Strava Sync - Calories Mismatch with Fitbit

[sheck]

I have Strava syncing with my Fitbit account so that exercise I log with Strava will transfer over to Fitbit.  I do this because I have found that my Charge 3 is very inaccurate measuring my heart rate while cycling, so I use a chest strap style heart rate monitor when cycling. 

When I'm cycling I actually take off my Charge 3, so it isn't recording anything since I'm not wearing it.  I log the ride with Strava and after a while Strava pushes the data to Fitbit through the Fitbit API.  When this happens everything comes across as expected, except for the calories calculated by Strava. 

For instance, here's a Strava record for a recent ride:

Last night Strava pushed this ride data to Fitbit and here's what Fitbit shows for the same ride:

I've found other posts on this forum that begin to address the issue, but don't have sufficient information. Check out this topic, this topic, and this post. 

So, in this case Fitbit can't accurately calculate calorie burn since there is no activity or heart rate info directly recorded.

Here are my questions:

• When Strava pushes data into Fitbit's database, is Strava's calculated calorie count included in that data?
• If the answer to that question is "yes", then why isn't that calorie count used in the Fitbit log?

Thanks,

DS

[LanuzaFitbit]

Welcome to the Forums @sheck.

Thanks for sharing those details on the situation. 

In this case the information should be copied from the Strava activity to the Fitbit directly as if it was a manually logged activity. Is this happening with all activities or was it a one time thing?

Look forward to your reply.

[sheck]

Sorry for the slow reply, I went out of town right after I started this discussion. 

I happens every time, it is a systematic problem.  For instance today (Feb. 24th) I did another bike race and everything matches except the calories.  Strava: 1,122 calories.  Fitbit: 484 calories. 

So I always delete the synchronized data and put in a new manual entry. 

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @sheck.

Thanks for bringing those details on the matter and responding.

In this case, I'd recommend that you try to disconnect the apps from each other and then connect them again and see if that improves the tracking for future activities. 

Please keep me posted on how it goes or if you have any further questions.

[sheck]

Actually I had thought of that when I found forum posts about other, unrelated sync issues.

I disconnected the apps on Saturday night and reconnected the apps on Sunday morning before my aforementioned bike race. 

After disconnecting and reconnecting I got the same result.  

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @sheck.

Thanks for trying that.

It is important to note that after linking your accounts you may see some differences in the way data is calculated for your exercises on each site. For more information, see Strava's Calorie Calculation article.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

[real_KHz]

.................................

[sheck]

Hey there LanuzaFitbit -

In reply to your post:

---

@LanuzaFitbit wrote:

Hello @sheck.

Thanks for trying that.

It is important to note that after linking your accounts you may see some differences in the way data is calculated for your exercises on each site. For more information, see Strava's Calorie Calculation article.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

---

I don't think your answer makes sense.  You stated in an earlier reply "In this case the information should be copied from the Strava activity to the Fitbit directly as if it was a manually logged activity". 

So, to restate my original question in maybe a better way:

• When the information is "copied from the Strava activity to the Fitbit directly as if it was a manually logged activity" exactly what information is copied?
  • Date and time of exercise?
  • Distance?
  • Elapsed time?
  • Calories?

Please let me know the answer to these questions. 

Thank you,

DS

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @sheck.

I'll gladly answer your questions.

Activities from Strava are synced over to Fitbit as manually logged activities and don't include GPS or heart rate data from Strava, so calorie calculation would be different. You should see the date, time, distance and elapsed time used for the generation of the activity on the Fitbit end.

Feel free to reach out with any further questions.

[sheck]

So, is this correct?

When the information is "copied from the Strava activity to the Fitbit directly as if it was a manually logged activity" exactly what information is copied?

• Date and time of exercise? - Included in data sent from Strava to Fitbit
• Distance? - Included in data sent from Strava to Fitbit
• Elapsed time? - Included in data sent from Strava to Fitbit
• Calories? - NOT included in data sent from Strava to Fitbit

---

If this is correct, is it because the Strava developers do not send calorie information, or is it because the Fitbit developers receive the calorie count from Strava, but have decided to ignore that information?

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @sheck.

Thanks for reaching back.

Indeed you are correct. The calories from Strava do not sync over to Fitbit to it doesn't mean that they are ignored. They are been recalculated with the other information that does cross over to Fitbit.

Hope this further clarifies the situation.

Let me know if there is anything else that I can help you with.

[jw8195]

The issue is that the calculation by Fitbit is far too unrealistic! 3x higher and is a pain to sort out..

Had two smart watches but thinking of switching now