Accuracy on a treadmill

[dbregman]

I did an unscientific test today on a treadmill. I ran/walked - between 3mph and 6mph. The treadmill showed .5 miles, the band showed .45 miles. Not a bad variance for such a short distance. I imagine it would 'work itself out' on a longer run. I have used the band with GPS only once prior to this.

 

[eyecrispy]

I think it actually gets worse over a longer run. The last treadmill run I did a few days ago, I started out at 6mph for the first mile and it was nearly spot on. Then I started increasing my speed from 6.1mph to 6.5 and it said my second mile was like at a 11:30 pace! Way slower than I was actually running. Then I decreased it down to closer to 6mph and then even down to 5.5mph to see and it was no better. If you keep your speed consistent, it seems to be more accurate, but it doesn't adjust for speed variances well.

 

[Vcize]

It's entirely possible, even likely that the calorie count on your band was accurate.

Treadmill calorie counts notoriously overestimate, and by holding onto the handrail you're cutting the intensity of your workout by nearly half. Your band meanwhile is calculating the calories based on your heart rate, which is far more accurate in determining your calorie burn.

I hate to be the one to burst any bubbles, but if you run 0.5 miles on a treadmill while holding the handrails you are not simulating a 0.5 mile run or anything close to it. Factor that into your daily calorie counts appropriately and, unless it's a safety issue, let go of those handrails!

 

[Suriagiven1958]

Excellent job

 

[mtalinm]

It's entirely possible, even likely that the calorie count on your band was accurate.

not here. said i burned 500 kcal in a half hour on a treadmill. that's at least double reality.

 

[PandaCodeRed]

I got my band Saturday and I haven't even had the chance to calibrate it with GPS yet as it is too cold to run outside in Chicago right now. But I have done two 5k treadmill runs. Both were spot on in terms of distance and only 10 calorie difference from the treadmill machine. I am very happy with how it has been tracking my runs and my steps.

 

[mtalinm]

HR is way, way off. i was plodding along at 3mph and it had me up at 147. completely insane, that's double my resting. squeeze bars on the treadmill said 110, which seems closer to reality

 

[mtalinm]

well, I take this back. just did a 50-minute bike ride with the Band on my wrist and a Garmin heartrate strap on my chest. latter was average of 148, former was 150. very close.

 

[mtalinm]

also, Band did not register steps while i was biking, nice. my phone (Icon SensorCore) does

 

[willgill]

But I have done two 5k treadmill runs. Both were spot on in terms of distance and only 10 calorie difference from the treadmill machine.

Wow, that is impressive! Frankly, I haven't tried using the Run function on the treadmill thinking it would be too far off to be usable. Prior to the Microsoft Band, I was using the Garmin 310XT GPS watch with chest strap and foot pod. The Garmin system worked really well, but I always fiddled with the strap. It always slipped down.

I'll give the treadmill run a shot with GPS off. Now if I could only get the HRM to be accurate.

 

[Chris_Kez]

... I started increasing my speed from 6.1mph to 6.5 and it said my second mile was like at a 11:30 pace! Way slower than I was actually running.

Perhaps it's confused by the change in stride length? As you ran faster you may have lengthened your stride, which could make the Band underestimate your speed. When running outside with GPS the Band may be able to correct for this.

 

[kenjancef]

I took my Band on its first treadmill run a few hours ago... Ugh....

So I used the Run mode, and made sure I turned off the GPS, but I didn't realize until about .3 miles into my run that it was waiting for confirmation from me to actually turn off the GPS... Not a great design move...

So ok, I lose .3 miles of my run, no big deal. So as I run I get the vibration for the first mile... and it gives me a 10:24 pace, when I actually run at about 8:30 pace. So I figure, I'll let it go and see what happens. So after my 3 mile run, I look at the Band, and it had measured only 2.15 miles! I would think that if I started .3 miles late, according to the treadmill, my run should have been approximately 2.7 miles, right???

I wore the Band on my left wrist, display on TOP of my wrist, and my arms were swinging as they would while running. Every .5 miles I would increase speed from 7.0 to 7.2, then back to 7.0, but I wouldn't think it would be that much of a change to throw it off that much... Right???

So then here is my question: why can't a run be edited???? Or am I missing something??

