Steps as a Unit of Measure

[Jasonl2020]

Hi. I have an assumption and a couple questions.

I assume that the "step" count on my Sense is really just a way to measure activity in general and isn't meant to literally mean how many times I put one foot in front of another. I'm fine with this, btw. I think it makes sense to have some kind of measure that indicates ambient activity outside of dedicated workout tracking. Call it a "step" or whatever makes sense.

My question is -- is there a way to adjust this? I have the non-dominant hand setting correct. However, I know that I have not been as active as my watch says I am. Working from home has really curtailed my exercise routine but my Sense tells me I'm doing great for exercise. I regularly exceed all my "step" goals even through I have been sitting at my computer all day and my heart rate rarely gets to the "fat burn" level.

Alternately, do I need to adjust my goals (and my thinking)? Whereas my previous goal was 6000 "steps" per day, do I need to change that to 12,000 "steps" per day because, after all, it's just a unit of measure. 

Thoughts? 

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

"Steps" are meant to be exactly putting one foot in front of the other.  However nothing on your wrist can really tell what your legs are doing.  Fitbit, and other trackers, get steps from the regular swinging of your arms as while walking.  Fitbit uses filters to try to know which arm movements are steps or not, but cannot always be accurate.  For instance knitting or strumming a guitar can get detected as steps; some say they get steps from typing also.  And some steps will not be detected, such as walking on a treadmill holding hand rails so the arms do not swing, or maybe just taking a few steps at a time so the arm rhythm does not get established.  Most people find that over the course of a full day, steps mostly even out.  One way of adjusting this is telling setup which arm you are wearing it on; if wearing on dominant wrist, will try to filter out "steps" from brushing teeth or hair for example.

However for measuring activity in general, calories burned and/or Active Zone Minutes might be better indicators because they are based on your heart rate rather than arm movement;  and your heart rate increases when you exercise, whether from walking, running, or some other exercises that do not involve swinging the arms as much.

[Jasonl2020]

Thanks. I guess I should focus on calories burned and active minutes. As it is, if "steps" is meant to be actual steps, then it seems like it is over counting by a lot (I can't verify this, of course, so who really knows). 

I assume the calories burned, being based on heart rate and calculated metabolism is more reliable?

[JohnnyRow]

Fitbit provides so much information that there are several measurements one can focus on: steps, calories, Zone Minutes, number of hours with 250+ steps, ...  It's ultimately up to you how much emphasis you put on which measurement.

If your main concern is weight control, calories burned might be more important.  For heart health American Heart Association and World Health Organization focus on active zone minutes.  I suppose most people focus on steps because activity trackers originally were basically pedometers tracking steps, and number of steps are easily compared to others for challenges and such, whereas calories will naturally vary greatly depending on size, weight, etc.

You also might want to read How accurate are Fitbit devices? 

and How does my Fitbit device calculate my daily activity? 

[Mike_Croy]

Note - you can also enter your exact stride length -     app / profile / advanced settings