Fitbit Versa not recognizing walks as exercise

[Kgrubb68]

Versa will track some walks and not others as daily exercise. If I add it manually I am not able to enter the exact distance  it has to be whole numbers nothing like 1.32 miles. Sometimes when I enter it manually it increases my steps more than I have done

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity.

[Julia_G]

Hi, @Kgrubb68 , if you allow your Versa to track your walks automatically (SmartTrack) it also won’t record your distance.  If distance as a statistic is important to you, you will need to use the exercise app on your Versa.  You can have GPS turned on if you want, or you can let your distance be estimated by multiplying the number of steps by the stride length.

[DonWymes]

Regarding Fitbit not tracking all your walks. Have you checked your settings for auto recognized exercises? I have mine set to auto recognize walks of 10 minutes or more which is the minimum allowed. Maybe your walks not being recognized are less than whatever setting you have in place. 

[Kgrubb68]

I have mine set for 10 minutes There are times it will recognize it and
other times it won't My walks are way above 10 minutes but thanks for the
input

Thank you

[RodrigoMFitbit]

@DonWymes @Julia_G Thank for your input!

@Kgrubb68 Good day to you. Thanks for reaching out about the SmartTrack feature of your Fitbit Versa. 

Please make sure you dont take any pauses during your walks. That will prevent the device to be able to log it, if there is a pause before the 10 minute mark. Make sure your arm is moving during the walk. If you are walking a dog or pushing a stroller, this could affect the tracking of the steps and the training session. I also recommend you restart your Versa according to the instructions in this article: How do I restart my Fitbit device?. 

[Kgrubb68]

I powerwalk by myself and do not pause until I am done. I think it's just
weird that if I have my phone with me it doesn't register my walk but when
I walk without it the exercise registers it. When it doesn't register it on
the app and I add it the app shows more steps than my fitbit. Just a little
aggravating I will just follow the watch. It seems to be more accurate.

[DonWymes]

Regarding steps not being recorded properly when pushing something like a baby stroller or store cart that forces you to hold the arm steady. This has limitations but at the suggestion of a physical therapist I put my Fitbit on my ankle in some situations. It still tracks steps and heart rate accurately. Of course it makes it almost impossible to check the watch for time, steps, and heart rate while walking. 

[Rich_Laue]

@DonWymes while walking, if you are not pushing a cart, stroller, etc, or have something heavy in your hand, yes you can look at your watch. Your arm will still be bouncing up/down. 

[DonWymes]

You are 100% wrong. Fitbit will not count steps correctly if you are pushing a cart, stroller, or holding anything that causes your arm to not move.

Don Whims

[Julia_G]

@DonWymes that is very individual.  I walk around with my hands in my pockets all the time (I know I shouldn’t, but I do!) and my Fitbit always counts my steps and recognises my activity.  

This is a misunderstanding of the way the Fitbit works.  The Fitbit is not counting arm swings.  It detects the vibrations from your feet, travelling along your arms to your wrists.  This is the reason that for some people (not everyone) it fails to detect steps if you are pushing a cart - in this case the cart absorbs the vibrations before they reach your Fitbit - and also when walking on thick carpet - in this case the carpet absorbs the vibrations.  

I apparently walk very heavily, so that my steps are almost always detected even with my arms entirely still or when pushing a cart.  For others it can be helpful to make sure that your arms are swinging rhythmically in time with your steps.

@Kgrubb68 do you have Mobile Track on your phone? If so you might try deleting it and see if that helps.  Also are you by any chance starting tracking your walk using your app as well as wearing your Fitbit? One might be suppressing the other.

[Kgrubb68]

That makes sense. I am tracking with both,but I thought they were synced
so it would be the same
Thank you

[Julia_G · Accepted solution]

@Kgrubb68 tracking with the app is basically an option if you have forgotten your Fitbit.  It effectively acts as an extra device.  In that case the app will suppress one of the records so it doesn’t double count.  The watch is likely to be more accurate, as you have noted.  Try just wearing the watch, and take your phone with you, but don’t track using the app.

But as I mentioned above, if you want your distance recorded don’t rely on SmartTrack (automatic exercise detection).  Start and finish your walk using the exercise app on your Versa.  SmartTrack does not record distance.

[RodrigoMFitbit]

@Julia_G @Rich_Laue @DonWymes Thanks so much for your input. It does depend on the situation, as explained above. 

@Kgrubb68 Please make sure to track your exercise with just one method as @Julia_G explained. Either let your device track your exercise automatically or start it over your smartphone. If you do it with both, they will overlap and one will overwrite the other. Give it a try!

[Julia_G]

@RodrigoMFitbit that is EXACTLY what I said.

[RodrigoMFitbit]

@Julia_G Appreciate your reply. Yes, thank you very much! I was just reiterating and giving a conclusion on what you explained above. Great job! Keep it up. 

[Julia_G]

@RodrigoMFitbit , thank you!

[Rich_Laue]

@DonWymes please read my post again. 

When not pushing a cart, or having something heavy in the hand.

When looking at the watch, steps will still be counted.

I was addressing the comment about not being able to lift the arm up to read the step count. BTW: When pushing the cart with your non Fitbit hand, while looking at the steps, yes these steps will be correctly counted.