Fitbit data changes when syncing with Strava

[NCaelers]

Hi all,

I recently connected my Fitbit Charge 2 to Strava.  I have had a number of problems that I was wondering whether they could be solved:

1.  I went for a hike two weekends ago and after the hike had 9000 odd steps.  However, Strava, despite the fact that both Strava and my Fitbit use the GPS from my iPhone 7, they registered slightly different distances.  Strava registered a shorter distance and my fitbit steps then adjusted back down to 8000 about 10 minutes after syncing.  I assumed because of the difference in distance.  But this still isnt correct because I actually did take that many steps. I was very annoyed about this.

2.  Then I went for a cycle on saturday.  At the end of my cycle my fitbit said I had burnt 1000 calories, which I consider more or less correct because we rode hard for 2 hours and I burn about 500 calories an hour when riding.  Shortly after finishing, I checked my total calories (this was at about 11 in the morning) and it said 1700 odd calories.  When I checked again a few hours later, my calorie count was suddenly 1500 odd calories, even though it was hours later. I then realised that Strava had estimated that I had only burnt 450 odd calories during the activity and so after I did the sync, my fitbit calories adjusted downwards by the 450 odd calories.  Therefore, on a day when I should have made a total of 2700 odd calories, I only made about 2100 calories.  I was very annoyed about this.

I have since disconnected my Fitbit from my Strava because my Fitbit seems to think that Strava is boss, and adjusts its information accordingly. 

Please advise why this would happen and if it is infact Strava or if there may be something wrong with my Fitbit.

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @NCaelers, it's great to have a new member!  Well sweetie, there's anything wrong with both of them, neither with Strava nor Fitbit. It happens because when Strava sends the distance info to Fitbit it is entered into Fitbit's database as if you were making a manual run entry.  The effect is that Fitbit overwrites the steps your device recorded with estimated steps (derived from your stride length) based on the distance that Strava recorded.  You can get the device recorded steps to reappear by deleting the run record that was imported from Strava.  This inconvenience does not occur when you import a bike record from Strava because it is treated as a manual bike entry (and bike distance is not added to your cumulative weekly/monthly/lifetime distance totals or converted to steps).

My suggestion would be to use the Fitbit app to record your run instead of (or in addition to) Strava.   When you use the Fitbit app, the GPS distance recorded is used by Fitbit but, the steps your tracker recorded are not overwritten.  If you use Strava for the same run (because you want the record in Strava as well as in Fitbit) just remember to delete that run record from Fitbit so it does not overwrite your steps (the imported Strava run will look different from the run record your Fitbit app records because it will not have the map). 

Your runs and rides tracked by Strava will contribute to your Fitbit all-day stats. If you want to export your GPS data from your Fitbit account to Strava, see Can I export my fitness data to my computer?

Keep in mind that the following types of activities won't sync to Strava:

• Activities from Strava are synced over to Fitbit as manually logged activities but will not include GPS or heart rate data from Strava
• NOTE: Manually logged activities in Strava will NOT sync over, it needs to be a recorded activity (i.e. pressing the record button in the app)
• Only GPS recorded activities from Fitbit will sync to Strava
• Heart rate data needs to be synced before ending a GPS activity for it to send to Strava

Note that after linking your accounts you may see some differences in the way data is calculated for your exercises on each site. For more information, refer to Strava's Calorie Calculation article.

Hope this clarifies what happened. Let me know if there's anything else I can assist you with! 

[NCaelers]

Thanks for the answers.  I deleted "manual" entries as suggested and it did solve the problem.

 

[MarreFitbit]

Awesome news @NCaelers! I'm glad to hear that the issue is not solved. 

Hope to see you participating in the Community more often since I think it would be awesome for you to explore our Community. You can go ahead and log to any of the topics that might be of your interest in our Discussion boards. Feel free to comment and contribute with your knowledge and experience.

Don't hesitate to let me know if there's anything else I can do for you. It's always a pleasure! 

[Thom77]

I've been having same problem with fitbit and strava. I've been using fitbit and strava for the past 2 months and the calorie burn and speed were way different. Fitbit calorie burn was high and strava was showing 500 calories less than fitbit.  BUT, for the first time.  I came back from a ride and fitbit calorie burn and strava calorie burn were the same???

[tallguymb40]

I have had this issue with MyFitnessPal and I loose the exercise log from Fitbit as MyFitnessPal overrides it even though I didn’t enter it on MyFitnessPal I never yet it says I do 

[HelenaDeacons]

Just been on a trekking holiday with 2 mates. I recorded using Fitbit. They both used Strava.  Our measurements were way out despite bring together all day.  An example. My Fitbit said we did 11 miles.  One Strava said 13 miles while the other said 16 miles.  The guide we were following said 13 miles.  Bit confusing but also quite annoying. 

[Thom77]

I still have same problem. I stopped using straver. I use fitbit because of the heart rate monitor. I'm now having problems sync with my phone for gps. I'm now using fitbit for the heart rate and map my ride for gps. Totally different results. Starting to get frustrated Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[Magicmiles]

I have used Fitbit Ionic for a long time to track and record my cycling and other activities. I now recently loaded Strava and allowed Fitbit to send data to Strava. 
over the past few days I have recorded some rides that on Fitbit were recorded with certain results and now in Strava the results are quite different 

for example a 41.01km cycle at 29.6km/h is reported on Strava as 42.52km at 25.2km/h. 
how can Strava not use the only source of data correctly?

some advise will be appreciated