steps counted vs manual input of exercise

kybassman

if im walking/hiking for my exercise is it better to use my step counter or input the speed and time of walking/hiking manually?

sgt1372

Not sure what you mean.

Whenever I plan to walk or hike any distance beyond the ordinary, I turn my pedometer on and, after I'm done, enter the results from the pedometer (time and cals) into MFP as cardio activity.

kybassman

my phone has built in step counter...if i keep it on when i walk or hike it counts the steps and automatically adds it to my mfp. what i was wondering is if that is better/more accurate than me leaving the step counter off and manually inputting the length and speed of my walk into mfp...

kybassman

ok i figured it out....if i go ahead and input the exercise thru my fitness pal it adjust my steps calories....

mgalovic01

I'd test the step counter by counting your steps and seeing if it matches up. I found the one I have to be very inaccurate, but it's not an app. Also, incline of terrane will have a profound effect on how much work you've done.

NorthCascades

When I go hiking, I use a GPS to record it. I'm less interested in the calories than I am in the map. For one thing it'll get me unlost (unless the battery gives out). For another, it's nice to see where I was, on the map, when I get home.

There are free apps like Map My Hike that will let you record your tracks. In theory, a good app can probably give you a better calorie estimate than a simple step counter because it has more to base its estimate on. Elevation change (it takes more energy to walk up hill than on flat ground), stride length, etc.

At home, I use free and open source software called MapWindow GIS. Whenever I hike a trail I haven't done, I run the GPS track through MapWindow. It sort of accumulates for me. In this map, the yellow lines are hikes I've done, the blue lines are bike rides, the red ones are kayak trips, and the white lines are ski tours.