Counting steps when i move arm

[Eelodini]

My husband got me charger 2 for christmas. Noticing if I move my arm that I wear fitbit on counts the steps. Just wondering if this is normal or how would I go about fixing it.

[HeydyF]

Hello @Eelodini, it is great to see new faces around!  I will give you a brief explanation. Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running. When working at a desk, cooking, or doing other arm movements, a tracker on your wrist can pick up some extra steps if it thinks you're walking. Many of these situations (such as working or cooking) do include a few steps in-between stationary periods so the tracker tries to give you credit for those steps. For the vast majority of users, the amount of stray steps accumulated is negligible when compared to the entire day. However, if the amount of extra steps that you are getting is too high, you can try to restart your Charge 2. Use for a few days and let me know how it goes! 

Let me know if you have further questions! 

[Eelodini]

Thank you that helped a great deal. Thankfully it's not a big difference.
Was just curious if it was normal or I did something wrong with my set up.
Thank you again

[Kamau]

One thing that helped keep my steps tracked closer to reality was setting the tracker up as if I was wearng it on my dominant hand but actually wearing it on my non-dominant hand. 

Apparently this makes the tracker a bit less sensitive. It seems to have worked for me because it no longer counts screwing(with a screwdriver) as steps for me. 

[HeydyF]

Sounds nice that it helped you out to answer your questions @Eelodini! If you have more questions regarding the usage of your Charge 2, keep me posted. 😉

@Kamau, what we suggest is to use the tracker on the non-dominant hand, so you can get more real results and your Fitbit won't track as steps, some of the movements of your arms. However, if changing the settings to dominant hand and actually use the tracker on your non dominant hand is giving you more accurate results, then there is no problem. Fitbit give these options and the recommendations to get accurate data, however the users can play with them and see which ones work better for them. 😉 

Have a great day guys! 

[fairyhedgehog]

My tracker seems to overcount occasionally but not enough to matter.

Until today!

A few days ago I'd checked that winding wool for knitting didn't count as steps by looking at my tracker before and after doing it, and it didn't. But today I was unravelling a scarf and rewinding wool that had been held double, so I needed to wind on both hands alternately and I was leaning over to move balls of wool around and my heart rate was up... and my fitbit counted 2k steps while I was sitting on the settee!

It's not a problem and it made me laugh to think that knitting could be so energetic. Next time I'll check if the tracker is registering steps a lot earlier in the process, and if it is I'll take it off. 

[HeydyF]

Hello @fairyhedgehog, it is great to see you around the forums! 🙂 Oh! sounds pretty weird that your Charge 2 is counting so many steps just by unraveling a scarf and rewinding wool. Maybe because of the movement it'll count some steps, like for example when I'm ironing my hair, but not that much. So let me suggest you something, I'd recommend performing a restart. Let me know how it goes! 

Keep me updated! 

[fairyhedgehog]

I'm not sure I need a restart because it's performing normally now. I think it was a real one-off - both hands moving and a lot of upper body movement as I sorted out the small balls of wall I was ending up with. I'm not surprised the tracker got confused!

If it happens again I'll try a restart. Thank you for the suggestion and the link.

[HeydyF]

Thanks for getting back to me @fairyhedgehog! Yeah, maybe those fast movements could also being recognized as steps. But yes, you can try to restart your tracker and see how it goes. In addition, you can take a look at this post which has the information about how Fitbit trackers work and what to do to get more accurate results with it.  

Give it a try and let me know! 

[fairyhedgehog]

Thank you!

[HeydyF]

You are more than welcome my friend @fairyhedgehog! If you have further questions or comments, please feel free to keep me posted. I'll be around! 

[Kayj46]

Mine dos da same when I move my arm

[Kayj46]

I’m left handed so dos that mean I put it on my right arm

[Kayj46]

So I’m left handed I wear it on my left hand and say I’m right handed and it worked for u yea can move ur left hand without it counting steps 

[HeydyF]

Hey @Kayj46, it is cool to see new faces around!  If you are a left handed person, then I suggest you to wear your Charge 2 on your right hand because that is your non dominant hand. By doing that, you won't get so many extra steps by moving your arm. 

Give it a shot and let me know how it goes! 😉 

[Kayj46]

I’ve changed it to my right hand just now let yea know how I get on

[Kayj46]

I gave it a go works but now it’s counting steps wen I sleep

[HeydyF]

I hope you are doin' well my friend @Kayj46! How many steps did it count? Did you also change the settings on your Fitbit account? I mean from your dominant to your non dominant hand? In the meantime, let me suggest you something, try to restart your Charge 2, just follow these instructions: 

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You'll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker's display. Your Charge 2 will begin charging.
4. Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable. 

Keep me posted! 

[daisydumas1928]

Why does my Fitbit count steps when I only move my arm. The steps aren’t real. I feel like I’m cheating.  How can I change this?

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi @daisydumas1928 thanks for bringing this to my attention, welcome to our Community Forums! My apologies for the delay in responding your post.

Let me share with you that Fitbit devices have a finely-tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running. When performing activities with arm movements, a device on your wrist may add some steps. When you’re doing activities that involve arm movement, you often walk a few steps in-between stationary periods as well, so the device tries to give you credit for those steps. For most users, the number of extra steps added by arm-based movement isn’t significant when compared to your overall stats. For more information, see How does my Fitbit device count steps?

Let me know if you have any additional questions, I'll be here.