Charge HR now creating "Walk" exercise entries
Orphia
Posts: 7,097 Member
For the past two days my Fitbit Charge HR has been doing something new.
When I go for a walk, it creates a new "Walk" exercise entry in Fitbit without me pressing any buttons on my Fitbit or phone app.
It's not really a problem. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else wanted to comment on the feature.
When I go for a walk, it creates a new "Walk" exercise entry in Fitbit without me pressing any buttons on my Fitbit or phone app.
It's not really a problem. I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone else wanted to comment on the feature.
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Replies
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It's a software upgrade. I like it!0
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I love it! Why doesn't it add the activity to MFP though?
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I love it! I usually push the button when we go for an "exercise" walk, but I just did an hour on the treadmill without pushing the button, and it logged a walk for me.0
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danellecapobianco wrote: »I love it! Why doesn't it add the activity to MFP though?
Because Fitbit doesn't do that. In terms of activity, it only sends steps and total calories burned to MFP. If you want a post on your feed about your workout, then do it manually. Such as the one I posted earlier today: "Did C25k Week 4 Day 2. Max HR 148, Avg HR 125, Distance 1.91 mile."0 -
I have been able to get my workouts posted to MFP via MapMyFitness. Fitbit and MMF will trade info, and then MMF post directly to MFP & fitbit. I've been using that for sometime now. I just wish MMF would pick up threadmill walks. I'm going to hate to go inside and not log workouts on MMF once it gets too cold or raining.0
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It's a software upgrade. I like it!
Thanks for the link!0 -
bigkahuna1950 wrote: »I have been able to get my workouts posted to MFP via MapMyFitness. Fitbit and MMF will trade info, and then MMF post directly to MFP & fitbit. I've been using that for sometime now. I just wish MMF would pick up threadmill walks. I'm going to hate to go inside and not log workouts on MMF once it gets too cold or raining.
I log my treadmill workouts in MMF. Mainly because I am "friends" with my mom and sister on MMF, and they're not on Fitbit or MFP. It's both for accountability and motivation (mine and theirs). They'll notice if I'm not logging exercise. I do it either manually or by wearing my chest strap HRM, which I can then upload to to MMF.
I am a bit confused, though. I have Fitbit linked to MMF, but none of the workouts I log in Fitbit show up on MMF. I'm not sure what info they trade, to be honest. I don't have MMF linked to MFP because I don't want exercise logged in MFP. I don't like it overwriting my Fitbit data. So, I'm wondering how you got Fitbit to tell MMF about your workouts.0 -
Loving it! I tend to use the stop watch for other purposes, aka making sure I don't go over my breaks at work, so it logging my actual exercise times saves me a lot of hassle.0
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bigkahuna1950 wrote: »I have been able to get my workouts posted to MFP via MapMyFitness. Fitbit and MMF will trade info, and then MMF post directly to MFP & fitbit. I've been using that for sometime now. I just wish MMF would pick up threadmill walks. I'm going to hate to go inside and not log workouts on MMF once it gets too cold or raining.
I log my treadmill workouts in MMF. Mainly because I am "friends" with my mom and sister on MMF, and they're not on Fitbit or MFP. It's both for accountability and motivation (mine and theirs). They'll notice if I'm not logging exercise. I do it either manually or by wearing my chest strap HRM, which I can then upload to to MMF.
I am a bit confused, though. I have Fitbit linked to MMF, but none of the workouts I log in Fitbit show up on MMF. I'm not sure what info they trade, to be honest. I don't have MMF linked to MFP because I don't want exercise logged in MFP. I don't like it overwriting my Fitbit data. So, I'm wondering how you got Fitbit to tell MMF about your workouts.
You can't manually log the workout in MMF first (or at least weren't able to if that's changed) - it must come from Fitbit because of the sync there.
Then when MMF syncs the info to MFP (as a simple workout), and MFP back to Fitbit - it's the same calorie info (if no errors in those 2 syncs anyway - and that may be asking a lot now) - so replace with what was already there.
Since Fitbit sees no change to the Activity Record that was created - it's doesn't start another round of syncs to MMF. At least, it shouldn't.
Now - since it's calorie replacement from a synced in workout on Fitbit, you should have an adjusted Active minutes based on the total average of that chunk of time, instead of individual minutes.0 -
Now - since it's calorie replacement from a synced in workout on Fitbit, you should have an adjusted Active minutes based on the total average of that chunk of time, instead of individual minutes.
