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Resolved 35 minute workout only counting as 20 mins???

dictoresno

dictoresno

macrumors 601
Original poster
Apr 30, 2012
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NJ
Just went for a 35 minute walk to try to reach my 30 minute goal for the day. The app shows I did a complete 35 minute walk/1.79 miles however my exercise ring is only counting it as 20/30 minutes. Am I missing something here? Happened to me last night too when I had did 60 minutes of walking (two 30 minute walks) but they only totaled to 56 minutes. Wth???

Last night I had the heart rate sensor turn on for exercises, today I had it turned off but it doesn't seem to effect the time issue I'm having.

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There is a threshold at which the heart rate must reach or pass before it starts to count it as exercise. In the above screen shot there is no average HR so your watch might have not recorded your HR.

I have had this HR problem many times. It is disheartening to be working out like crazy and see your HR is --!
 
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Wow so a leisure walk could not count as exercise if my heart rate doesn't get above a certain threshold? Screw that. So how am I supposed to know how far/long I need to go for it to register?
 
Heart rate not elevated. I have swung my arms walking and have walked a little faster and i hit it now with no problem. Just a regular stroll is not going to do it unfortunately.
 
menace3 said:
Heart rate not elevated. I have swung my arms walking and have walked a little faster and i hit it now with no problem. Just a regular stroll is not going to do it unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Well it seems that turning the HR sensor off doesn't have a huge effect (still got 20/35 mins) but enough to kill an exercise in half. I guess I'll have no choice but turning it back on.
 
Newtons Apple said:
There is a threshold at which the heart rate must reach or pass before it starts to count it as exercise. In the above screen shot there is no average HR so your watch might have not recorded your HR.

I have had this HR problem many times. It is disheartening to be working out like crazy and see your HR is --!
Click to expand...
dictoresno said:
Does anyone know what the rate is supposed to be for it to register?
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with heart rate. It has to do with speed. A minute will only register if you average 3.3mph the entire minute. If you drop below 3.3mph even for 3 seconds, the minute does not count.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
It has nothing to do with heart rate. It has to do with speed. A minute will only register if you average 3.3mph the entire minute. If you drop below 3.3mph even for 5 seconds, the minute does not count.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Is this listed in the manual? This makes more sense as there were times in last nights exercise I had to pause. But today's exercise? No way. I didn't stop at all and kept it moving.
 
dictoresno said:
Interesting. Is this listed in the manual? This makes more sense as there were times in last nights exercise I had to pause. But today's exercise? No way. I didn't stop at all and kept it moving.
Click to expand...

I haven't found it listed but Apple says it will only count if its a brisk walk and Apple Support has told me that 3.3mph is considered a brisk walk.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
I haven't found it listed but Apple says it will only count if its a brisk walk and Apple Support has told me that 3.3mph is considered a brisk walk.
Click to expand...

Found this from imore.com

"The green ring in the Activity app represents Exercise. A lot of people remain confused about what exactly it's measuring and what you have to do to meet that goal, so here's the deal: Apple defines exercise as any activity you perform that is the equivalent of a brisk walk or more. To determine exercise, your Apple Watch looks at your heart rate and movement data. That means that things you do on a regular basis like getting up and walking around your office or taking your dog for a walk probably won't raise your heart rate enough for the Apple Watch to deem it as exercise.

The exercise metric is meant to encourage you to do more, not simply track the things you do every day. If you find the green ring isn't moving along as much as you'd like, try something that requires a little more effort and really gets your heart pumping. As with anything, what the Apple Watch considers as exercise will vary from person to person. Someone who isn't very active will earn exercise for doing things out of the ordinary like going on a long walk. Someone who regularly walks and hits 12,000 steps a day will need to do more than that. Your Apple Watch learns your habits quickly and will want you to push yourself to earn anything extra."
 
dictoresno said:
Does anyone know what the rate is supposed to be for it to register?
Click to expand...

Heart rate is just one of many factors that Apple Watch uses to measure your activity and exercise. Age, weight, all of that is a part of it. It's different for everyone and there is not one answer.

If I do a brisk walk workout and the watch isn't tight enough on my wrist, I consistently get 170+ BPM. This goes away for me (down to 120-135 BPM) when I move the watch up towards my forearm a bit and tighten it up. Unfortunately for me, the sport watch band is either a little too tight or a little too loose. So when wanting accurate heart rate, I have to live with slightly too tight.
 
dictoresno said:
Found this from imore.com

"The green ring in the Activity app represents Exercise. A lot of people remain confused about what exactly it's measuring and what you have to do to meet that goal, so here's the deal: Apple defines exercise as any activity you perform that is the equivalent of a brisk walk or more. To determine exercise, your Apple Watch looks at your heart rate and movement data. That means that things you do on a regular basis like getting up and walking around your office or taking your dog for a walk probably won't raise your heart rate enough for the Apple Watch to deem it as exercise.

The exercise metric is meant to encourage you to do more, not simply track the things you do every day. If you find the green ring isn't moving along as much as you'd like, try something that requires a little more effort and really gets your heart pumping. As with anything, what the Apple Watch considers as exercise will vary from person to person. Someone who isn't very active will earn exercise for doing things out of the ordinary like going on a long walk. Someone who regularly walks and hits 12,000 steps a day will need to do more than that. Your Apple Watch learns your habits quickly and will want you to push yourself to earn anything extra."
Click to expand...

Yeah and it mentions the brisk walk. It doesn't use your heart rate as much as imore.com is claiming though. Because you can fill the exercise ring without running a workout and when you are not running a workout, your heart rate is not being tracked. Only one reading every 5 minutes. Hardly enough to tell if you are exercising or not.
 
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My problem is the AW does not dependably keep my HR. I can move it up and down and tighten and it will still show -- for a heart rate even when doing a recorded exercise. This has plagued me on all three of my Apple Watches!
 
dictoresno said:
Wow so a leisure walk could not count as exercise if my heart rate doesn't get above a certain threshold? Screw that. So how am I supposed to know how far/long I need to go for it to register?
Click to expand...
FYI a leisurely walk is........well leisure. It is good for your health but is NOT cardio exercise. You need to have a HR of about 70% of your MHR in order to be doing any degree of cardio exercise. Simple way to get a rough idea of were you should be is 220-age x 0.70. This will give you a minimum starting point to keep your HR above so your are doing cardio.
 
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This happens to me all the time. I run for 60+ minutes every other day using the Workout App on my Watch. The exercise minutes always matches my run time.

If I go for a "brisk" walk, I might see only 5-10 minutes of exercise activity. My wife, who is not a runner, will walk along with me and she will get the full exercise time listed for the same distance and pace.

It is definitely related to how much activity you normally do with your Watch, as well as the HR and pace. The more you workout, the more you will have to do to get the exercise minutes, unless you are always running. :D
 
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