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Heart rate and calorie count

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‎06-05-2019 15:13 - last edited on ‎09-08-2020 15:47 by Fitbit Moderator

‎06-05-2019 15:13 - last edited on ‎09-08-2020 15:47 by Fitbit Moderator

Hi all, I just wanted to ask your advice. Moderators, who would suggest that I just reset my watch can refrain from responding. I know you don’t really comment on algorithms.

 

My problem is that I have a very low resting heart rate (42-45 on average). However, I feel like all Fitbit calorie count algorithms are based on heart rate. For example, for a normal person with an average heart rate of 60 bpm, walking 30 minutes would raise the heart rate to 90. For me, it would only rise to 70bpm. This means that when I do normal calorie burning activities, such as cycling, or weights, it barely registers on Fitbit. A few weeks ago I did an intense hour-long session at the gym, Fitbit showed my calorie burn at just 400kcl compared to 800-900kcal on gym equipment (weight entered). I know that treadmill kcal estimates are not always accurate, but this is a big discrepancy.

 

At the same time, I have read that heart rate is not the only measure that should be considered when calculating calorie burn. Do you know if Fitbit mostly uses heart rate to assess calorie burn and how much impact would low resting heart rate have on calorie burn accuracy?

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‎06-07-2019 12:56

‎06-07-2019 12:56

Hi @ElsaE thanks for your post, I'd like to give you a warm welcome to our Community Forums and of course, provide you with more information rather than just a restart process.

 

Let me share with you that heart rate reading varies depending on several factors like movement, temperature, humidity, stress level, physical body position, caffeine intake, and medication. If you haven't already done so, please review our information and tips for heart rate accuracy at: How do I track my heart rate with my Fitbit device? and take in consideration all the information that is specified there. This is certainly not a common situation, however, as per previously mentioned, heart rate tracking can vary.

Wrist placement during certain vigorous exercise is important. Review the information on optimal wear closely and make sure you follow the recommendations.Also, can you please let me know what were you doing when you noticed the problem? If you were exercising, specifically which types of exercise? When was the first time you noticed this behavior and how many times since then?

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

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