Recording heart rate from Inspire 2 in a Strava activity recording

[Mercat68]

Hi, all (and Happy New Year!). I just got an Inspire 2 (my first Fitbit) and hope to use it to record real-time heart rate in a Strava activity recording when I outdoor bike. I’ve linked my Fitbit and Strava accounts successfully. When I go on a ride, is there anything else I need to do or will the Fitbit data flow to the Strava app automatically as I ride? Thanks.

[Baltoscott]

Hi @Mercat68 

Make sure you actually start the ride by selecting the bike activity on your Inspire 2.  That will create a GPS activity on the Fitbit side which will automatically transfer over to the Strava side.  And yes, the heart rate information will transfer.

Only GPS recorded activities will transfer over to Strava.  Activities that your Fitbit detects automatically do not include GPS and won’t transfer to Strava.

Enjoy your ride.  I'm off for one in couple of minutes myself.  Happy New Year.

[Mercat68]

Thanks, Scott. As a test, I recorded an exercise (a walk) in the Fitbit app earlier this week and it did appear on my Strava activities list. But it did not include heart rate (in either Strava or in the Fitbit app). My automatic recordings in Fitbit (daily treadmill workouts, for example), do include heart rate. Am I doing something wrong or is there a setting I need to check?

[Rich_Laue]

If you started the walk through the Fitbit app on the phone, you are correct @Mercat68 your heart rate was not recorded and can not be sent on to Strava. 

You will need, as @Baltoscott explains, start the exercise on the inspire 

[Mercat68]

Ahhh, OK, I get it. Yes, I started the exercise in the app. I didn’t realize you could initiate it directly on the Inspire device itself. Thanks.

[Rich_Laue]

Your welcome. 

You will also notice that when starting from the app. No heart rate will be shown in the event on Fitbit. 

[Mercat68]

Circling back on this to update that I went on a ride today and recording worked perfectly, including heart rate. Appreciate the guidance @Baltoscott and @Rich_Laue 

Follow up question: When I record a ride in Strava, it auto-pauses when I stop so it captures only moving time. Does Fitbit do the same or do I have to manually pause when needed? And how do I do that?

[Baltoscott]

@Mercat68 -- I think so. I don't have access to mine right now, so I can't check, but try this:

On the Inspire 2, open the exercise app and choose bike. Instead of tapping to start, swipe up to see what options are available.  On most Fitbits you will be able to set some goals (like a distance for recording a 'lap,' 5 miles, for example), and I think you have the option of turning 'auto pause' on or off.  You should have similar options for other exercises.

[Mercat68]

Thanks, @Baltoscott. Just checked. Seeing the various goal options (distance, time, etc.), but nothing for auto pause.

Looks like I might be out of luck. Found this in the web interface, under settings:

I have biking in my shortcut list, so that's not the problem. Does Fitbit have a suggestion box? 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Baltoscott]

@Mercat68 -- apparently Fitbit has incorporated the auto-pause in smartwatch fitbits (i.e, Versa/Sense series) but not the 'bracelet' Fitbits.  It is probably a company decision to help differentiate the lineup, but we can always ask for a change, right?  I saw that a suggestion has already been made to add auto-pause to the Charge 4.  I just created one to add it to the Inspire 2.  Here is the link.  Please vote for it and add a comment if you like

In the meantime, since you've got to take your phone with you anyway to use GPS, you might try recording your your bike rides using Strava on the phone to see what happens.  You would be able to use auto-pause that way, and the activity should migrate over to Fitbit because the accounts are linked.  I suspect that on the Fitbit side the activity will include the heart-data that your Inspire is recording in 'all-day' mode, and add that to the activity on the Fitbit side.  You will probably lose the heart rate information on the Strava side, though.

[Mercat68]

Voted! Thanks for doing that.

I’ll try a test sometime soon and see if heart rate data is added on the Fitbit side when the ride is shared from Strava. Only problem is I want the heart rate data in Strava, too. So, if Fitbit doesn’t write back the heart rate data to Strava automatically, the only way to get it back in Strava would be to export the TCX file from Fitbit and import as an activity into Strava. That’s a lot of back-and-forth that’s probably more trouble than it’s worth. Probably easier just to manually pause the ride on the Inspire 2 when I stop 😉

[coreman]

Hey all, thanks for the discussion on this question.  I'm in the same boat, and am trying to figure out which knobs and levers to throw so that Inspire 2 heart-rate ends up on the Strava dashboard for activities.

I'm not sure this question has been answered in the thread though ?  There was a suggestion in the thread to record the activity on both Strava, and the Inspire 2.  However, other guidance in this community advises not to double-track the same activity at the same time.

