Treadmill desk (arms often rest on desk), Foot Pod or Calibration?

I often just fast-walk versus running, and do this while doing other things on the computer (I have a treadmill desk). This means my hands are not moving much or swinging at my sides.

What would be the best way to get stats as accurate as possible for this scenario?

I see that I can calibrate the watch to the distance the treadmill shows at the end of my workout but is that good enough? I assume I'll have to calibrate it EVERY TIME since the amount of time my hands are on the desk vs at my side are going to differ each time (if I'm watching videos vs typing emails)

The Foot Pod sounds like it might be a good option and it's not that expensive. Am I just better off with the foot pod? I'm not an athlete but I do like to record my basic stats like distance. Speed would be nice too so that's why I may be leaning towards the foot pod if it records speed.

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0 tmk2 over 4 years ago

Footpod seems to be the best solution.

0 7509713 over 4 years ago in reply to tmk2

Just realized Garmin doesn't make the Food Pod anymore :(

0 Luca over 4 years ago in reply to 7509713

Don't necessarily buy a Garmin foot pod, you can easily find other ble ones and they work just the same

0 PaulDN81 over 4 years ago in reply to 7509713

Non Garmin footpods should work just fine as long as they support ANT+ or BLE. For accuracy on a treadmill this is definitely the way to go. There is also a device called the NPE Runn that mounts on the treadmill and can pair to your Fenix as a footpod and measures the belt speed directly. This is the most accurate for speed and distance but since it's measuring the belt you do have to make sure to stop it shortly after you are done walking. Just another option to consider.

One thing to keep in mind though is that you will need to start an activity on the watch for it to use the footpod. In normal standby watch mode it does not stay connected to the footpod so you would need to activate a walk activity to have it use the footpod as a data source. This shouldn't hit the battery too much since you can disable GPS being that it's an indoor activity.

+1 7509713 over 4 years ago in reply to PaulDN81

Thanks so much for mentioning the NPE Runn, that's even better than a foot pod for my use case (my treadmill is at home). I just ordered one, and also discovered ZWIFT which appears to be free if you just want the running app, that looks like a fun combo for indoors!

0 C.sco over 4 years ago

Stryd works for this, too. Might be good to know, for anyone who might already be interested in buying a Stryd anyways. If you don't want or care about the additional Stryd features like Stryd Power, etc, then of course other cheaper BLE/Ant+ footpods will work for pace/distance as well. It's unfortunate that Garmin still hasn't come out with a new footpod to replace the one they don't make anymore, but plenty of 3rd party options out there will work just as well.

0 PaulDN81 over 4 years ago in reply to 7509713

Zwift is awesome. Running on it is not quite as fun as cycling since it can't control the treadmill like a smart trainer but it definitely makes treadmill workouts less boring.

0 Luca over 4 years ago

I use the Zwift foot pod for outdoor runs, as Garmin pace does not work, it is very accurate and also consumes less battery of the watch.

0 AnatoliAngelov over 4 years ago in reply to Luca

Would you please provide a screenshot from Garmin activity with Zwift pod data?

0 Luca over 4 years ago in reply to AnatoliAngelov

If you explain to me how to put photos on the forum I will do it, I am not capable