Calorie Difference between Fitbit and Orange Theory

[GretchK]

Hi, I just started wearing a Fitbit.  I do Orange Theory Fitness regularly.  In this class, I wear a heart rate monitor and based on my stats and actual heart rate during the workout, we get a readout of total calories burned.  My calorie burn readout from the class was 595 and for the same time period on the Fitbit it was 278.  Any idea why there would be such a drastic difference?  OTF is a highly regulated with locations all over the world.  THANKS!  Gretchen in Austin, TX

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[USAF-Larry]

@GretchK, you don't mention which Fitbit tracker you have - is it one with a HR Monitor?  If so, how does the recorded heart rate on the Fitbit compare to the one that Orangetheory Fitness uses?  Does the Orangetheory Fitness tracker use your profile - weight, age, sex, etc. - or just your heart rate like a treadmill does?

I am not sure what the relationship between Orangetheory being "highly regulated" and caloric burn is, but I have often wondered about their advertisements that the workout is so intense that you continue burning calories for 36 hours after the workout - ignoring, of course, that the body burns calories 24 hours a day, 7 days a week....

[Kight]

I have noticed the same thing with My Ionic when using my Bowflex MaxTrainer.  Wearing the Bowflex chest strap for heart rate, I usually record half as many calories burned per workout on the Bowflex as what the Ionic calculates.

[K2AF]

Same issue here. My HRM shows I burn an average of 500 during OTF but my fitbit shows barely half of that. Same thing when I do an out of studio workout using the OTBeat App. The difference between the HRM and my fitbit is significant. 

[GretchK]

Thanks for the replies. It is truly annoying as I my fitbit has the HR monitor and I wear that and the OTF heart rate monitor at the exact same time.  It baffles me how different they are since both have my height/weight/age stats.  I think my weight stat varies by about 5 lbs. based on what I weighed when I started OTF.  No one at OTF can explain why either.  😞

[bkramer947]

alsoHI! I, too, go to OTF and also am a Fitbit wearer (obviously!). I find that the heart rate readings are almost identical from OTF HRM to Fitbit, but the calorie burn is different. I'm not sure how to reconcile it, and yes, it is a little annoying since BOTH devices use our age, gender, weight and heart rates to calculate things.  I guess the main thing is to go, work up a great sweat and not get too hung up on the actual calorie burn...I wish we knew how accurate these things are but we really don't!  The main thing is to keep on moving! : )

[Jessica_Orrell]

I wonder if OTF is counting the (future) afterburn in the calories?  

Also, what Fitbit do you have? I'm thinking of getting the Fitbit Alta HR but I want to make sure it will count "steps" for challenges I participate in with friends.  

[aparvez88]

There is no way for OTF to calculate your afterburn calories.

All the Fitbit models count steps. That's their basic function. I too have the alta HR and compete in challenges. 

[angven]

Hi.  All the same things that you posted, I do OTF, I have the chest monitor there and I wear my fit bit and here is the interesting thing I wanted to add.  I also was wondering why they didn't match but I noticed that once I stop the work out clock on the fit bit and then check total calories burned for the day (I work out at 5:15 am so these are my first calories burned) that my fit bit and my orange theory numbers match.  I have concluded that it may be able to measure only certain aspects of the work out but then the effect of the work out is in the total for the day.  I am not sure if this helps but it made me feel better. 

[bkramer947]

Interesting!  I do think there is some accuracy to these devices, but neither is going to be exact.  I am trying to think of them as "in the ballpark."  I do wish the mileage would match, though.  Three miles on the OTF tread and Fitbit says 2.5 miles.  That's annoying.  Alas....

[angven]

Same thing there for me. Once I stop the work out clock and go to the overall numbers for the day, I am really close to the numbers being the same. 

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello everyone! 

Thanks for sharing your feedback and thoughts on the matter.

You can read a bit more on how Fitbit estimates you calories burned on this help article. Adding to that, I'd like to mention that Fitbit is only estimating the calories and is not 100% accurate. Additionally, other services or devices might be using a different method of estimation so that can cause differences in the numbers being shown. 

