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Treadmill Walking Wildly inaccurate

thecofffeeguy
over 4 years ago

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here. I have contacted customer support, asked questions on reddit, and I'm taking my final shot here.

When I run on the treadmill, the distance measured is dead on, keeps right exact with the treadmill. Today I ran 2.3 miles and both the watch and treadmill agreed. No footpod needed.

However, WALKING on the treadmill is another story. I have tried the activities "Treadmill, Walk indoor, Indoor Track" as well as "Walk" with the GPS turned off. Every time though the watch will record a wildly inaccurate distance. Tonight I walked a half mile (0.50 mile) on the treadmill to meet my step goal for the day and the watch only measured 163.3ft. That is 0.03 miles and I took 1,200 steps. People always say, "Well, treadmills aren't accurate". LISTEN UP BUDDY, THAT AINT THE PROBLEM.

I have followed every direction I was given by customer support;

  • "Dont hold onto the hand rails" I never do.
  • "Walk upright" Silly me, I was backbending during my walks.
  • "Dont use your phone" I watch tv while on the treadmill I don't hold my phone.
  • "Dont put your hands in your pockets" I dont.
  • Factory reset the watch
  • Calibrated to the treadmill multiple times
  • Recorded over 175 outdoor walks with the GPS
  • Measured out and added a custom stride length.

I made sure the battery was fully charged, rebooted the watch before a walk. I have tried walking like a robot, like a chad, Frankenstein, an ice skater, John Cleese, a jester. When I say I have tired it all, I mean it ALL to just get the thing to work.

The thing that boils my blood though is that, on the watch face the "Distance walked today" field will add the treadmill distance to the total just fine. But the activity is still wrong.

I would prefer not to buy a footpod, If I have to fuss with an extra sensor, I will just go back to my 4 year old watch I had before that tracked everything flawlessly.

I have seen it is a fairly common problem over the various forums. This is more a case to get the frustration out and make the issue known, critiques/tips are welcome though.

This is the data from the walk. It only shows a tiny spike where it records a speed of roughly 2mph.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to pshare

    No, I double checked all the settings and auto pause is not set. For walking on the treadmill should I use "Walk Indoor" or "treadmill"? I have used both in the past and the "treadmill" activity measured distance worse than "Walk Indoor".

    While I was at work today though I had a brain spark. So, I set my watch to "walk indoors" paced around in circles on my lunch break, and It was measuring distance and pace without any hiccups. I didn't walk very far, but it tracked it spot on nearly! So, now I'm wondering if I have been using it wrong.

    I have dug into every setting and "activity" to find the right setting, but now I wonder if I'm missing something

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to thecofffeeguy

    I have this exact same problem and thought I was going mad! I too have been wondering whether I'm using the settings wrongly, and whether I should use "treadmill" instead of "walk indoor" - but walk indoor does have a picture of treadmill which leads me to believe you should use that if you are walking on a treadmill... which is what we are trying to do. 

    I thought it was a simple calibration issue for walking, and each time I run on "treadmill" I get the option to "calibrate and save" afterwards, which I don't need to as it works flawlessly for running. I had read somewhere that you need to rack up at least 1.5KM in order to be offered the calibrate and save option, so I have done this on "walk indoor" but infuriatingly never been given the option to calibrate, only save. The reason it's infuriating is I've had to walk about 5KM for the watch to think I've done the minimum 1.5KM, then not to get the option at the end feels like a huge waste of time! Otherwise I would have just run. 

    I am this close to throwing in the towel and getting a bloody Apple Watch, which is not the idea but at least that thing matches your distance perfectly (other half has one). 

    I would be super keen to be kept in the loop with any progress or fixes on this! 

    Rose

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I am facing exactly the same problem and the calibration option has not turned up for me either. Do keep us posted if you find a resolution to this!

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I have the same problem.  I walked on my treadmill and it showed 3572 steps taken but a distance of 0.12miles. It doesn't seem like Garmin is calculating the distance correctly based on steps (when GPS is turned off)  maybe a software issue?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 1839544

    In your settings, have you set a pause speed? Is there a difference between moving time and elapsed time?

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to ovekvam

    I went through and double checked all the settings, auto pause is turned off on everything. I am still in contact with Garmin support, they are being lovely, but they are spinning around the same answers and we haven't gotten anywhere in the 10ish weeks. I have reset and calibrated the watch so so so many times and they are suggesting I do it once again.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 1839544

    I am still in contact with them, I am still experiencing this issue 10ish weeks into dealing with Garmin support. They are lovely and the support lady has stuck with me this whole time so kudos to her! I will keep ya'll updated if we get anywhere. We email each other 3-5 times a week trying different steps.

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to 3191452

    I am still in contact with them, I am still experiencing this issue 10ish weeks into dealing with Garmin support. They are lovely and the support lady has stuck with me this whole time so kudos to her! I will keep ya'll updated if we get anywhere. We email each other 3-5 times a week trying different steps. I am ready for a resolution asap!

  • 0 over 3 years ago in reply to Rose M

    I am still in contact with them, I am still experiencing this issue 10ish weeks into dealing with Garmin support. They are lovely and the support lady has stuck with me this whole time so kudos to her! I will keep ya'll updated if we get anywhere. We email each other 3-5 times a week trying different steps. I don't feel we are close, but they are working on it I have no doubt!

  • 0 over 3 years ago

    I had similar issues with my pace fluctuating erratically while walking on the treadmill and the step count being inaccurate.  Walking correctly with arms swinging, etc.  Today I discovered that if, I put my watch in my back pocket (Venu) while using the Indoor Walk activity, both my pace and step count increased in accuracy substantially.  My pace pretty much flatlined from the rollercoaster it was before.  Not a great solution as it defeats the purpose of being able to use the watch to track on going data points.  Maybe next I will try just clipping it to my belt which would make it a little more accessible during the workout.