Rowing/Stationary Rowing Machine Exercise Shortcut

[Donnaj415]

Considering most of the important cardio equipment is represented in the Exercise list, I think it's more than justifiable to add a stationary rowing machine to the list. Almost every gym in America contains at least one or more Concept 2 rower as it is a total body and low impact method of Cardio. It's one of my favorites and I'm sure I am not the only user that is a bit disappointed that is not represented.

Moderator edit: Edited title for clarity and added labels.

[jc314444]

I also would like to have the rowing machine added to the shortcuts that's a popular workout that me and most of my friends enjoy and would love to have it added. Thanks

[Deb25]

Please add rowing to the shortcuts on the Charge 2.  It would make a huge difference in ease of recording.

[ArieAardvarken]

Next to the feature request of stationary rowing (see here), I would like to add the request for tracking rowing with GPS either through connected GPS (Blaze, Charge 2) or the build in GPS (Surge) or when a new trackers comes out that's entirely waterproof.

Rowing is very rhythmic, the same movement is made over and over again. It shouldn't be too hard to read out the accelerometer and define when there is a stroke and adding an average calorie burn to each stroke. An extra option would be to adjust specifics (dragfactor on the rowing machine, distance, wind etc.) later through the mobile app, altering the burned calories. At least it would be nice to have some preliminary (GPS) data, that could hopefully also be synced to Strava.

[Purple-Gretsch]

I have been rowing for almost 5 years now and since a year I own a Charge 2. Of course I was very exited to use it during training but discovered that exercise on the erg (rowing machine) cannot be accurately tracked. 

The movement on the machine (and also in the boat) should be fairly simple to analyse and record.

Ideally I would like to see a shortcut to rowing on the Charge 2 with the possibility to see stroke rate, heart rate, split time and total time.

Thanks!

[lappyratt]

Please add ERG/rowing as an exercise option/shortcut on the Charge 2 that accurately records heart rate and other data.

[Proud2bBlack]

I don't understand why Fitbit doesn't recognize that fact of there being a stationary rower in almost every gym.  I am new to rowing, less that 90 days, and I am hooked on it, and I am new to my Charge 2, less than 30 days and I love it.  I have been hollering for Stationary Rowing to be added to the Exercise Shortcut list only after 36 hours of ownership of tracker.

This thread alone has over 300 votes, and there are other threads requesting that Stationary Rowing be added to the Exercise Shortcut List.

Fitbit, your customers have spoken now it is your turn to answer our call.

[Proud2bBlack]

I counted 511 votes from a number of threads requesting that Stationary Rowing and Rowing be added to your Exercise Shortcut List.  And I am sure there are some request misfiled in this forum.  Come on now Fitbit Engineers, the request is there before you.  "You build it ... They will come".

And listen to these Concept 2 users.  I don't own a Concept 2, I own a Nordictrack Rower and a Charge 2, but plan to move up to the Concept 2 within the next year.  These are serious people, many are competitive rowers who know their sport, and their equipment is the benchmark of stationary rowers.  I can see what benefits I can receive from the addition, I can only imagine what a competitive rower could do with such data.  And lastly, you must provide it across all platforms ... Charge 2, Blaze, Surge, to be fair to all users.

[GrahamJM]

If it is possible to add a "Rowing machine" feature then please develop it and get it done ASAP!

If this is at all in pipeline/development stage let us know!

If this is just not possible with current hardware/software then again...just let users know!

These are not big technical questions!

[johnandrewriley]

They won't admit that it doesn't work (and thats in any respect, not just rowing) - it wont count your heart rate when rowing and the sensor is so rubbish that it will not detect the rowing movement ( I actually found it didnt work when doing even light exercise - Over read steps and missed heart beats!!!!)….. when I phoned to complain they told me that I shouldn't compare readings taken from other devices… as an engineer I was left thinking… so how exactly are you supposed to check its working… useless send it back

[jonathonroberts]

I think that Fitbit needs to release the option of rowing machine in exercises menu of the Blaze, it would benefit lots of people, due to myself being a rower a lot of people have fitbit's who would benefit from this addition on the Blaze and other Fitbit Devices.

