RDP not counting steps nor disatnce if hands at rest

2619527 said:

I expect it to measure steps/distance during a treadmil workout session. 

As I wrote, even if it does, it won't override the steps from the watch, unless you let the watch immobile and off the wrist, hence getting no HR, and no HR-based metrics. Nothing to do with semantics. It is the way it works.

2619527 said:

We seem to be delving into semantics here. The Garmin page you linked states a foot pod does not add to total number of steps for a day. Which is fine, I've the watch for that. I expect it to measure steps/distance during a treadmil workout session. 

To be clear, during an activity, Garmin will optionally use a footpod for distance and/or speed/pace, and it will use a paired footpod for *cadence*, not steps. Yes, from a common-sense perspective, cadence should be the same as steps, but it's not the same thing for Garmin.

Footpod settings in the Sensors menu look like this:

- Speed: Off, Indoor [*], Always

- Distance: Off, Indoor [*], Always

[* - default, I think]

But as you said, Garmin won't use a footpod as a source for *steps*, either during an activity or outside of an activity. Yes, Garmin uses a footpod to measure cadence, and you'd think it would be the same thing as steps, but it isn't for Garmin. When your running activity is done, you won't see total steps (or even total "cadence") in Connect. The closest you can get to estimating the total number of steps for the activity is to multiply average cadence by activity time in minutes. (Garmin actually does record "total cycles or strides" to the FIT file, which is basically total cadence / 2, but that's not exposed in Connect.)

This isn't splitting hairs, your daily step count won't increase during an activity where you wear a footpod but not your Garmin watch (as it normally would if you went for a run wearing your watch). It won't be adjusted after you save your activity, either.

I *think* you understand that, but it's not 100% clear from what you said.

So for example:

Day 1: I go for a 5k run outdoors wearing my watch and record ~5000 steps. The rest of the day I walk about 9000 steps. My total step count (on my watch) is 14000.

Day 2: I run 5k on a treadmill without wearing my watch, but using a footpod for distance, so 0 steps are recorded. The rest of the day I walk about 9000 steps. My total step count (on my watch) is 9000.

I had roughly the same amount of actual steps on both days, but the step count on my Garmin is very different for each day.

While all of that may have already been clear to you, I wanted to emphasize why trux said Garmin does not record *steps* from a footpod. In contrast, HRM-PRO will literally record steps when you're not wearing the watch, although as you pointed out, it's a bit pricey. (At some point, the HRM-PRO will sync with Connect, and when this happens, the daily step count will be increased retroactively, for both Connect and the watch.)

TL;DR everything boils down to what you mean by "counting steps".

- In the context of Garmin devices, most people (and Garmin) think of of it as measuring steps in such a way that your daily step count is increased (whether immediately or retroactively). By this definition, a foot pod does not count steps when paired with a Garmin (either during an activity or outside of an activity). But the watch does count steps during an activity (the daily step count does increase), and so does an HRM-PRO (when the watch is not being worn)

- If you just mean measuring cadence during an activity (but not increasing the daily step count), well, both the running dynamics pod and a footpod will measure cadence. But that can't be what you meant, since you already said the RD-Pod is "not counting steps".

- If you mean measuring cadence such that distance is also measured (but not increasing the daily step count), well, yeah, a footpod does that (and the RD-POD doesn't). But Garmin and most Garmin users would refer to this as "measuring distance", not "counting steps and distance".

To summarize:

[*] in some cases the watch *may* use the accel as a source for instant pace even when GPS is active, but the user can't choose to have the accel as the sole source for distance/pace when GPS is enabled. In contrast, HRM-Pro or footpod can be used as the sole source for distance/pace even when GPS is enabled

TL;DR

I'm using my laptop on a treadmil. As a result of that my hands are barely moving during activity. 

Foot pod is expected to resolve that by providing additional measurement during activity. 

Clarification: for all previous instances where I mentioned steps I meant distance measurement during activity on a treadmill. 

2619527 said:

Clarification: for all previous instances where I mentioned steps I meant distance measurement during activity on a treadmill. 

That's fair, that's kinda what I figured (wasn't 100% sure though).

In that case a footpod will be just fine for you.

I do think it sucks that Garmin refuses to use a footpod as a source for steps. It's a pretty dumb artificial restriction imo. When you pair a footpod, the watch prefers the footpod to its own accel as a source for *cadence*, but still insists that you have to wear the watch to get *steps*.

Could not agree more. I'd double that on the case it sucks RDP does not work as a source of steps/distance. It's an external gyro device that could save watch batt life. 

Thanks for the clarification, an SDM3 pod is on the way. 

trux said:

RD Pod could and definitely should deliver distance and pace (I never understood why it did not)

I think it's because RD-Pod was supposedly meant to replace HRM-RUN/HRM-TRI for users who were happy with optical HR and didn't want to wear a strap.

[https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/03/garmins-dynamics-everything.html]

So it only provides exactly what those straps provide, minus heart rate: running dynamics (including cadence).

Yeah, it's stupid, because it could've *also* acted like a footpod and provided speed and distance. Then again, so could the straps it was supposed to "replace", as they also measured instant stride length and cadence. Perhaps at the time RD-Pod was released (2017), Garmin didn't want to cannibalize their footpod sales? (The Garmin footpod was only discontinued in 2019)

Ofc, it's super ironic that the following generation of Garmin strap (HRM-PRO) *does* provide speed and distance, as well as steps. (Probably to give users a reason to buy yet another strap).

But again, Garmin could've always used a footpod as a source for steps, but they chose not to (and still don't).

So the history of all of this stuff is full of artificial restrictions.