Manually added exercise should use HR data

[jaina8851]

I have a Fitbit Alta HR. I do several exercise activities that are not captured by Smart-track (trapeze, yoga, stationary bike, etc). When I go into the Fitbit app or dashboard to manually log these activities, the app helpfully calculates the approximate calorie burn for me. The problem is that it doesn't use the heart rate data that my device captured during that time.

For a 90 minute circus class, the heart rate data calculates that I burned close to 300 calories. When I try to manually log the exercise on my phone, it estimates a comically low 73 calories, completely ignoring the heart rate data. When I try to manually log the exercise as an activity on the website dashboard, it utilizes the heart rate data but doesn't consider it an exercise since it is being logged as an activity.

I would like the ability to retroactively log exercise that the Fitbit doesn't detect automatically, without losing the information about calories burned. I understand that for some users, the calories burned is not accurate, so the ability to override the heart rate data should be maintained. However, a user should have the option to leave the calories box blank and have that use the heart rate data instead. This will allow the heart rate, calories, and impact tabs to be accurate based on the data that the Fitbit has already collected during the specified time period.

[balla_rina]

Up-voting this. It's such a massive design flaw that the app would not use the HR data point to calculate accurate calorie burn for workouts that aren't auto-detected. Spin class, pilates, yoga - none of these are picked up by the tracker. I had no idea before I switched from my Charge HR to the Alta HR, and now I'm totally disappointed.

[Cheila]

I just got a Alta HR 2 days ago. Today I ran on the threadmill for more than 10 minutes straight and it didn't get recorded 😞 It seems to record everything else just fine (sleep, long walks...) This is really annoying 😞 

[kgdmom]

I returned my Alta HR and got the Charge 2 instead and love it! Works as expected (even has a battery indicator - Charge HR didn't) and the interchangeable bands are terrific!

[Catwoman08]

Surprised that this suggestion to sort out a major flaw in this tracker still has not been taken into consideration. What is the point of having the Alta HR with all the HR data if it can't be matched with the activity we take. Today I have cycled for an hour, rowed for 30 minutes and did 1/2 hour weight training and I have zero activity because I have neither walked nor run. Could Fitbit give us some feedback on the suggestions made? 

[zephyra]

I absolutely agree!  This is currently very frustrating and will be returning my Alta HR since I cannot manually tell my Fitbit to start tracking my cardio workout.

[LizFitbit]

Hi everyone thanks for sharing this suggestion. This is being discussed although I do not have a firm commitment or timeline at the moment. Do continue to vote for this feature suggestion whilst it’s under consideration.

Please note that if something is under consideration and chosen for development, it can be a while until it's released or until I have any news to share. Please watch this space for any updates! Thanks for your patience.

[SebWotan]

@Cheila The default for auto-recording a walk or treadmill as exercise is 15 minutes of activity.

I am up-voting for this too. A typical work-out for me is spinning/elliptical + stretch + mobility + strengthening. 75 minutes in the gym that does not get categorized as exercises (except for the elliptical). I do add them manually but then the calorie counter does not take into account my heart rate and is not accurate. As I am trying to bulk I need to know how much I burn, so this is a clear flaw.

[YazminC]

Jaina, did someone of the Fitbit staff helped you out on this issue? I havethe same problem and it's FRUSTRATING. 😞

[jaina8851]

@YazminC, no one has helped me about this issue except for the employee who said it is now under consideration as a possible fix. I agree that it is really frustrating, but unfortunately, until FitBit decides to action this enhancement, I don't know if there are any workarounds to fix it 😕

[Catwoman08]

No. Fitbit trackers are great, but it seems that the company hardly cares
about improving their trackers further.

Best,
C.

[Cayssa]

@LizFitbit

Does anyone know if there is news on that? 

We should try to divulgate this link to have more people voting for that feature suggestion, since the frustration feeling seems to be generalizated. 

@jaina8851 I think a simple software update could fix this.. I mean, it should not be possible to inform manually the calories burned when manually loging an activity and the system them uses the calorie burned data it already have based on the HR.

[2korinto57]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the community and I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. I hope I can find a way to use my tracker to fit my lifestyle.

I just got an Alta HR last week and was really excited to track my exercises and calories. However, it has been a huge disappointment so far.