As mentioned above, you could think about it as the number being 'in the ballpark' for how many calories you have actually burnt.

I hope you find this useful. Let me know if there is anything I can help you with.

[bkramer947]

Thanks for the reply!

I agree, it's best to view the calorie data as "in the ballpark," not exact.  I feel the same way about the Orangetheory reports at the end of each workout.  It's a ballpark and that is helpful to bear in mind.

[justmagen]

Is the orange “cardio” zone on the Fitbit the same zone as the “orange -splat point- zone” at Orangetheory? Or no?

[Weirbt2k]

I have a Charge 2 and use a Chest HR monitor at OTF. I can't get my FitBit to automatically recognize my workouts so I enter s manual custom activity on my Fitbit app after my workouts and it never calculates my calories correctly. Example is today OTF says I burned 1474 cal, thats 48 slats but Fitbit calculates I only burned 84 calories even though it knows I spent 52 minutes in my fat burn HR zone. Sure I can manually enter the calories but shouldn't my Fitbit calculation be "in the ballpark"? I'm not even in the same sport! I'm curious to know how those of you that are getting 1/2 and those of you that are getting close to the same calories are tracking your OTF activity and with which Fitbit device. I'm preordering a Charge 3 (via Amazon) but may decide to try another fitness tracker... or just use my OTF app for outside workouts too since it has that feature.

[ashwolve]

Hi all - not sure if this would be relevant to the enquiries on here but do you all use your Fitbit's in workout mode or do you just wear it without activating any of the exercise features - I only mention this as with HIIT training the wrist movements can be extreme and may interfere with the correct tracking of HR etc which will also impact calories (also note that Fitbit takes an average reading over a 10-15 minute period ) whereas chest straps and other devices may be more point to point (ie set at 1 minute reading intervals) so the true reading and average estimation will give different results depending on what is recorded over the exercise cycle (IE 15 mins at 5 min intervals could be 5 mins low 5 mins high and 5 mins low again and the average may be lower than if the reverse was implied - High low High) if that makes sense so it is possible the OTF straps maybe more accurate whereas Fitbit I would suggest is designed to give you a guide (again sleep information from Fitbit will differ from medical sleep tracking) because of the accuracy settings that the device can reach

also is the readings you see on the device or are they different to those on the app - is it possible that it has not synced correctly due to amount of devices using Bluetooth with the environment?

these may account for some of the discrepancies but is only my opinion and I may be completely on the wrong track but could be food for thought

Regards

Wayne

[angven]

Hi Wayne. Here are my results from today immediately after class. I thought it was ok until you said you got over 1,000. I am almost always this  close even though my HR doesn't always know what I am doing.  It thought bench hop overs were stairs but overall I usually am close. 










Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[ashwolve]

Hi @angven that is strange - I cannot see the results you said you had although my system maybe in lag - I am surprised at the bench hop scenario though as Fitbit have set there stair level at increments of 10ft and multiples there of from ground level so should work on altitude - I am now wondering if your tracker may require a restart if you have inaccuracies in data - if it is required you may need to repeat the procedure 2-3 times

Restart Fitbit Device

I think you have confused my post with the one below it from @Weirbt2k as I have not mentioned any stats of my own as I have only tried it once and it nearly killed me so I am starting at a lower level (basically im back to interval training on treadmill) and circuits the following day but I will continue to attempt at intervals as my fitness improves - I obviously wasn't as fit as I thought but I have given up on most of the bad things so getting there

I only mentioned the differences I noticed between profession equipment and Fitbit as professional equipment is designed for one thing whereas Fitbit has so many features it IMO cannot be as accurate

sorry if I caused any confusion 🙂

Kind Regards

Wayne

[angven]

Hi Wayne.  Not sure how I got mixed up with the responses, I was replying from my phone so my view may have been off.  I am thinking since my fitbit matches my OTF monitor pretty well, I will just let it be.  

[justmagen]

Can you compare the cardio zones? Like screen shot the fit bit compared to what you posted from ot? 

Im trying to understand if the orange “cardio” zone on the Fitbit is the same zone as the “orange -splat point- zone” at Orangetheory? Or no?