Question for fit bit users?

iheartmy1dog
iheartmy1dog Posts: 207
in Fitness and Exercise
I read a lot of ppl using them and I looked it up. I don't understand how it logs my exercise... If I go kayaking, how does it know how many calories I burned? Or if I use the elliptical, how does it know? Don't different activities burn different amounts of calories? How accurate are the readings it gives?

Sorry if these sound like stupid questions, I just really want to know. I'd like to get one but I just wanted to know if they were worth it

Replies

  • gelendestrasse
    gelendestrasse Posts: 204
    With an elliptical the machine can measure the amout of power you are generating and calculate the number of calories necessary to produce that power. It's an estimate but a fairly good one. With a kayak (another topic, I'm thinking of buying one, any thoughts?) unless you have strain gauges on the paddles that feed back to a computer you are really doing a guesstimate. Same for racquetball. I leave the court drenched in sweat after an hour of playing but did I really burn all those calories? I think the only true measure of how effective your exercise is become the physical condition your're in.....
  • CaLaurie
    CaLaurie Posts: 178
    Not sure exactly how it works - there's some explanation on the web somewhere that makes sense. I find mine is extremely accurate for any step- based exercise. Don't know that it would be all that accurate for kayaking. I think a lot of folks use the fitbit for step-based exercise and an hrm for other exercise - that's what I do and it's working well.

    ETA: I think it's worth it for the motivation factor if nothing else. The zip is fairly inexpensive. I'm kinda lost without mine after several months of using it!
  • Livdoesketo
    Livdoesketo Posts: 38 Member
    I've got a fibit zip and got one because my main form of exercise is walking. For that the fitbit is perfect, it tracks your steps, translates that into mileage and works out your calorie burn for the day. I've set mine up so I get reminders to walk more, and it syncs with mfp to make my calorie intake more in-line with what I'm actually burning.

    For other activities you'd need a heart rate monitor for a more accurate calorie count. With the fitbit you can enter your exercise onto mfp and it asks for the start time and end time, that then syncs with fitbit which will attribute any extra movement during that time period to your exercise and give you a calorie count for the activity. Which is normally less than if you just entered it into mfp without the fitbit. But if you are using it for stuff like kayaking I don't think it would work as you wouldn't really be moving the tracker, I might be wrong on that though.
  • CherylGardner
    CherylGardner Posts: 75 Member
    The fitbit is mostly a pedometer/accelerometer.

    I use mine on the elliptical all the time and it logs steps and how fast I'm taking them and tries to calculate the calories burned. I personally use a HRM. Between fitbit, the HRM and MFP, the calorie counts range wildly for an estimate of what I burned... I go with the HRM since it's factoring in my weight and my HR.

    For things like Kayaking, you can use the timer function to log the start/end of the activity, and then log in MFP a kayaking activity with the appropriate start time and duration. The fitbit doesn't really help with that sort of activity....

    I am talking about the One/Ultra. I've never used the Flex. That might help with kayaking, since it's on your wrist... I don't know that much about the flex.

    I've been a proud fitbit user since Feb 2012. It's really great at giving me a daily gauge of how active I am everyday.
  • tlou5
    tlou5 Posts: 497 Member
    Bump- I have been wondering the same things :wink:
  • iheartmy1dog
    iheartmy1dog Posts: 207
    Thanks everyone!! That makes sense. I think I'll look into getting a fitbit and hrm then..... So many things needed to keep track! It gets pricey! Lol
  • Twinmamamarion
    Twinmamamarion Posts: 33 Member
    Would we have better luck putting it on our shoe lace during an elliptical workout? I've heard about that with biking.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    How it works is they have activity databases they've created based on the motion the accelerometer in the device detects and what the test subject was doing. So they have many women and men wear it in a test environment and walk at various speeds and note what motion pattern the device detects. That becomes the basis for its programming for 'woman, walking at X speed'. And so on for walking and running speeds. They attach METS values to motion patterns and those drive your calorie burn, along with your profile data (weight, gender, age, height). They don't do it for kayaking and elliptical and they don't do it tied to a shoelace. If it's a torso-worn Fitbit, the programming is based on torso-worn test readings. Same for a wrist device. So it always assumes you're wearing it where it's designed to be worn and doing something steps-based like walking or running.

    Many, many activities correlate just fine to walking/running METs values, like dancing, housework, yard work and many ellipticals. Many activities don't, like cycling, kayaking, and any resistance exercise.

    If you wear it on your shoelace or ankle during cycling, it might count 'steps' fine but your calorie estimate may be way off. It assumes it's on your torso (or wrist) and you're walking or running or elsewise moving unencumbered and unaided.
  • blurfish
    blurfish Posts: 10
    I wear mine on my torso when on the elliptical and have noticed that it tracks steps just fine. Also note that wearing it on your bra is another "officially recognized" spot to wear your Fitbit. By "officially recognized", I mean that it's in the instruction manual. I don't wear it on my bra when on the elliptical because I like to peak down at it at the gym to see where I"m at, and I don't necessarily want to be opening up my shirt every time I do it!

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