The exercise tracking is a bit weird. I just got my Watch on Thursday. Friday I took it out for a 40 minute walk using the Workout app, because it told me I should do at least 20 minutes with the Watch and the iPhone, presumably to calibrate something. My heart rate was as high as the 140s and at least 100 for almost all that time. I got credit for only a few minutes of exercise. Sunday I wore it at the gym lifting weights for 35 minutes, using the Workout app set on Other. HR was lower, but the whole workout counted as exercise. I was happy that it did, but still not sure why the walk didn't count.
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Dear Tim/Apple: Fix 1.01 HR or watch going back! I've taken it off.
- Thread starter jbizzybeetle
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Be aware that because of the type of HR sensor, during a workout it may not be as accurate (workout defined as weight lifting). Because the HR sensor on the AW measure blood flow, when you work out by lifitng weights, your muscles contrict by simple nature of the fact you are lifitng weights. The constriction affects blood flow and will in turn affect the reading during the lift. In between sets, the sensor will properly measure your HR.
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My confusion continues. Yesterday I got credited two whole minutes of exercise for cleaning my kitchen! I went on a four hour uphill canyon hike last week and barely got credited that amount for exercise. This is insane. Granted, I was working hard scrubbing and tidying up, but this to me is still crazy!
My question would be were you scrubbing with the arm that had on the watch.
When I carry my daughter and we rock on the rocking chair, I get calories and steps for doing the activity, even though I am not really moving. I also had it give me calories once for moving my arm around a bunch. This weekend I used a jackhammer and it swore I walked 8.5 miles.....highly unlikely I did it in the 5 hours I was using the jackhammer. The constant motion likely fooled it.
I think the exercise tracking has less to do with HR and more to do with motion and the speed of such motion.
I did a little bit of scrubbing with that hand. But I'm left handed so most work was done with the left hand not wearing the Apple Watch.
If I understood correctly what I've been reading in this thread, cleaning the kitchen is the perfect exercise as far as the watch is concerned because I did a lot of scrubbing enough to get my heart rate up, but enough standing still (trying to figure out how to reorganize things) that it took snapshots of my heart rate more frequently.
Good, I've got a lot of cleaning to do this week. I hope I get that exercise ring moving!
Unfortunately I don't have time to go and exercise for the sake of exercising. (Though I hope to have some time for biking on some trails this summer and some kayaking and swimming). When I move around and am active I damn well also better be accomplishing a critical task at the same time. I'm taking care of my property, my cancer-recovering parents' property and am also going to be part of the landscape crew at my kids rural private school.
If all that hard work isn't exercise well then I guess it isn't and would explain my stomach pudge. But I was interested in setting activity goals because I don't want to end up disabled like my mom. My grandma warned me to never slow down or get sedentary because past a certain age it is almost impossible to get going again. Still if I've inherited the joint problems my mom has, and it looks like my knees have it, I may be doomed anyway. But I am going to fight for all I'm worth to stay active for as long as I can.
If I understood correctly what I've been reading in this thread, cleaning the kitchen is the perfect exercise as far as the watch is concerned because I did a lot of scrubbing enough to get my heart rate up, but enough standing still (trying to figure out how to reorganize things) that it took snapshots of my heart rate more frequently.
Good, I've got a lot of cleaning to do this week. I hope I get that exercise ring moving!
Unfortunately I don't have time to go and exercise for the sake of exercising. (Though I hope to have some time for biking on some trails this summer and some kayaking and swimming). When I move around and am active I damn well also better be accomplishing a critical task at the same time. I'm taking care of my property, my cancer-recovering parents' property and am also going to be part of the landscape crew at my kids rural private school.
If all that hard work isn't exercise well then I guess it isn't and would explain my stomach pudge. But I was interested in setting activity goals because I don't want to end up disabled like my mom. My grandma warned me to never slow down or get sedentary because past a certain age it is almost impossible to get going again. Still if I've inherited the joint problems my mom has, and it looks like my knees have it, I may be doomed anyway. But I am going to fight for all I'm worth to stay active for as long as I can.
I disagree with Apple changing a feature of the watch after people have bought, some buying it for that sole purpose, but honestly.......
It only takes heart rate every 10 minutes. For me that was high ly impractical while working out. I like to interval train. I can't wait 10 minutes for my next Apple watch reading to start running again or start my next set of plyo.
So Apple changing this feature isn't rwally a big deal for me. It's more practical for me manually ask for my heart rate.
And it checking for my resting heart rate is cool because that tells me if my workouts are actually working or not.
It only takes heart rate every 10 minutes. For me that was high ly impractical while working out. I like to interval train. I can't wait 10 minutes for my next Apple watch reading to start running again or start my next set of plyo.
So Apple changing this feature isn't rwally a big deal for me. It's more practical for me manually ask for my heart rate.
And it checking for my resting heart rate is cool because that tells me if my workouts are actually working or not.
I am a Apple fan but this another example of short sidedness. Apple should make it configuable and reminder the user of the effect the setve on the battery. As always Apple seldom side on user configuration. Big (Apple) Brother knows whats best for us... they say.
Well, I'm not so concerned about the accuracy, I'm more concerned about the way it counts exercise. It's obviously not based on hear rate. After reading something else on the topic, I think I'm going to try just using the Other category for walking. As far as I'm concerned I'm exercising and I want it to count so I can close the ring.
If you're working out via the workout app, your heart rate will still be monitored continuously. It's during every day living that it will attempt the every 10 minutes reading when you're at rest. This makes total sense to me and for the majority of users will be just fine.
I for one applaud the move. I turned off the damn HRM and activity levels.
I bought a Watch. Not some glorified health nut monitor.
I want time, weather, siri, and apps
I bought a Watch. Not some glorified health nut monitor.
I want time, weather, siri, and apps
Most people are finding a slight increase or decrease in battery life. So the change isn't helping there. There's talk of Apple's short-sightedness but that's rarely an issue that the company has. It would make more sense that this change is about actually planning for the future. Isn't it possible that this change is to prepare for the release of native third-party apps that use the sensors? Apple aren't stupid. Stubborn yes, but not stupid. They may have decided that the average person is fine with the new frequency of measurement; and the hardcore athletes and those with a specific interest, will satisfy their needs with a third party app or a change (e.g. configurable heart rate frequency) that they add after WWDC. I honestly do understand the disappointment (couldn't it just be toggled on/off) but I really think it's worth waiting till WWDC and for the new wave of apps because we could all be embarrassing ourselves here.
I'm sure there are more changes coming. Some of the changes will improve things, while others might make things worse. Things might improve for some people and get worse for other people, depending on what they want from the watch. In the meanwhile, I see nothing embarrassing about discussing current issues as they stand.
I used 'we' to be inclusive but I don't feel embarrassed by what I've said either. There's a few really over-the-top statements and assumptions being made is all. A handful of people have said things that may end up making them look silly later on. Apple discussions often bring that out.
I am also confused about how the exercise rings fill up with and without the workout mode. It's frustrating to me because I don't feel like the watch is consistent with itself. Burned calories vary wildly and therefore the ring isn't motivating to me because I don't really beleive the values it reports. If I believed it, it would be incredibly motivating to me.
