Versa won’t pick up my elliptical workouts as an exercise

[AMC28]

My Versa won’t pick up my workouts I do on my elliptical as an exercise it was the same way with my last Fitbit the Alta never picked up exercises on the elliptical.  I know this versa is supposed to and I keep  my hands on the bar the entire time and it didn’t recognize it as an exercise and didn’t even pick up one step the whole 30 minutes I was on the machine. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[AlvaroFitbit]

@AMC28 Welcome! Thanks for being part of our Community! I would like to know which bars are you holding. The thing is that many elliptical machines have both stationary and moving bars. When doing this exercise you will need to grab the moving ones (check the image for the bars in the green oval). If you grab the other bars then you won't be moving your arms and the Versa depends on arm movement to detect activity. There is also the time set to auto-recognize the activity, by default this is for 15 minutes but I suggest you change it for 10 minutes on your Versa settings (regardless of how long you do this exercise for). You could also use the Elliptical option on your Versa that you can enter from the exercise area.

Finally you may need to restart your Versa if you wish by doing the following: 

1.- Press and hold the back (left) and bottom buttons until you see the Fitbit logo on the screen. This should take less than 10 seconds.
2.- Let go of the buttons.
3.- If your Fitbit watch doesn't work normally, use the instructions in How do I turn off my Fitbit device? to turn your watch off and on again. 

Let me know how it goes!

[lindoussa]

Hi. I'm having the same issue and support is telling me to use the shortcut on the watch and I'm not happy with that solution because it is supposed to automatically recognize and log that on its own. That is why I chose this watch over others.

[AMC28]

Hi! I agree it is suppose to automatically pick it up!! I’ve tired everything and it won’t pick it up. What short cut are they telling you on the watch? Pick exercises...? Elliptical isn’t on there and I know we can change the work out to elliptical but it’s not the same the calories burned are way off from what my elliptical says. 

[AMC28]

Hi yes I hold on to the moving bars.  I do the entire time. Also yes I have it set to auto recognize on 10 mins. 

[NellyG]

@AMC28 there is a shortcut for elliptical, but it is not on the Versa by default, but it is one of the 15 you can choose from to put on your Versa (maximum of 7 on the watch) in your app go to your account (credit card icon in the top right) and select Versa. Scroll down to Exercise Shortcuts and select that. If there are 7 listed as on your versa you will need to remove one to get the list up of all those available (by selecting the plus sign). Select elliptical and add to Versa

Regarding auto recognition of elliptical - it seems to be an exercise that is generally recognised by the tracker but can be confusing for it. Restarting your tracker may help it recognise it in future, if the watch has a glitch about elliptical, so give that a go.

Restart your tracker

[ShireenMiller]

I think it’s a silly glitch to have to hold onto the moving bars on the elliptical for the Fitbit to log the steps. When I am working on my legs and my butt I don’t necessarily want to work the shoulder I’m having problems with by moving my arms to and fro but in order for my steps to count I have to. I just got my first badge for 26 miles. If my brand new Fitbit worked as I expected it to and had been counting steps correctly on the elliptical I would’ve gotten this over a week ago.

[AbigailV77]

I find super annoying. It was recognizing it before, and then it stopped recognizing. Now I have to log it myself and it doesn't show the real effort and heart rate and calories I really burned. It's only 2 months old. It shouldn't be giving me difficulties already. Disappointed.

[ChefKev]

It works now - I restarted my Fitbit, but I think the real trick was placing my arms up higher on the elliptical arm bars so that my arms moved more.

[Danyel74]

I place the Fitbit on my shoe and it picks up. I keep my cell on the dash of the elliptical to make sure its tracking 

[ShireenMiller]

Great idea. Thank you!