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BUG: steps are being counted when doing rowing activity

Former Member
Former Member over 5 years ago

Hi,

I've noticed step counter is being active while doing preset activities which does not include walking.

10 minutes of indoor rowing - gives around 1000 steps (25-26 strides per minute).

I believe enabling such an activity should disable step counter while active patterns are being recognized (stride count is almost spot on when compared to my concept2).

Fenix 6s saphire, btw.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    Do you have a Move IQ walking activity?  Sometimes the Move IQ does not detect the right activity. When pushing my wheel barrel Move IQ shows an Eliptique Bike activity almost every time.

  • +1 over 5 years ago

    The step counter isn't a true pedometer type step measure. It's an indicator of overall activity in a given day. So rowing creates steps because you are "moving". A 30 minute boxing session can give me the same number of steps as running for the same amount of time.

    Is that right or wrong? I guess it's wrong if you consider the steps should be tracking just steps and nothing else, but it's not wrong if you're considering it as an indicator of overall activity.

    It's not a "bug" as it is doing what Garmin want it to do. And given the number of times this has come up in my time here (I've used Garmin Fenix watches since the F3) there are plenty of people who are happy with how it works. A true "bug" with step counting is how it will often trigger steps when driving a car.

    The real issue is calling it a step count but this is the "industry standard" even though it is entirely misleading in terms of how all the devices actually track movement.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to carl.andersson

    Hi, thanks for responding.

    IMHO it is kinda pointless to track the acitivity (say "steps" indicator is for whatever action), when I have manually enabled another acitivity tracker - meaning - I want to track ONLY that which I have enabled (rowing) , while the remainder activity indicators of whatever type SHOULD BE paused.

    And yes - I expected pedometer functionality...

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    PS. And if steps are not steps in a true sense, while the hell it is translated into distance?

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    I agree.. it should not count those movements as steps because it counts them as reps. But the bigger issue is that Concept2 is not properly talking to Garmin watch in general. For example no data about speed, cadence, distance and power is transmitted. Concept2 is probably the most precise Erg out there and yet you get no power reading out of it. It is a shame that those two companies don't talk together. We could have VO2 Max for rowing and many more cool stats.

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    You have to disable activity tracker manually.

  • +1 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    I understand what you're saying, and I can sympathize with what you're asking for. I'm just pointing out that Garmin don't consider this to be a bug - it's doing exactly what they want it to do and it is at least consistent across all their devices (not all of them allow you to pick rowing as an activity for example).

    There are limitations to the pedometer functionality on a wrist based device so if you were really expecting that then you'll be disappointed with any watch you buy. For example I might get extra steps while boxing or rowing or rocking my baby to sleep but I get none at all when I go grocery shopping because I'm pushing a cart.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    Same watch, same problem. Is there a way to delete the steps after the fact? I couldn't seem to find anything on connect.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    Can't agree more.  Strength training - 3000 steps, driving lorry 1000 steps etc. Plus any move is counted as a step. My samsung gear sport used to show around 1000 steps more than my phone. Now I have 5k-6k more steps than phone. How come twice cheaper watch knew  that digging in nose is not a step? Why it never counted steps when registered other activities?

    Carl said that is more like activity counter not a step counter. I don't think so. If u start your day from registered activity like strength training it will show that you have burnt calories during strength training (ex 300) and because u done 3000 steps (ex200 kcal). Even though you didn't do any steps yet that day. If it was activity counter it wouldn't count the  same burnt  calories twice.

    And I heard opinions that  it is just a watch, how it should know that my move is  just a hand move not a step. How come samsung ones knows? How come 50 pounds trackers knows?

    Someone said that if u are do serious activities u don't care about steps.  Any activity counts.  After I noticed that garmin is cheating I have changed my daily goal from 11 to 13k. Not enough. Recently I have checked what recorded my phone and every day I do only 8k, according to Samsung health. 3k steps x 30days =90k. How many calories is that?

    One big disappointment. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Well that would suck, if I'd do an all day paddling trip I wouldn't reach my step goal. :)