[Proud2bBlack]

I just got my Charge 2 back on March 4th. Prior to that I have been relying on the caloric counts provided by the exercise app (Sworkit) and my NordicTrack Rower. I got my Charge 2 for HR data. I can say that my device says that I have a higher caloric burn rate than the generic readings from the app and machine. And when I perform actions supported by Fitbit everything works. If I use the workout setting I and get a HR report, so my device is working well, so far. My reason for requesting that Stationary Rowing be added is so that at some time in the future I can look back and positively identify my rowing workouts.

But could you mean Auto Recognize when discussing how your device doesn’t recognize your stroke, e.g. elliptical? Slow down bro, let’s get on the list first. From what I see all your problems are not Fitbit’s. What you need to do is if you row on Concept 2 rowers solicit them to transmit their data to Fitbit. You can then use your Concept 2 data and not have to hope an algorithm is written correctly. There are a group of indivuals already pursuing this avenue. I will be writing my letter of support.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Madmouse1]

Dear FitBit: It's been well over a year now since i posted a question
about whether you could add a Rowing exercise to the FITBIT trackers. I have
received many responses to that post from FITBIT users. It seems that it
would be a good time to comply with these requests, don't you think?

Thanks,
Bob Ofner

[akjohnston]

Dear All,

There's no evidence that FitBit take a blind bit of notice of things posted to the community - it appears to just be a way for us to work off steam with each other. I suggest everyone who has posted to this thread or is following it raises a separate support case directly with FitBit in the next two days requesting confirmation of when this will be actioned, and pointing to this thread for evidence. That might get some attention.

Andrew

[mbranch]

I'm in. Good plan.

Mike Branch

[MickeyW]

Forget Fitbit. I've moved to the Garmin vivosmart hr which has an indoor rowing app and its even better when you use a chest strap for heart rate. Much better measurement than what I got on Fitbit

[Proud2bBlack]

Ok, cool you went Garmin … so why are you still hanging out here? And will that chest strap stay in place when you play basketball or tennis?

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Proud2bBlack]

Today for the 1st time tonight I logged my Rowing under Workout and afterwards changed it to Stationary Rowing. It’s not what I want, I want it on the Exercise Shortcut List. I am just happy I can now go back and identify my rowing workouts so I can compare the data. I also keep a log book for strokes and distance for each workout. If you are a Concept 2 rower get with them and request they send their data to Fitbit, that would be the hookup for sure.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Proud2bBlack]

That is true, will do.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[MickeyW]

Still here because I still own my Fitbit and I'm curious to see if they're ever going to respond. Want to buy a lightly used Surge?

Sent from my iPhone

[UKdragoness]

Please add Rowing Machine to options on Charge 2.

[athiker80]

In a matter of a few months I've generated over 80 responses to my Rowing Shortcut suggestion. Not a single comment from Fitbit. Seems to indicate their lack of understanding or care about the customer. I also would like the tracker to be waterproof and shock proof. There are a few Kettlebell moves I do that require I remove the tracker to keep from hitting the face.

[NineToTheSky]

I have been involved in requests to Fitbit like this before, and, annoyingly, they never actually reply. They may - or may not - do something about it, but if they do it will just appear in a firmware update. This forum is of course not run by Fitbit, so whether they actually read this I have no idea. If they don't, then we are just whistling in the wind.

[athiker80]

Nine To The Sky,

     I understand and doubt if they do see or read these comments but you never know. Plus it gives people a chance to exchange ideas if nothing else.

Thanks,

Rick

[NineToTheSky]

@athiker80 Absolutely. And it allows us to let off steam!

[Deb25]

Well, then I'm confused.  This feature was raised in a question and the moderator specifically suggested posting to this thread to show need:

"In regards of Rower indoor machine, at the moment there is no option to track this activity specifically but you can add your vote to the users that have been asking for this option in this board: Rowing Machine Exercise Short Cut on Charge 2. "  (The link was supplied by the moderator.)

I fully expected that the posts/support for this feature should be reviewed by fitbit.  If they aren't then I would think the moderator should not be suggesting we add our votes for the feature.

I'm new to rowing and it has become a solid part of my routine in between runs.  I hope the shortcut is added as suggested in prior posts by experienced rowers.