Inconsistent Steps on Charge 2

[cgrlcdr]

I have had a Charge 2 for about one year and am generally pretty happy with it. I am disabled and have trouble with balance - consequently when I walk around town I have to use two canes. On my daily walks around town my Fitbit keeps accurate track of my steps and mileage. The problem is that during the winter I use the treadmill at the YMCA. Because I have balance problems I use the hand grips on the treadmill and therefore don't swing or move my arms or hands. After an hour on the treadmill, the machine will show that I have walked 3.15 miles, but my Fitbit will only indicated that I have walked around 2 miles. To further complicate the situation, sometimes the mileage on my Fitbit will match the treadmill and other times it will read way low. Any suggestions?

[LZeeW]

Hello @cgrlcdr and welcome to the forums.  All wrist trackers depend on some arm movement to track steps.  Your tracker will definitely undercount your steps if you need to use the handrail.  My recommendation is to try wearing your Charge 2 on your ankle (not an official Fitbit recommendation, but many people do this).  If you wear a reasonably snug sock, then you might get a heart rate trace by tucking your Charge 2 in your sock, with the heart rate sensor on the inside of your leg near your ankle.  If you have a lot of ankle edema, the heart rate might not work.

Let us know how it goes,

[AlvaroFitbit]

@cgrlcdr  It's great to see that you've visited the Fitbit Community! Thank you for your inquiry. As @LZeeW  mentioned your tracker will detect the movement on your arm and translate that movement into steps. There are situations in which your arm may move but you won't be actually walking and vice versa. This may happen when you are playing the drums, burping a baby or clapping and the opposite can happen when you push a cart. It can also happen when driving. For added sensitivity you can try wearing your tracker on your dominant hand but select that hand as non dominant on the tracker’s settings to make it more sensitive to movement.

Let me know how it goes.

[cgrlcdr]

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried tucking my Fitbit into my left sock. That seemed to be going ok, but after a few minutes I could see it was over counting. Then I hung it on a loop on my belt. That seemed to work much better. I'll try it again tomorrow on my belt loop only to confirm that solution. I'll report back. 

[LZeeW]

@cgrlcdrI suggested the sock idea in hopes that it would capture your heart rate while you walked.  Trackers that have heart rate sensors use heart rate based algorithms to estimate calorie burn.  You will lose this feature if you wear it on a belt loop.  But if you are happy just getting a better step count, then I'm happy for you and glad I could help.

[AlvaroFitbit]

@cgrlcdr thank you for the update and sorry for the late reply. Happy to hear that you were able to improve the step count on your Charge 2. As @LZeeW mentioned you won't get hr data this way but if it meets your requirements then I hope this keeps working for you.

I'll be around.

[cgrlcdr]

Thanks for your advice. I put my Fitbit on my belt while on the treadmill and it works like a charm. However, it slipped off my belt the other day and landed on the floor, I later recovered it from the front desk. I just need to be more careful in the future.