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How to get steps to count when biking??

I'm trying to maintain a goal of 10K steps every day. On some days, I prefer to end the day with a bike ride, rather than a walk, to get my final 2K-3K steps. I thought my Apple Watch 3 would automatically count each wheel rotation as a step based on the vibration or movement of my foot on the pedal but it doesn't. When I had a Fitbit, I could take it off my wrist & attach it to my shoe to get it to count biking rotations as steps, but I haven't tried that with my Apple Watch because it locks when I take it off my wrist and doesn't seem to be counting anything. I cannot alter or enter steps manually because the "Daily Challenge" apps, that I participate in, read the total steps automatically from my Health App to determine if I achieved a total of 10K each day. What is the best way to get my bike rides to count as steps towards my daily steps goal?

Posted on Aug 5, 2018 8:49 AM

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Posted on Aug 5, 2018 3:48 PM

There is probably an easier way but I think I found a work-around.

- I found my old Fitbit HR and charged it up

- then I downloaded an app called myFitnessSync and followed the directions to send steps from my Fitbit to my HealthApp

- then I took off my Apple Watch & put it away in a drawer to keep it from interfering in the syncing process

-then I strapped the Fitbit to my shoe & iPhone on my bike & went for a 1 hour bike ride (I left my Apple Watch at home)

- when I finished my ride, my HealthApp reflected steps recognized by my watch before my ride and “steps” recognized by my Fitbit during my ride. It added the totals together, so it worked! Kinda... the only complaint I would have is that I only got credit for the bumps or pedal taps on my ride, which probably equaled to about 1,000 lost “steps” but I guess it’s better than not getting any credit towards steps!!??

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Aug 5, 2018 3:48 PM in response to 10C2LIP

There is probably an easier way but I think I found a work-around.

- I found my old Fitbit HR and charged it up

- then I downloaded an app called myFitnessSync and followed the directions to send steps from my Fitbit to my HealthApp

- then I took off my Apple Watch & put it away in a drawer to keep it from interfering in the syncing process

-then I strapped the Fitbit to my shoe & iPhone on my bike & went for a 1 hour bike ride (I left my Apple Watch at home)

- when I finished my ride, my HealthApp reflected steps recognized by my watch before my ride and “steps” recognized by my Fitbit during my ride. It added the totals together, so it worked! Kinda... the only complaint I would have is that I only got credit for the bumps or pedal taps on my ride, which probably equaled to about 1,000 lost “steps” but I guess it’s better than not getting any credit towards steps!!??

Aug 5, 2018 3:26 PM in response to 10C2LIP

Unfortunately, since the Charge HR is a step based tracker, it cannot accurately track steps for non-step activities such as cycling, skating, swimming, etc. Because steps are counted based on arm movement (specifically the swinging of arms while walking/running) it's hard to track steps when your arm is more or less stationary on the bike handle. Because of this, your distance information will normally be incorrect as well.


Ultimately, you will get credit for any steps recorded during your bike ride, for example your 2500 steps. BUT that's simply what your Fitbit is able to detect from bumps and such. There is no calculation for steps based on the actual bike ride.


If steps are more important to you than heart rate, you may try attaching your Fitbit to your shoe/ankle instead of your wrist. That might be a little more accurate as far as counting each cycle as a step. Or if you're going to be cycling more than walking, you may also consider lowering your step goal. Then you would have to know that even though your Fitbit doesn't detect 10k steps, you're still getting an equivalent exercise. For example a typical day for me without any exercise or extra walking is about 4500 steps. If I were to factor in a 2 hour bike ride each day (with 2500 steps), I would make my step goal about 7500.

How to get steps to count when biking??

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