Fitbit and Hockey

[Pete52]

Hi there Fitbit fam, 

I was curious if anyone is using a Versa while playing ice hockey ? Today I was on the ice for a hour and a half and granted I didn’t skate as hard as during a game as we scrimmaged only but my Versa only registered 10 min of activity. Does anyone have any ideas or settings I can change to get more accurate readings? I know my heart rate was off as well, I check my HR when I get on the bench and it reads about 126 but my average was only 88 and we do 2 min on 2 min off ... thanks for any input and have a great day fam

[LZeeW]

@Pete52  Hello, and welcome to the forums.  Let's see if I can help you an issue at a time.

The auto-recognize feature needs a default 15 minutes of continuous activity to kick in.  Is it possible that you just had too many short periods of activity over that hour long practice?  The solution is to make sure Workout is on your list of Exercise Shortcuts.  Use the exercise app on Workout to start/stop your practice.

Fitbit also recommends wearing your Versa a finger width away from your wrist bone for everyday wear.  Wear it farther -- more like 3 finger widths during exercise.  Wrist bending can affect skin contact leading to erroneous heart rate readings.

You mentioned measuring your heart rate at a specific moment, but you commented on average heart rate.  That's comparing apples to oranges.  If you use Workout on the Exercise app, you will get a detailed heart rate trace from the whole workout.  You will see all the peaks and valleys.

I hope this helps.

[Pete52]

@LZeeW, Thank you so much for your input and you are absolutely correct; we tend to skate no more than a 2 minute shift. I looked back at my logs and the day we skated drills my time registered. 

The issue with wearing the Versa that high is it’s exposed (not protected by my glove). 

I will figure something out but most certainly appreciate your help.

[LZeeW]

@Pete52  You certainly want to protect your investment.  I'm not saying it won't work in the everyday position.  Fitbit recommends it for better skin contact during activity.  Sometimes I will get yard work auto-detected as sport or aerobic workout and my Fitbit is in the everyday position, with complete heart rate data.

If your heart rate graphs show a complete trace, then by all means continue to wear it in the everyday position.

[RickN4]

Why does Fitbit continue to neglect hockey? If you will, force us into a "catch all" work around...

The fruit company device has a great hockey  tracker that even includes goalies. My Charge2 is about at the end of it's service life and I'm leaning toward the fruit device because it directly serves hockey. Please convince me to stay with Fitbit.

[Pete52]

Well said my friend... I actually stopped wearing mine for a few simple reasons one it doesn’t work and two it just doesn’t work. Half the time it doesn’t register my heart rate. I’ve tried wearing it high/ low, loose/ tight, opposite arm and nothing seems to work. It tells me me HR is 90 when I can clearly feel my heart poindimg in my chest a lot faster. However, it once told me I skated 2.9 miles ? Not sure how accurate that is, did feel good to tell my mates I almost skated 3 miles. So, in the end I don’t know what the correct solution is as some of my mates have the fruit company product and have their complaints as well; but I will say the fruit company has apps where Fitbit can’t even offer us an app...

[Beave]

I use my Iconic playing hockey.  Here is how...I don't use the auto detect, I use the Workout preselected mode.  I am able to log all the information for the full hour and 20 minutes.  Here are the issues...I have to put a wrist band (sweat band) over the tracker, as the screen gets bumped and the tracker will pause.  I have to check it frequently on the bench, as my elbow pads will hit a button and shut it off as well.  So, it works, but there needs to be a way to put the screen in a 'sleep' mode, or something requiring a 2 button hold to bring the screen back on.   It works, but requires attention.

[Beave]

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@Pete52 wrote:

Hi there Fitbit fam, 

I was curious if anyone is using a Versa while playing ice hockey ? Today I was on the ice for a hour and a half and granted I didn’t skate as hard as during a game as we scrimmaged only but my Versa only registered 10 min of activity. Does anyone have any ideas or settings I can change to get more accurate readings? I know my heart rate was off as well, I check my HR when I get on the bench and it reads about 126 but my average was only 88 and we do 2 min on 2 min off ... thanks for any input and have a great day fam

---

I use my Iconic playing hockey.  Here is how...I don't use the auto detect, I use the Workout preselected mode.  I am able to log all the information for the full hour and 20 minutes.  Here are the issues...I have to put a wrist band (sweat band) over the tracker, as the screen gets bumped and the tracker will pause.  I have to check it frequently on the bench, as my elbow pads will hit a button and shut it off as well.  So, it works, but there needs to be a way to put the screen in a 'sleep' mode, or something requiring a 2 button hold to bring the screen back on.   It works, but requires attention.