Incline treadmill w Fitbit: Log or don't log?

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DavePlus
DavePlus Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
I just got a Fitbit One a few days ago, and it is unclear to me whether I should log treadmill interval training on MFP, or just go with Fitbit's results.

I'm just starting, so somewhat out of shape.. so, for example, this morning I did intervals of 3.2mph at 2% and 6mph at 8% and I assume that Fitbit isn't measuring the "climb." A sample 26-min set showed 215 cals on the treadmill, and MFP has a "3.5mph climb" preset which gives 217 cals for the same amount of time, so I logged that in MFP.

If I remove the logged exercise from MFP, then MFP shows 140 cals credited for exercise synced from Fitbit's calculation.

I hope that makes sense. Bottom line, does Fitbit shortchange you on incline treadmill?
And does logging into MFP correctly handle not double-dipping on calories?

Thanks all for this great community!

Replies

  • sunflowerhippi
    sunflowerhippi Posts: 1,099 Member
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    I did an experament today at the gym. I used the HRM every 30 seconds when walking under 3.9 mph *as tredmill will not let you when going above that, and when running I would do it right before and right after the 3 minute jogs, I did this for 45 minutes. I took my HR over 20 times in that time frame. I used a method for using HR to figure out calories burned ( [(Age x 0.074) - (Weight x 0.05741) + (Heart Rate x 0.4472) - 20.4022] x Time / 4.184 ) that I found on here.

    Below is the calories burned I got from 3 different methods.
    HR- 508
    MFP -411
    Fitbit- 380

    So to anwser your question I have no idea what to go by, but I know for sure fitbit doesn't count hills into its calories burned.

    And yes if you imput your run on MFP it will take that time from your fitbit and remove the calories from that.
  • Codefox
    Codefox Posts: 308 Member
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    I run with a Polar gps watch but I also always have my fitbit on me. I rarely go over my standard allowance anyway. There's no sense in eating exercise calories. That said if you have a day of heavy running its nice to know how much room you have since after running for 2 or 3 hours, your body does need more food than usual.

    That said, runs of less than an hour? Don't change your eating habits. Let your fitbit handle it and you'll be fine. MFP will do its calorie adjustment. I got the fitbit to do less work, not more!
  • MargoWhiteWalton
    MargoWhiteWalton Posts: 16 Member
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    Bump
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Log it as an activity on the Fitbit website. Manually enter calories and use the calories given to you by the treadmill.

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