Disabling step count during certain activities

Wondering if you didn't understand my question or I don't understand your answer. Steps are counted all the time, both during activity and without any activity towards the total of steps per day. I think even if I delete activity my step total will remain full of the "fake steps" from roller skating (not that I want to delete it in first place, I just don't want steps counted during some activities). I really don't care if I get few dozens of steps during my sleep when I shake my hand, but getting thousands of steps during activity when I don't do a single step is silly.

Completely agree. I think it's nuts when you're doing an activity that's logged as such that they count any steps in that time as your daily steps. I did a 6k run today and boom, I've 'done' 7000 of my 12,000 a day step target. So the whole day I'm thinking, ok no, so my new target is 19,000 steps. But then all the data is also screwed, too.

So frustrating - I really wish Garmin would add a tick box to the settings to just disable daily steps when logging an activity. I can't imagine it's actually that difficult to do tech-wise either.

I think getting steps while running is totally the right thing. You are making actual steps after all. I would be unhappy if that wasn't the case. But I agree that sports like cycling or rollerblading shouldn't produce any steps. 

Strongly disagree personally re. Running. Our NEAT is very different to choosing to do an exercise activity and imo should be tracked differently as such.

I get it for cycling etc.

But that's why it'd be solved by a tick box that people can tick or leave unticked :)

So if you got up in the morning and immediately ran an ultramarathon all day until bedtime, you'd want your watch to report that you did 0 steps?

In any case, "steps" are really just meant as a measure of how active you were. Does anyone actually care how many steps they did? No, or at least they shouldn't. What matters is that you were active.

If one day I did 4000 steps and paddleboarded 4km, and my watch reported 8000 steps, is that really a big deal? Was the 4km of paddleboarding not the exercise-equivalent of about 4000 steps? Should I really care that my watch isn't only recording literal steps that I take? Is overall fitness not the goal of the all-day tracking feature?

Absolutely agree with you. Steps should only be counted outside of activities.

"Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise." 

Steps are steps, regardless whether you walk, run, skate, or ski. Steps are not counted at activities such as cycling, swimming, and others. So if your personal preference is not having the steps counted for you Run or Skating activities, just select the Cycling activity (or create a custom activity basd on Cycling), and only change it to the Running or Skating later in Garmin Connect. In this way you can easily avoid counting of the steps, if you want to have them excluded.

"Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise." 

That's true, but the steps count has no influence on the way Garmin devices calculate your energy expenditure (assuming you did not turn off the HRM).

C.sco said:

So if you got up in the morning and immediately ran an ultramarathon all day until bedtime, you'd want your watch to report that you did 0 steps?

I wouldn't care as I know how active I've been by my activities.  Humans evolved to walk on two legs (take steps) as a means to get around. It didn't take place to become fitter.  If one is only concerned with daily steps, they're surely not doing enough.  For those who want to count steps in addition to their activities, then the additional steps should be counted separately outside of activities. Just my opinion.  Too many people out there going "Got my 10K.  I'm good."