accuracy of fitbit exercise calories

2»

Replies

  • jasveersingh925
    jasveersingh925 Posts: 50 Member
    Many great responses here, much appreciated. I've tried the Fitbit with activities besides running and walking... more recently, jumping rope. I find that it counts the steps that I am jumping but since the activity is so taxing and intense compared to walking, you can only bet that it is underestimating calories burned (the same might be the case for running as well). I think that its usefulness is partly due to the fact that counting calories burned is not an exact science, plus if the device is ALWAYS underestimating and you are going by that, you can't really go wrong.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Anything you use is simply going to be an estimate...if it were me, I'd spend some time and compare the burns my device was giving me to other sources and estimate conservatively. That's pretty much what I used to do with my HRM...eventually I figured out that if I knocked off around 20% or so of what my HRM said, I had a relatively accurate, but conservative number.

    I also used factors of 5-10...with 5 calories per minute being basically a walk in the park and 10 calories per minute being an all out, bust my *kitten*, can't talk or think or do anything but focus on my workout kind of intensity level. Most cardiovascular workouts for me are around an 8.

Categories