Which is why I don't let MapMyFitness link to MyFitnessPal. I do have MMF linked to Fitbit, but I can't tell that the connection actually does anything. It's not a big deal because my reasons for using MMF are separate from why I use Fitbit and MFP.0 -
I just came on to see if this was happening to anyone else.
oddly seeing biking and elliptical in my exercise log prompted me to check it out. It is interesting to see. I don't use the timer method so I can preserve the battery life of my charge. Thanks for the info! 0 -
Now - since it's calorie replacement from a synced in workout on Fitbit, you should have an adjusted Active minutes based on the total average of that chunk of time, instead of individual minutes.
Which is why I don't let MapMyFitness link to MyFitnessPal. I do have MMF linked to Fitbit, but I can't tell that the connection actually does anything. It's not a big deal because my reasons for using MMF are separate from why I use Fitbit and MFP.
I thought the Activity Records went to MMF - as sort of a better place to deal with exercise records than what Fitbit has available.
Then in MMF you could add details, like GPS route to record.
Though I'd be curious what happens if you correct the record in MMF for say distance or calorie burn - if it comes back over to Fitbit and does exactly what you are concerned with.
I may have to bring back my MMR account - they keep reminding me to get some exercise since they think by last bike ride was several years ago.0 -
Sephixteeo wrote: »I just came on to see if this was happening to anyone else. oddly seeing biking and elliptical in my exercise log prompted me to check it out. It is interesting to see. I don't use the timer method so I can preserve the battery life of my charge. Thanks for the info!
Wow, biking, that's brave of them with wrist based units to attempt to see that.
Was elliptical done while holding the moving arms, or the stationary arms - if your machine has both options?
I'm wondering if biking is assumed cardio if few if any steps are seen but HR is higher.
Wonder what happens if lifting then.0 -
Sephixteeo wrote: »I just came on to see if this was happening to anyone else. oddly seeing biking and elliptical in my exercise log prompted me to check it out. It is interesting to see. I don't use the timer method so I can preserve the battery life of my charge. Thanks for the info!
I turned off the ability to sense biking or elliptical because I don't do those. I think someone posted that it mistook gardening as an elliptical workout.
I'm a little disenchanted with the feature since it seems to not display the distance when using auto-detect, even if the activity was detected as either walking or running (I'm okay with no distance for an aerobic workout). So, I'll probably continue pushing the button when I want to get distance from a workout.0 -
Lifting doesn't seem to actually register for me. I do stronglifts a few times a week I do have a rebounder I jump on, but usually running around the house or jogging in place to keep moving. I can't tell for certain what I was doing, since it was more than a few days ago.
Biking threw me, too... I may mess around this week and make a note of it to see if it pops up again.
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Sephixteeo wrote: »I just came on to see if this was happening to anyone else. oddly seeing biking and elliptical in my exercise log prompted me to check it out. It is interesting to see. I don't use the timer method so I can preserve the battery life of my charge. Thanks for the info!
I turned off the ability to sense biking or elliptical because I don't do those. I think someone posted that it mistook gardening as an elliptical workout.
I'm a little disenchanted with the feature since it seems to not display the distance when using auto-detect, even if the activity was detected as either walking or running (I'm okay with no distance for an aerobic workout). So, I'll probably continue pushing the button when I want to get distance from a workout.
Maybe gardening was it... Or raking, in particular. Lots of that happening. 0 -
I thought the "walk" activity was MMF feeding back into FitBit?
I use MMF when I walk the dogs to get an accurate distance since my arms don't move in a natural motion holding leashes. The "walk" activity ONLY shows up when I've used MMF.
How would FitBit differentiate between normal walking around the mall and walking the dogs?0 -
Nope, the "walk" activity is not from MMF. Since I learned about this feature I've experimented and it has automatically logged a walk when I have not used MMF (I was just walking on the treadmill, to get my steps in on an otherwise relatively inactive day).
I use MMF to log my walks all the time, because I like to see the map and I like the feedback during the walk. It never seems to send data to Fitbit, whether I used Exercise mode on the Fitbit or not. (The mapping function in the Fitbit app does not work properly for me. I don't understand why because they both use the phone's GPS, but the Fitbit one jumps all over the place.)
Fitbit doesn't use your arm's "natural motion" (i.e. swinging) to detect steps. It has to actually filter out the arm swing in order to see the acceleration generated by the impact of your foot hitting the ground. Pushing a shopping cart or stroller will cause steps to be missed, because your wrist is fixed in space by the handle, which is rigidly attached to the wheels, which "insulates" it from the impacts of your feet. But, a dog leash shouldn't be a big problem.
