DOES MY FITBIT GIVE ME MORE CALORIES FOR STAIRS?

tiatiamaria
tiatiamaria Posts: 40 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
So, does it know that I am working harder when my steps come from stair climbing than when they come from level ground? Or would I really need the heart rate monitor to show that I have burned more calories?

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    No. It's just a fun way to motivate you to use the stairs. Air pressure changes can effect the count.
  • chelsy0587
    chelsy0587 Posts: 441 Member
    When I do the stair climber I don't seem to get any floors climbed, but when I walk outside and go uphill I get a ton... so I'd love to hear the answers on this. My Fitbit doesn't have a HRM either.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    heck my Fitbit tells me I've walked stairs when I haven't lol...but overall I love this gadget and its pretty accurate for my TDEE :smile:
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    chelsy0587 wrote: »
    When I do the stair climber I don't seem to get any floors climbed, but when I walk outside and go uphill I get a ton... so I'd love to hear the answers on this. My Fitbit doesn't have a HRM either.

    That's because Fitbit counts floors by changes in air pressure. I can get tons of floors when the air pressure changes during a storm. With a stair stepper you stay at the same air pressure so no floors are counted. A hill however has you changing altitude and as such the air pressure changes. As I said above, it's just a fun motivational count to get people to use stairs. It doesn't effect the calories at all.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    edited June 2015
    chelsy0587 wrote: »
    When I do the stair climber I don't seem to get any floors climbed, but when I walk outside and go uphill I get a ton... so I'd love to hear the answers on this. My Fitbit doesn't have a HRM either.

    Fitbits calculate stairs climbed by air pressure change, so since you were staying in the same place it wouldn't think you were climbing any stairs.

    http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-my-tracker-count-floors

    Edit: Damn too slow :P
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Here for anyone who wants to read about it:
    http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-my-tracker-count-floors
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,312 Member
    1 stair = 10ft of altitude based on air pressure change and while "stepping" movement is being sensed. I suspect that the rate of change is set to exclude rapid pressure change brought about by other causes.

    If it doesn't credit you a bit extra, it probably should. It is amazing how close the TDEE estimate seems to be to reality in spite of the inability of the thing to measure pretty much anything accurately (Charge HR) ;-)
  • chelsy0587
    chelsy0587 Posts: 441 Member
    edited June 2015
    So does the HRM make that much difference?

    I love my fitbit, it does motivate me to get to the goal amount of steps each day and the calculation of the TDEE was great for me since I was just going off what MFP gave me for calories. I can see now how often I'm eating under budget, that seems to be a lot for me though cause I eat high protein foods and feel so full by then end of the night.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    When I visit my daughters in San Francisco and walk around the city all day, I end up with over 100 flights of stairs. It's quite amazing, even if it doesn't add calories. My body sure is burning the calories on those days.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    1 stair = 10ft of altitude based on air pressure change and while "stepping" movement is being sensed. I suspect that the rate of change is set to exclude rapid pressure change brought about by other causes.

    If it doesn't credit you a bit extra, it probably should. It is amazing how close the TDEE estimate seems to be to reality in spite of the inability of the thing to measure pretty much anything accurately (Charge HR) ;-)

    I don't know. I got 29 floors the other day. Most of which I got during a storm (25 to be exact). It would suck to be getting credit for stuff I didn't do. I think that's why they don't give calories for it since storms can add a crazy amount of floors.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited June 2015
    chelsy0587 wrote: »
    So does the HRM make that much difference?
    I've been comparing a hr model and a basic zip. Cardio days there has been a 300-350 calorie difference and weight days it's about 150-200. The basic zip being low (which I knew it underestimated for me based on 10 months of use prior to the HR version).

    Edit: Oh and I should add that the HR model seems to be spot on for my calories burned.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,312 Member
    chelsy0587 wrote: »
    So does the HRM make that much difference?
    Ur asking me? Never had one without :smile:

    Basically it can't figure out my steps (I get extra in the house while it severely under-counts when I'm walking fast outside). The HR generally tracks unless you sweat a lot; but it does not handle rapid changes well, so good for steady state exercise only.

    But predicted calories lost (Fitbit TDEE - MFP logging) vs comparative DXA scans imply that the TDEE is off by less than 5%, which is quite fine by me!

    Isn't it amazing when all the errors cancel each other out ;-)

    And it is certainly motivating and fun to have.
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    tiatiamaria wrote: »
    So, does it know that I am working harder when my steps come from stair climbing than when they come from level ground? Or would I really need the heart rate monitor to show that I have burned more calories?

    What type do you have? Some are supposed to count stairs. The Flex does not. It also doesn't count big honking hills as any better than walking the same speed on level ground. That's my one issue with the flex, however it has been fairly accurate and everything seems to be matching up. If I were to do a stair workout I would probably log that separately in MFP, but I haven't been doing those lately.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    If you want to know calories burned, you really should consider a heart rate monitor with a chest strap. It's going to be the most accurate... but even then, don't forget to subtract TDEE from any calories burned.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited June 2015
    aippolito1 wrote: »
    If you want to know calories burned, you really should consider a heart rate monitor with a chest strap. It's going to be the most accurate... but even then, don't forget to subtract TDEE from any calories burned.

    @aippolito1- Fitbit's estimate your TDEE and when synced to MFP will adjust your calories so that they are TDEE - deficit. You don't want to subtract calories from it unless you find that it overestimates your TDEE.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    aippolito1 wrote: »
    If you want to know calories burned, you really should consider a heart rate monitor with a chest strap. It's going to be the most accurate... but even then, don't forget to subtract TDEE from any calories burned.

    No you shouldn't

    An HRM is ONLY accurate during steady state cardio

    They are a marketing dream and do not convert your hr to calorie burn across 24 hours

    I have yet to be convinced of any benefit over a basic model pedometer
  • tiatiamaria
    tiatiamaria Posts: 40 Member
    This is all helpful. I think I will stick with my one and just count it as a silent bonus when I do stairs during the day.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    tiatiamaria wrote: »
    This is all helpful. I think I will stick with my one and just count it as a silent bonus when I do stairs during the day.

    As everybody already said, the Fitbit stair count is just a metric—it doesn't affect your calorie burn in any way.

    The only way to gauge the accuracy of your Fitbit is to trust it for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I lost the weight & have maintained for a year, so I know my Fitbit burn is 100% accurate.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I've got the basic zip it does everything I need it to. The only exercise I do is walking (step based activity), so an expensive hoighty toighty HRM would be useless for me
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Fitibit is an accelerometer so the calories allocated is influenced by a number of things. On a walk yesterday I appeared to get 0.2 cals per step and 0.8 per floor by linear regression through the calorie results.
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