 

[Nate Silver]

Well, I can't verify whether or not this is true, but I've read that you should be sure to do some walking and running outside with the gps on, because that is how the band calibrates your stride length. Don't know, but it might be worth a try. That, and I'm never really sure how accurately my treadmill measures distances, but I would think that it couldn't be much more than an estimation. I know some treadmills have a calibration procedure, but how do you actually test them for accuracy?

Edit: Sorry, missed the question, and its a good one. There is no ability to edit, or even add a comment to an activity!

 

[SkepticalSwede]

A couple of things to keep in mind when running on a Treadmill.
The band is not magic.
You can't hold on to handlebar, it measures steps by movements.
When running on a treadmill, it uses your steps to estimate distance with the help of stride length.

If you haven't calibrated the band by taking a run outside with GPS on, then it doesn't know your stride length and then the bands accuracy on distance (and speed) it depends on how close your stride is to the default on the band. Even after calibrating the band you might find that it still not accurate on a treadmill, since it will have a stride length for you, but you are probably not always using the same stride when you are running. When I slow down, I take shorter steps, and when I speed up I take longer steps.

Even after calibrating my band, its still not very accurate on the treadmill since I take shorter steps on the treadmill then when I did my GPS.

I'm considering to just use the Exercise mode when running on the treadmill, it will get me the data that it can measure somewhat accurately, pulse and calories. Maybe just use the 'name exercise' to keep track of the distance.

It would be nice to be able to edit the distance on the run exercise since I trust the distance from the treadmill much more than the one I get from the band. The minor problem would then be that splits would be of.

 

[kenjancef]

I'm not worried too much about splits, I just like accuracy. If it's off by 0.1 miles, that's fine, but when it's off by about a half mile, that's a bit too much. But also, the ability to edit the run in the app WOULD REALLY HELP!! (not like MS is listening...)

 

[RichardAZ]

I have run multiple times on my home treadmill. Sometimes there information on the band is accurate. Sometimes is too short and sometimes the band is too long. Maybe I swing my arms more or less sometimes? Last night it was 3.0 miles on the band, but 2.4 miles on the treadmill. Ugh, a bit of a pain that its not accurate

P.S., I run plenty outside with the GPS on, so my stride length measurement should be accurate.

 

[realwarder]

I have run multiple times on my home treadmill. Sometimes there information on the band is accurate. Sometimes is too short and sometimes the band is too long. Maybe I swing my arms more or less sometimes? Last night it was 3.0 miles on the band, but 2.4 miles on the treadmill. Ugh, a bit of a pain that its not accurate

P.S., I run plenty outside with the GPS on, so my stride length measurement should be accurate.

Isn't stride based on speed a bit. On a treadmill you may have variable or different speeds so a fixed stride wouldn't work all the time. Distance will be off but calories (based from HR) should be accurate.

 

[willgill]

Isn't stride based on speed a bit. On a treadmill you may have variable or different speeds so a fixed stride wouldn't work all the time. Distance will be off but calories (based from HR) should be accurate.

Stride does tend to lengthen with speed. Also, your arm swing gets a little longer and faster with your foot speed. Frankly, I'm surprised by the accuracy. My Garmin 310XT GPS watch needs the aid of an ANT+ foot pod to be accurate.

 

[mkg3]

......If you haven't calibrated the band by taking a run outside with GPS on, then it doesn't know your stride length and then the bands accuracy on distance (and speed) it depends on how close your stride is to the default on the band.......

It would be nice to be able to edit the distance on the run exercise since I trust the distance from the treadmill much more than the one I get from the band. The minor problem would then be that splits would be of.

Is this true that Band has logic in is OS to "calibrate" to individuals??? If that's the case, why isn't there a calibration setup in the settings?

Yes it would be nice to have a manual override to correct the distance and store that data to be used in the future.

I don't run very often (simply don't like it) but I did run couple of miles on the treadmill earlier this week at 10min/mile pace (6 mph). The band indicated that I'd reached a mile in 9.19 instead of 10 minutes. However, when I have ran on a track (local HS stadium), my same pace got me through 4 laps in less than 10 minutes, which - I realize there are too many variables and not at all scientific measurement - made me think that the treadmill may not be all that accurate either.

So, if there really is a calibration of Band, I'll go and rerun the track to see if that's true...

 

[DroidUser42]

made me think that the treadmill may not be all that accurate either.

Seems like it would be fairly easy to measure the accuracy of a treadmill. Just use this and a stop watch.