I tend to use Strava to track my runs, with the audio support enabled, so I can get the coaching updates from Strava every 500m, which includes the distance traveled, and the pace detail.  I don't think I'd give that up for heart-rate tracking on the Inspire 2.
I've grown to like the Inspire2 for tracking other wellness metrics (like sleep and steps), so will keep using it.  However, for getting heart-rate in Strava, I'm thinking Inspire 2 might not be quite the right fit? 

Anyhoo - interested in what you all have discovered since the post was "answered".

Thanks for any further technical reflections! 

[Rich_Laue]

As @Baltoscott points out @coreman 

Put your Fitbit into the bike or run mode, have the phone with you so that this exercise is being recorded with GPS. 

Your exercise, with heart rate, and GPS should transfer to Strava. 

[Mercat68]

@coreman you can record an activity in Strava from the Inspire 2. The trick is to start the recording on the Inspire 2 device (vs. the Fitbit app or Strava app). When you're ready to run, swipe down a couple times to "Exercise," tap it, and swipe until you get to "Run" (or "Bike" or "Treadmill" or some other exercise you want to record). Tap the exercise and you'll go to a screen with a big play button. Just above it is a small arrow and text to indicate whether or not you're connected to your phone's GPS. It will say "connected" when it's ready. One note: The first time I tried this, it would not connect after multiple attempts. I turned off my phone and restarted it, and it connected after that, so you might have to do that.

Once you're connected to your phone, tap the play button and start your exercise. When you're done, pinch the sides of the Inspire to pause the exercise and pinch again to "Finish" (tap the screen). Assuming you've linked your Fitbit account to Strava, you should see the exercise appear as a Strava activity, with BP data, a short time later. As discussed above, the only downside is that the Inspire 2 doesn't auto-pause recording if you stop to rest, for a drink, etc. So, if you want accurate moving time data, you'll need to pinch the sides of the Inspire 2 to pause the activity when you stop and hit the play button again to resume the recording once you're back underway.

I haven't tried recording both via the Inspire 2 and the Strava app at the same time, but can't think of a reason that wouldn't work. Wouldn't you just end up with two activities in Strava, one with BP data and one without? And, then, you could just delete the activity without BP data?

Apologies, BTW, if you see two versions of this reply. Tried to answer earlier and was sure I had saved it, but then it was gone when I returned to the discussion.

[coreman]

Hey @Mercat68 thanks for taking the time to share the detail above!  That will come in very handy for the newbies on Inspire 2 that are trying to do this very thing!  I like your reminder of how to pinch to access Inspire 2 device features.  I find my (fat) fingers don't get the pinch right the first time!  After a couple of pinches though, the pinch does lock in, to fire the function in context.

I got my Inspire 2 this past September, as a new tool in my fitness kit.  I have been using Strava for a while longer.  What you're saying does work! 

However, as a (Premium) Strava user, I'm somewhat spolied by the auto-pause functionality in the app, as I use that with frequency during training.  

I'll try to find mention of double-tracking activities, and post those threads here - in previous tours through this discussion, that point has been brought up, which leads me to see that the only way to get the heartrate BPM into Strava is by exclusive use of Inspire 2 for tracking, which is OK, as long as you don't mind fore-going other features of Strava that you might be accustomed to during training.  Like auto-pause, and pace updates.

Thanks for re-igniting this thread to help me! 

[Mercat68]

Oddest thing about my Inspire 2 was that the pinch feature worked only sporadically or not at all for the first week or so. But then it just started working flawlessly every time and has been fine since. It was like the device had to learn my touch before it worked consistently.

[coreman]

Status update on this topic to share: 

I have started using the FitBit device to track the activity, as suggested in the thread.  The activity now goes through to Strava seamlessly! 

I miss the pace updates from Strava, but see that the FitBit app also has this feature - however, even though I have the pace updates enabled, they don't play while I am running.  The "Preview Cues" works, and I can hear what the cues are supposed to sound like.  Any tips on this feature?

Thanks for the help! 

[Rich_Laue]

If you are usinnv the Inspire 2 to record the run you will not hear anything. F your tracker dies not have a speaker. 

If you enable laps, you will feel vibrations and see your pace updated on the wrist. 

[coreman]

Thanks Rich, for this support!  I see now that if I want the pace cues, I need to be recording the activity from the FitBit app itself, on the Exercise tile.  In that case, I will stop using the Inspire 2 to record the activity, and use the FitBit app itself.

However, if I do that, will I still get the heart-rate from the Inspire 2 recorded along with the activity, by the time the data gets synced to Strava? 

Thanks!

[Giampi71]

@coreman no, if you start the session from the Fitbit app on your phone you won't get HR.