HIIT Session

[Cathy.M]

Done a 20 minute HIIT Session and my charge he didn't track anything, any ideas how to track this? 

[MariamV · Accepted solution]

Welcome tot he forums @Cathy.M! I recommend tracking your HIIT sessions by long  holding the button on your Charge HR until  you feel it vibrating; do the same when you finish your workout. Sync your tracker and check your Activities Log. However, please keep in mind that with high-intensity interval training where your wrist is moving vigorously and non-rhythmically, the movement may prevent the sensor from finding an accurate heart rate. Try relaxing your wrist and staying still briefly (about 10 seconds), after which you should see an accurate heart rate reading. Note that your tracker will still provide accurate calorie burn readings during this type of exercise by analyzing your heart rate trends over the course of the workout. Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[Cathy.M]

Thanks will try this tomorrow 😊

[Cathy.M]

That done the trick, thank you so much 😊 

[MariamV]

Thanks for getting back to me @Cathy.M! Reading that this did the trick was like a ray of sunshine.   I'm happy to know that you're now back on track! 

Happy stepping! 

[Nanaelaine]

Why can't I record it as a hiit session on my charge hr it isn't an option so I've been recording it as circuit training?

[MariamV]

@Nanaelaine thanks for your question. There are two things you can do, long pressing the Charge HR button until you feel it vibrate and start your HIIT session; once you're done press and hold until you feel it vibrate a summary of your workout will show on your Charge HR's screen. Also, you can definitely log it manually and you could create a custom activity for your HIIT sessions. For more information on how to do it, please click here. Let me know if you have any other question about it. I'll be around! 

[Nanaelaine]

My question was why is HIIT not one of the options when logging activity?

[Nanaelaine]

But my question was why is hiit not in the activity list?

Sent from my iPhone

[MariamV]

@Nanaelaine thanks for getting back to me! That's isn't an option yet. However, I encourage you to post future comments and to add your vote in the idea called: Add HIIT As An Activity Type in the Feature Suggestion board. The more votes and comments an idea has the more visibility it gains. Catch you later! 

[Arpoador]

Yes, Charge HR tracks Hiit with the method that you mentioned but it does not do so accurately.  Because of the constant changing of heartbeat, it misses some of the really high intensity workout segments.  So I always burn less calories in a Hiit class of 55 minutes than I do in let's say a moderate intensity, but steady workout such as Step class of the same length.  I know that I work harder in Hiit and unfortunately the results don't show up on the tracker.  

[MariamV]

@Arpoador Thanks for taking the time to provide us with your feedback! Please note, that this is a requested Feature Suggestion. That board is always being reviewed by out developers and engineers. Although there is no ETA for when or if this idea will get implemented, I encourage you to post your comments and vote for this idea I linked above.

Meanwhile you could manually enter this activity in your Fitbit account. For more information on how to do it, please click here. Let me know if you have any other question about it. I'll be around! 

[T100martin]

The reason why HIIT isn't an option for Fitbit is that it can't record intervals of less than 5 minutes

The heart rate graph on the fitbit dashboard shows pulse rates averaged over 5 minute increments of time.
So if I'm doing 4 x 30 second intervals of high intensity effort over a 12 to 15 minute session there's no way fitbit can record any data that's of any use for people doing HIIT sessions.

In short, fitbit does not have the capability to record HIIT sessions.

[Arpoador]

Thanks. This is really helpful. Makes sense. Is that why calorie count also seems low given the intensity of the effort? I am comparing it to when I do a 50 min step class where I burn 30% more than a hitt class and I am not that tired after a step class.

Sent from my iPhone

[T100martin]

That's right.  If you're running cross-country and you go up a short, steep incline that takes less than 2 minutes, Fitbit will average out your effort and ignore any peaks in pulse rate.

If you're looking to train to specific heart rate zones for short periods Fitbit is useless.

But it gets worse.  If you rely on fitbit to record your peaks and each time it tells you something lower than you expected, you might try a lot harder next time and potentially push yourself too hard.

This potentially dangerous.

A standard chest-strap monitor is far more reliable.  You don't get any data log, but you can see in real-time what you're doing.

Whatever pulse monitor you use, it's always a good idea to check your pulse against a watch once in a while.

[JamesPortman]

Is there an equivalent way to record a HIIT session on a Versa 2? Thanks.