I'm not sure Fitbit would differentiate between normal walking around the mall and walking the dogs. Your pace/step regularity might differ depending on the dog (my mom's dog stops a lot when we take him for a walk) and whether you're walking the mall to exercise or to window shop, but they're both walking. If you're window shopping or have a dog like my mom's (i.e stopping frequently) then Fitbit might not automatically log the walk.0 -
I've had to change my settings to only count "walk" activities for longer than 30 minutes. It was getting to the point where it was creating a "walk" every time I was walking to the subway, for instance. I don't need to see a dozen activities per day every time I go anywhere.0
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So does it have option to disable this auto-activity feature?
Or just that ability to set min time it must be seen?0 -
I just wish FB would fix the tracker in the app.
One day I ran both the app and MMF on the same phone on the same walk. FB only mapped 1/4 of it0 -
So does it have option to disable this auto-activity feature?
Or just that ability to set min time it must be seen?
No, you can turn off any, or all, of the activities that it will auto-detect. I turned off biking and elliptical since I don't do those and I don't want it mistakenly detecting them when I'm doing something else.0 -
I just wish FB would fix the tracker in the app.
One day I ran both the app and MMF on the same phone on the same walk. FB only mapped 1/4 of it
I've done the same thing. MMF goes right down the road - usually it even has me on the correct side of the road (since it's a road without sidewalks, we walk facing the little bit of traffic that it has). FitBit jumps all over the place - up the mountain on one side, up the mountain on the other side, etc. It makes my speed and distance look great, but it isn't remotely accurate. MMF will mess up once in a blue moon. FitBit does it consistently.0 -
That's interesting - and they are both using the phone's GPS for this?
The GPS included ability in the mobile chipsets spit out complete info, not even a need for an app to do any math on raw data, unless their polling time is just awful.
Does MMF or Fitbit allow you to see the individual data points in the route that were used?
I guess if Fitbit is bouncing around, you can tell when the straight line changes direction enough.
Just curious if perhaps MMF is doing data smoothing and Fitbit isn't, because GPS data can bounce around a bit, but good apps look at the stated accuracy range of the data and can easily decide that to keep a straight line your actual point must have been over here.
It's very interesting live processing that can be done - some apps can do more later.
I'm going to have to break out the Fitbit app and see how those work. I hope I don't start getting sync issues. That's my fear.0 -
"I'm going to have to break out the Fitbit app and see how those work. I hope I don't start getting sync issues. That's my fear"
The 2x I've tested it, the activity has posted to my log, but then I just go in and delete it. since MMF doesn't report back to FitBit, it's no drama that I can see.
One of the tests FB got the track mostly, sort-of right, but recorded it as 1/4 of the distance. the second test, I didn't even bother looking at the track, just saw the distance was way off and deleted it.
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That's interesting - and they are both using the phone's GPS for this?
Yep. The location is in a mountain (well, foothill) valley with relatively poor cell coverage but the GPS seems solid as long as I wait for it to sync up after I get outside.Does MMF or Fitbit allow you to see the individual data points in the route that were used?
I guess if Fitbit is bouncing around, you can tell when the straight line changes direction enough.
I can zoom in on the MMF map and see "segments". They're certainly not completely accurate as they show me as sometimes being slightly off the road, when I'm not, but they're pretty close and the distances it gives me are quite repeatable. If we take a walk today, I'll run the Fitbit app as well and see what it gives me. Next time we take a walk in town, I'll also try to run the Fitbit app and see if it works better there.
I would agree that it looks like MMF is doing some error correction on the GPS data and Fitbit is not. I've never retained the Fitbit data long enough to try to analyze it, though. I'll do that today (I hope - it's kind of cloudy right now and if it stays that way, we may not walk).0 -
Wouldn't you know, I promise to test the Fitbit app's mapping - which I've always found to be terrible - and it works perfectly. Either they fixed it, or Murphy's Law got me. I like the result, though, so I'll keep using it, if it keeps working.0
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Wouldn't you know, I promise to test the Fitbit app's mapping - which I've always found to be terrible - and it works perfectly. Either they fixed it, or Murphy's Law got me. I like the result, though, so I'll keep using it, if it keeps working.
I'll give it a try this weekend when I'm out and about. We have a scavenger hunt in town, that should put it through the paces ;-)0 -
Perhaps the bug was it working right for once - next time back to normal! ;-)0
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Perhaps the bug was it working right for once - next time back to normal! ;-)
I tried it again yesterday, when we took a walk in town after running errands. It worked perfectly again. MMF said 3.08 miles and 429 calories, Fitbit said 3.02 miles and 431 calories. The map looks great. The only difference is that MMF says there was an elevation gain of 42 feet and Fitbit says 0. (The previous day MMF said elevation gain of 356 feet and Fitbit said 400. Fitbit also gave me an extra 49 calories on that walk over what MMF estimated.)0
