Inspire HR not recording my exercise

[bnoe]

The first day I used my fitbit I worked out on my elliptical for 65 minutes with a heart rate of over 75% for a good deal of the time.  Without doing anything special, the device recorded my workout as an exercise day.  The second day I did the same workout (but only for 38 minutes) with the same percentage of heart rate over 75%, but the device did not acknowledge it as a workout.  What went wrong?  The dashboard shows 38 minutes of increased activity, the calories, and the 4000+ steps but does not show it as an exercise day.  Also, on the first day my elliptical shows I walked 3 miles, but the device shows only 1.6 miles.  How do I correct this?

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity

[YojanaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Nice to see that you're digging into the Forums @bnoe, let me give you a warm welcome to our Community. 

Thanks a million for sharing your inquires about how Fitbit Inspire HR tracks your workouts. I really appreciate the details on your post. Most Fitbit devices automatically recognize and record high-movement activities such as walk, run, or runs at least 15 minutes long through the SmartTrack feature. As this was an elliptical workout, please confirm that you are holding the bars when walking.

Also choose which activities your device tracks automatically from the list of options, or change the amount of time required for the activity to be recorded. You can do so on the Fitbit app:

1. On the Fitbit app dashboard, tap the Exercise tile to open your exercise history.
2. Tap on account
3. Tap an exercise, and adjust the duration or turn off Auto-rec

You can also try to restart you Fitbit Inspire HR, in case that it is having issues recognizing your activity. 

As with all heart-rate tracking technology, accuracy is affected by personal physiology, location of wear, and type of movement.

When you’re not exercising, wear your device a finger’s width above your wrist bone. Fitbit’s PurePulse technology is designed to be most accurate when you wear your device on the top of your wrist.

For improved heart-rate accuracy, keep these tips in mind:

1. Experiment with wearing the device higher on your wrist during exercise for an improved fit and more accurate heart-rate reading. Many exercises such as bike riding or weight lifting cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which could interfere with the heart-rate signal if the watch is lower on your wrist. 
   
2. Make sure the device is in contact with your skin.
3. Do not wear your device too tight; a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart-rate signal. That being said, the device should also be slightly tighter (snug but not constricting) during exercise than during all-day wear.
4.  Note that your device will still provide accurate calorie burn readings during these types of exercise by analyzing your heart rate trends over the course of the workout.

For your missing activity of the second day, you can manually log it on the Fitbit app. About the accuracy of your Fitbit, it will recognize the activity according to your movements. Please try the suggested steps and the accuracy of your Fitbit should improve on the following exercises. 

Let me know if you need more help. 

[Tshock]

Great advice but why would you turn off the auto recognize???

[JGrubb20]

I also have this issue. It doesn't always auto-detect my elliptical workout. It does track it as 'active minutes' but not as an exercise. 

I have :

1. Restarted the device

2. Changed the minutes on auto-detect

3. Ensured my arms are on the bars during the workout. 

When I try to reorder the shortcuts on my device so I can track the elliptical, there is not a shortcut option for elliptical. 

I do not like having to manually put in my workout, it defeats the purpose. What else can I try?

[rs592]

I am having this issue too. The exercise feature has worked fine in the past, but now it is not tracking. Active minutes are working just fine, but not the exercise. 

I went to manually enter and that is glitchy too - I can't update distance walked because the time overlaps this space. 

[Tregary]

I’ve tried all of these and still no luck.  My old fitbit charge 2 HR was great.  I now have an inspire HR and although auto turned on it rarely recognises when I go cycling and sometimes reports me swimming when I’ve done nothing!!! Nowhere near as happy with this device as I was with my old charge. 

[Sheilamferrigan]

Good evening.  My Inspire HR has stopped frequently during a workout.  I’ve restarted the Fitbit several times and the trouble continues.  

Can you give me some more options for a fix?

thank you,

sheila

[Tregary]

No, I’m afraid I can’t! No matter how many times I restart or contact customer services I get nowhere. Won’t be buying another that’s for sure!

Sent from my iPhone

[LolaBg]

I am really disappointed with my Inspire HR and I am looking for a better tracker now. All my hard work is randomly recorded or not, so unreliable. Might as well not wear it for the price then and not get confused and frustrated with the randomness of it.