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Number of Daily Steps vs. Distance (for non-timed activities)

GailNestor
over 9 years ago
To see where I'm fining this data, go in Garmin Connect on a PC, click on the three parallel bars, select Steps, scroll down, then click Activities. I am using a 235 watch with 3.20 installed.

Today I ran 16 miles. It shows that coming out to 25,950 steps, burning 1,218 active calories, and the distance shows 16.02 miles.
Then I look at Daily Steps. The number of just steps I walk around outside of the run. Today it shows 3,356. This sounds about right based on past days activities and considering it is mid-afternoon.

However, it shows those 3,356 steps burned 508 active calories (almost half of what the 16-mile run burned) and the distance shows 7.83 miles. This is clearly wrong. Most days I walk around 6,000 total steps. It ends up being around 3 miles, give or take. I don't think there is any possible way this number of steps could amount to 7.83 miles! I did not turn off the activity tracker or make any adjustments to my watch. Right before my run, I just stared my timer and took off.

I have called Garmin about this a couple of times, but they sort of listen, but don't have any real insights or solutions. I would like to hear if anyone else is having this same issue. The main drawback for me right now is that I am trying to track calories in and out. I believe in this case, it is overstating the calories I burned while strolling around in the house.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    What do you mean with BMR ?


    BMR = Basal metabolic rate.

    It's the amount of calories your body burns by "just being alive", breathing, pumping blood, etc.

    I burn something like 1800 calories a day because of BMR alone. For daily (activity tracking) calories, it includes BMR for up to that point in the day. When you record a run or something, the calories shown for that, don't include the one from BMR.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    Ok I understood (Sorry I'm French, do not understand all the abreviations ....)

    But no .... those Caloris are the acive calories for the Steps and the biking activity .... I got 4078 calories without BMR... this is specified on the Burned Calories Tab ....

    It is really a false/double calculation of the Biking activiy .....
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    Today again very bad day ..... 57 kms of cycling and 10300 steps.....

    For the Cycling Acivity I get 57,8 kms and 1522 calories -> Ok

    For the 10300 steps I get 44,41km and 2550 active calories ! -> HA HA HA

    I was wondering if I shouldn't let the watch at home while cycling and only use strava or endomondo on the Phone ....... would be a pity, but do not know how to do other ....


    I think same thing and explanation is happening as above again and is probably a flaw in the FR235 software i.e. it sees 44.41/.8 "steps" when cycling but as you are not running it adds them as steps to the actual non-activity steps and calculates the calories for the apparent total at the burn rate of walking steps (@ about 37kcal/1000steps). I do not cycle nor use the 235 other than running activity and add non running activities through GC manually but that means the HRM function is not used in the calculation. If you could export from another app it may help in the short term if they fix the software.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    rubbish, rubbish, rubbish...

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/daily-summary/philippe.berini/2015-12-18/activities

    2h Tennis: 6959 steps, 824 act. cal., 5,60 Km (estimated by accelerometer)
    daily: 3875 steps, 955 act cal (!), 4,11 Km (again stride lenght over 1 m!)
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    Philippe, yours is treadmill running, not cycling...steps would be expected in the treadmill running activity (just like normal running) so they do not come up again outside of the activity which appears to happen in "cycling"

    It doesn't explain how you got those high calories in the non-activity bit though...perhaps there is something different about the "other" or "run indoor" activity that sees an elevated heart rate for several hours.....almost like it is allowing those calories related to treadmill be counted twice (the difference being the 130 odd calories for the 3800 non-activity steps). Just hypothesising here so maybe you can correlate other events in your case if that happens.

    Edit: I just looked at you past posts. Your calories outside of activities just don't make sense except the day you did 1900 steps for 55 calories which is about right. Something is screwed up but it doesn't appear to happen to me other than issues of related to delayed processing.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    I think same thing and explanation is happening as above again and is probably a flaw in the FR235 software i.e. it sees 44.41/.8 "steps" when cycling but as you are not running it adds them as steps to the actual non-activity steps and calculates the calories for the apparent total at the burn rate of walking steps (@ about 37kcal/1000steps). I do not cycle nor use the 235 other than running activity and add non running activities through GC manually but that means the HRM function is not used in the calculation. If you could export from another app it may help in the short term if they fix the software.



    I think you are right .... In a day when I'm doing Cycling AND Running, the problem is also there

    Yesterday
    - Cycling 23 kms, 762 Actives Calories -> Ok
    - Tredmill Running 5 kms, 499 Actives Calories 5464 Steps -> Ok
    - Steps 6,15 kms,955 Actives Calories 4954 Steps -> Calories not Ok

    Till Midnight, it was Ok, I didn't saw the Actives Calories on the steps, but I was seeing the steps Double (In the Running and the normal Steps)

    At midninght, it seems there is a calculation done which has reduced the Daily steps by the Running Steps, but in the Same time put the Cycling distance on the Daily Steps .....

    I will try with my next workout to use Strava Only with an HRM Chest and only import the Activity to Garmin ..... Lets see ....
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    I just rethought Philippes case. If you do indoor running then the gps is off but in cycling it is on and then it would appear as the distance and is converted to steps by the stride length and calories per step. I believe a similar issue exists in Phillipes case when he does activities which are not the "run"... but in the "indoor run" as the steps already exist in the activity it is picking up the calories of the activity again for those that are not running with gps. It appears all this doesn't happen if you use the FR235 in running with gps only but the other activity modes are an issue for GC
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    I just rethought Philippes case. If you do indoor running then the gps is off but in cycling it is on and then it would appear as the distance and is converted to steps by the stride length and calories per step. I believe a similar issue exists in Phillipes case when he does activities which are not the "run"... but in the "indoor run" as the steps already exist in the activity it is picking up the calories of the activity again for those that are not running with gps. It appears all this doesn't happen if you use the FR235 in running with gps only but the other activity modes are an issue for GC


    No, I'm seeing the issue also when doing gps outdoor runs. I had even strange calories and distance when no activities on certain days.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    No, I'm seeing the issue also when doing gps outdoor runs. I had even strange calories and distance when no activities on certain days.


    Do you have any days when it is all OK?

    I had a number of days of step processing gremlins over the last week or so. Some of them sorted themselves out but others times it did not go back to correct previous days.

    maybe on the next firmware update it will sort itself out.
  • 0 over 9 years ago
    Do you have any days when it is all OK?

    I had a number of days of step processing gremlins over the last week or so. Some of them sorted themselves out but others times it did not go back to correct previous days.

    maybe on the next firmware update it will sort itself out.


    Yeah some days are ok... see my posts above. Not sure if it's a FR235 issue. maybe rather a Connect problem?