I do around 8 hours of Latin dance and 1 hour of yoga every week. These are both activities that the Alta HR cannot detect automatically. And when I manually logged my dance activities in the app, it gives a flat estimation of the calories burned, ignoring the data that was generated when I was wearing the tracker. So regardless of whether I did a quick and heart racing Salsa dance or a slow and sensual Bachata, the amount of calories burned is exactly the same. This is ridiculous! If I just want the generic estimation without considering my steps count or heart rate, I could have just written something down on a piece of paper with a pen.

And if I don't manually log the activities, the app reflects that I have not done any exercise all week. I feel like this is a major design fault, and I sincerely hope something can be done to improve this. 

[mysticgibbon]

Adding my vote to this. I have a Charge 2 and can’t fault it (well, apart from the straps coming apart but that’s another story). My wife just got an Alta HR for the slimmer design but is returning it as she cannot log her yoga sessions and get an accurate calories burned.

[GWelch]

Adding my comments to show my support of this feature. There are plenty of times that I forget to start the wrist tracker, and this would assist me with my absent mindedness... 

[saraka]

I especially got the HR vs. Alta to track heart rate when weightlifting: it's ridiculous that the calorie burn for that "activity" isn't using the tracker's data but population average! I am thinking of returning and getting another tracker than Fitbit.

[KathieS516]

Uh-oh, I just got my ULTA HR to track Pilates and heart rate, and just read these comments. Today is my first day with it, heading to Pilates in 1 hour.

[Uqbar]

Please do this. I just got an Alta HR and only after setting it up did I realize that it didn't have this function! I'm now considering returning it.

[Kiddougi]

It’s crazy, there have been several updates to the Fitbit app since this issue was first raised and Fitbit still haven’t increased the actives available to track. 

I’m about to upgrade my device so have decided to check out the competitors apps first and their level of compatibility with third party devices. There are many out their which give much better functionality than the Fitbit app. 

In my mind Fitbit are not interested in holding onto their customers so I am happy to move to one of their competitors.

[jesstambs]

Please add this feature. I’m so angry at this missing feature I want to return my Alta HR. I specifically bought a HR version because I do a lot of non-traditional workouts and I want to know my ACTUAL calorie count. I’m annoyed there’s no button, but I could deal with the fact if A) I could track actual workouts (ANY workout not just run/walk/hike) or at the very least B) the actual calorie count and workout detail would show up when I log previous exercise. I’m on iOS and it seems there are better features on Android. Please fix this, honestly I’m going to look into returning it, it’s completely misleading to call this a heart rate tracker when you can’t even get proper information from a workout. 

[StubbornMinion]

I've been looking for something along these lines as well. I've read through the comments and I'm not sure if I'm on the same lines here, but I think it should also be possible to go to the heart rate data, select a period of time, and say 'Log this as...', thereby attributing the duration and HR data to the log automatically.

I'm only on my second day but already my Charge 3 has failed to log actual exercise, and mis-logged both driving and walking as bicycling. The ability to easily create a log from the data that's already there would be aces.

[Bigmik1021]

This would be a very helpful feature to add when you forget to start your workout tracking ahead of time. 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everyone, and thanks for sharing this suggestion. We’re very happy to let you know that this has been released on the Fitbit app. You can find more details here: How do I manually log exercises in the Fitbit app?

@jaina8851, in recognition of your excellent suggestion, each of your votes will now count as 5 votes – you have the power! Thank you for sharing this idea, and thanks to everyone who voted and commented for your enthusiasm which has now materialized for everyone’s benefit. We hope you all enjoy this new addition to the Fitbit product or service!

[Colintuc]

Adding heart rate data (how many minutes of each zone) following manually tracked workouts.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Colintuc, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see heart rate details for manually logged exercises. I've moved it into a similar suggestion which has been updated as "Released". You can learn more about it here. I hope to see you around.

[jaina8851]

Hi there @YojanaFitbit, can you please explain to me how I can see this feature in action now that it is implemented? When I do the original workflows I described when making this post, I still see the same results. Logging an exercise in the app gives me a laughably small number of calories burnt, while logging an activity on the FitBit dashboard gives me a number that clearly takes into account my heartrate data during that interval. Am I doing something wrong? What exactly got implemented? These two screenshots are from me logging the same exercise in the same one hour window yesterday, and you can see that in the app, it only logged 57 calories burnt while the activity from the dashboard says 181.