switch to another brand. 

The flexibility of Fitbits to be used by everyone (not just runners) is a large part of it's appeal. 

It is a bit arrogant for a group of users to decide that only steps from jogging, running or walking are valid and try to shut out users who prefer other methods of exercise.    

[Viello]

Hey...I'm not looking at distance, I'm looking at total steps...whether it is walking cycling on recumbent trike, or cycling on exercise bike.  I compare me to me and how much activity I get day to day. This works for us and helps us in our goals towards fitness and weight control.  Not intrested in marathons or racing.  Just because my goals differ from yours, doesn't make either goal wrong, they are just different.

[WavyDavey]

IMO, steps are overrated for gauging fitness. Active Minutes is going to give a better look at exertion levels and calories burned, and is a better metric for biking.

Counting revolutions is problematic, because the distance the foot travels is far less than your stride length. Maybe 1 step for every 3 revolutions, but you can see how it becomes a problem to track.

You'll also lose HR data from wearing on the ankle, which will bork your calories burned, cardio fitness level, and resting heart rate. But if you want to give up most of the functionality just to reduce the Fitbit to a step counter, why not just get a cheap pedometer?

[Viello]

Some interesting points, but consider...if you do things consistently, whether cycling, rowing, nordic sking or whatever...track yourself doing that every day...you can monitor your trends over time.  

No, that won't always translate to comparing your progress against everyone else, but many people care squat about that.  

Now...heart rate...on the ankle it works better if the sensor is on the inside of the ankle. Probably helps if you have skinny ankles, but haven't tried that.  

I also have a Zip which often gets used while the Ionic us charging...always goes inside the sock.  

In bad weather (like now) the indoor exercise bike is the thing to use. 

Have a rower now and plan to try Fitbit with that, but will leave the Ionic on a wrist. 

You need to think outside the box...I have found that many others said wouldn't work, when tried and tweaked, worked just fine.  The way I use my Fitbits works for me, but I keep tweaking how I use them and find expanding capabilities in the process.  Full use...steps, stairs (except the Zip), heart rate (except the Zip), sleep (Except the Zip and didn't use the One for it)...just be creative and experiment...you'll be surprised what you can do. 

[HeydyF]

Hey guys! I hope you are doin' great! 

Well, the Charge 2 wasn't exactly designed to be used on your ankle or inside your sock or pocket, however that doesn't mean that you can't wear it there, the thing is that the results (specially with steps) may vary and is harder for your Charge 2 to track your BPM accurately. I'm saying this because I have tried this, I mean wear it around my ankle, and even though the steps were pretty close to those tracked when I wear it on my wrist, my heart rate was not detected at all so I rather not to wear it that way again. Hehe. 

However, I appreciate you are sharing your experiences with your Charge 2, wearing it in different ways. 

Keep me posted guys! I'll be around! 

[Viello]

Thanks for the feedback of your experience wearing the wrist device on the ankle.  Steps being close to the same as on the wrist seems pretty typical (more accurate it your arms are not swinging, this the wrist will not log steps). 

I'm not surprised we had different experiences with HR on the ankle vs wrist...there are a lot more variables in ankle location, such a edema vs no edema, thick vs thin ankles, location (inside vs outside and where precisely located) and  exercise type. 

I don't run/jog, which may be why my results were better, and I suspect any high-impact activity (running/jogging, jumping-jacks, jump-roping, etc) will adversely affect HR detection, just as HR detection  on the wrist has been reported as adversely affected when boxing. 

So there really is no perfect single solution for everyone.  Of course for those truly obsessive about accurate HR, they can wear a chest-strap

... though even those have situations on which they don't capture accurately.  Nothing is perfect. 

The fun is in each person  experimenting to discover what works best for their intended use. 🙂

[Rich_Laue]

Let's think about this @Viello, which do you think will be more accurate?

Monitoring arm motions to determine what the feet are doing? Or

Monitoring foot motion to determine what the feet are doing?

So why are arm units so popular?

Convenience

The ability to mount on the body and not clothing.

More bells and whistles

It gives an easy accessable watch.

To make a few.

I did follow and wear the Fitbit one and two arm trackers, charge and Charge HR on 3 accounts over a four month period. 

Yes the single day often varied between the 3, with them changing leaderboard possitive sometimes with every sync. I did notice the week counts closer and two months the 3 where within 1000 steps. One month withwith three trackers being within 100 steps. Not bad for a 30 day period.

[Frigg]

Hi, 

This is an older thread but I'll answer anyway.

I have a Charge 2 and wear it on my ankle during the day to get accurate step readings. Having to continually swing my arm to count steps is a pain, especially if you're pushing a shopping cart or even when walking, I'm not always moving my arm. Your pulse on your ankle shouldn't be any different than on your wrist. A heart rate is a heart rate, it's not faster or slower on the ankle then on the wrist. You can always set the Charge 2 HR monitor on sensitive as well. 

I transfer my Charge 2 to my wrist at night for sleep tracking. My ideal fitness tracker would act like a pedometer and track steps without having to move my arm but this is the second best way get a more accurate step count.

I really hear you about walking all over the grocery store pushing a cart and not getting your steps counted, that's what motivated me to wear my Charge 2 on my ankle. 

Hope that helps. 

[moviediva]

I do exactly  like @Frigg , when I get up in the morning I put my Charge 3 on my ankle, and when I go to bed, I transfer it to my wrist, and it seems to track everything fine. I don't use it as a watch I wear a watch, I even feel it when I get notifications when it is on my ankle.

[Frigg]

Hi @moviediva, 

I think it's the best way to get an accurate step count with any of the Fitbit fitness trackers. I wish they would ditch the hand movement step count and use  pedometer software, like the One has, to count steps. That would be the perfect tracker. I really don't mind wearing my Fitbit on my ankle, in fact I prefer it. I'm sure we're not the only ones that do this. 

Best, 

Frigg