Counting steps on an elliptical machine

[Pseudonurse]

Hi!  I have had my Inspire HR since early April, and am enjoying it.  So far, my activity has been solely walking, either during lunch at work or in the local park on Saturday and Sunday.  I have figured out that the steps are recognized by the "impact" or jarring from the steps (although mowing the lawn auto-recognized as riding a bike, and walking through the grocery store was "swimming" - LOL).  Because it is so hot here during the summer, and I want to be able to exercise regardless of weather, I am about to join a gym where I will also be able to use an elliptical machine (I have bad knees and the walking is irritating them) or other lower impact machines.  However, since I will be holding on to the machine and my arm will not be hanging freely for the impact to register (and there will be much less impact than mowing the lawn or walking through the store to get through to the device), I am wondering if my steps, etc. will be counted correctly.  I see that elliptical is one of the activities listed on the Inspire, but I saw a previous post from someone reporting that it was not picking up her workout.  When I got the Inspire, I also got the Zip to see which one I would like best, and I added both to my account, but I have been just using the Inspire.  I assume that the Zip attached to my clothing would pick up the impact of my steps on the elliptical.  I did notice when I first got them both, if I synced both at the end of the day after wearing the Inspire all day and not wearing the Zip, the Zip would then show the same number of steps as the Inspire, as if I had worn the Zip all day as well.  Would it work to sync both devices before I go to the gym so that it logs the Inspire info, switch to wearing the Zip while I work out, sync both again after the gym, and then go back to wearing the Inspire for the rest of the day?  

[JohnnyRow]

The main thing for counting steps is sensing the swinging of your arms when walking naturally.  For activities where your arm is not swinging freely, such as pushing a shopping cart, walking on treadmill holding hand rail, steps might not be detected.  Sometimes vibrations, or maybe your "impact", can be interpreted as steps, such as when riding bicycle or in a car on bumpy road.

On an elliptical, it probably depends on what is going on with your arms;  some have arms that you push and pull with each step - I expect those would be counted as steps;  but they might also have a handle that does not move - holding that would probably prevent steps recording.

It's basically think of the tracker on your wrist not knowing what the rest of your body is doing.  If your wrist is moving back and forth regularly as it would with walking, steps are detected;  if it still, no steps.

But as long as you are using tracker with heart rate, you still get calories burned from increased heart rate.

But if counting steps are your bigger concern, you can put the tracker in your pocket or pinned to clothing, or use your zip, to get better step count, at the expense of losing heart rate.

As for getting recognized as wrong activity, it sounds like are counting on SmartTrack auto-recognition.  If you care about your activities being recognized, it is much more reliable to use the exercise app on your tracker to start and stop the exercise and tell it what you are doing.

[Pseudonurse]

Yes, steps are my goal rather than heart rate, because I have always had a higher heart rate than normal anyway so I can't really rely on the heart rate/calories burned too closely.  I did not pay close enough attention when I toured the gym to see if their elliptical had the moving handles or not.  As far as the lawn mowing being counted as bike and shopping as swimming, I just found it amusing.  I didn't care as long as it counted my steps and it registered the time I spent doing it as activity.  I normally do use the feature where I select what activity I am doing and have it track the time, distance, steps, etc.  I did not use that feature when I mowed the lawn or when I was in the store, so it was the auto detect feature in action.  

So, again, will it work to switch between the two trackers and sync in between?  I would rather wear the smartwatch during the day at work so I can use the watch feature.  If not, I will just try to figure out how to attach it to my clothing in a place where it won't get completely drowned in my sweat. Sorry, I know that is TMI and gross, and women aren't supposed to sweat, but I do and I look like I have jumped in the pool when I am finished my 6-8 mile walks on the weekend.  At least then, I can keep wiping down my arm so it doesn't get too soaked, but if I put in anywhere secure on my clothes or in my pocket I am not sure I can do the same.

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

Assuming you have them both set up on same account, you should be able to keep switching.  Just make sure to sync tracker you are using before you switch to get all data from tracker to the fitbit database.

Sometimes having two trackers nearby might cause some syncing issues.  If so, try moving the other one further away, preferable out of bluetooth range.

[Lizg2]

I also have an Inspire HR and Zip.  I have found that the Inspire HR does not track your steps on the elliptical if you are holding onto the machine.  So I wear my Zip on my hip and the Inspire HR on my wrist.  The Zip counts my steps and I sync the two after the workout.  I wear the Inspire HR only the rest of the time.  So far it has worked out perfectly, it counts my elliptical workout and combines the rest of the days steps. When you sync after the workout, sync the Inspire HR first and then the ZIP.  I found I had issues if I tried to sync the Zip first but the Inspire HR would try to sync at the same time.

I also tried putting the Inspire HR in my pocket but it only counted half the steps.