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Exercise ring/minutes is whacked

maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
Original poster
May 3, 2009
73,682
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This is typical, so yesterday, I get up, feed the dog, make breakfast for my kids and low and behold I have like 5 minutes of exercise even though I didn't do anything.

I go out a bit later and I rake my backyard (as its blanketed with leaves, branches and even limbs). Yet my watch showed no improvement - WTF! When I'm lazy and inactive, the minutes are creeping up, but when I'm actually working it does nothing.
 
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Unfortunately not a new issue. I've had problems with the exercise ring since series 0. I have resorted to using the 'other' workout on days that I don't run to make sure I get credit for my 30.

I can speed walk through the mall and get credit for 1 or 2 minutes, yet walking from the car to the mall door gives me 1-2 minutes with NO exercise activity chosen.

Whoever programs/programmed the exercise ring needs to be replaced.
 
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maflynn said:
This is typical, so yesterday, I get up, feed the dog, make breakfast for my kids and low and behold I have like 5 minutes of exercise even though I didn't do anything.

I go out a bit later and I rake my backyard (as its blanketed with leaves, branches and even limbs). Yet my watch showed no improvement - WTF! When I'm lazy and inactive, the minutes are creeping up, but when I'm actually working it does nothing.
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As I understand it the watch measures the exercise for the ring by looking for an increase in heart rate to above a certain threshold. It doesn't know what you are doing unless you tell it. Check your heart rate history to see if this corresponds to when you added to the exercise ring.
 
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Tommo66 said:
As I understand it the watch measures the exercise for the ring by looking for an increase in heart rate to above a certain threshold. It doesn't know what you are doing unless you tell it. Check your heart rate history to see if this corresponds to when you added to the exercise ring.
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That's my point, making breakfast is not more impactful on the heart then raking. I was not working up a sweat pouring dog food, but I was raking.
 
I’ve been thinking of starting a similar thread for the past week or so. I referee basketball and the season is underway. Last year I noticed a change, and now it seems even more defined.

Here’s an example.

Saturday, I had 3 games. Games consist of 4, 8 minute quarters. 32 minutes total. So I had 96 minutes of game time, and each game lasted a little over 1 hour from start to finish. I left the gym with 18 minutes of exercise on my watch.

Granted I’m not running full tilt the entire time, but certainly I had an elevated heart rate for more than 18 minutes during the 3.5 hours I was out there.
 
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Movement is also part of the equation. If you're doing an activity that gets the heart rate up, but there is very little moving around, it won't pick it up. This includes things like raking or shoveling snow. For those things, start an Other workout. That will get you your exercise credit.

Beyond that, yes, sometimes it makes no sense at all. I've received lots of exercise when I'm going to the fridge for a snack or the bathroom. Yet I can go out for a walk, do a brisk walk, and not get all the minutes I think I'm due. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense.
 
I normally do around a 40 minute walk, which involves walking up and and down a bridge over an interstate three times. I've never had a problem closing my exercise ring until the start of this month. Today, because my December Challenge is to double my Move Goal 4 times, I decided to add an extra 25 minutes to my walk (not on the bridge). When I got back home, I discovered my Exercise Ring wasn't closed and was sitting at 29 minutes. This despite the fact that my total walking time was 1 hour 7 minutes! I tried to trigger the last minute by an indoor walk, but it seems I couldn't get my heart rate high enough. I had to actually go back out and walk to close my ring.

This is a bloody joke.
 
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Hmmm, Duncan...could something have happened to our watches? Mine has been haywire for over a week, doing the same thing as yours. We walk 5 miles a day, and it takes about 1.25 to 1.5 hrs to do it. Until last week, I’ve gotten credit for the full time walked, but no longer. I was about to make a post about this too.

I was blaming mine on new blood pressure meds, as this coincided with having gone from one low dose to a cocktail of 3, one of which has a side effect of lowering heart rate. I can no longer get over 100 bpm even tho perceived exertion is the same as before. As resting heart rate is lower too, I thought the watch would catch on and adjust, but that hasn’t happened. Maybe it’s not that at all! I’ve worked out for decades and have never needed to lose weight, but am a slave to those rings and this is bumming me out.
 
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Duncan68 said:
I normally do around a 40 minute walk, which involves walking up and and down a bridge over an interstate three times. I've never had a problem closing my exercise ring until the start of this month. Today, because my December Challenge is to double my Move Goal 4 times, I decided to add an extra 25 minutes to my walk (not on the bridge). When I got back home, I discovered my Exercise Ring wasn't closed and was sitting at 29 minutes. This despite the fact that my total walking time was 1 hour 7 minutes! I tried to trigger the last minute by an indoor walk, but it seems I couldn't get my heart rate high enough. I had to actually go back out and walk to close my ring.

This is a bloody joke.
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Are you starting a walking workout at the beginning of your walk? Are you walking fast enough?
 
StumpyBloke said:
Are you starting a walking workout at the beginning of your walk? Are you walking fast enough?
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Yes, I always start a workout. This may be a combination of things, a new month and the watch is increasing "difficulty", I"m steadily losing weight which may affect how much exertion I have to do for the same result and maybe something else. I remember somebody posted a while back having to workout a lot harder than when they first started.

Also, I've trained myself on a bridge where I am going uphill half the time. Walking on flat ground may not tax me as much.
 
It could be that you weren't exerting yourself sufficiently. Or it could have been a temporary glitch (restart the Watch). I'd been ignoring Trends until very recently. I'm finding Trends gives additional insight into just what our Watches expect of us.
 
Even with the built-in "walk" complication running, when I go with my family, I get almost no credit. Once the kids and dog are back home, my wife and I pick up the pace, and get credit for most of what we do.
 
revmacian said:
I stopped worrying about those silly rings. Your body will show your diet and exercise habits regardless of what is "written down". I'd like to turn those rings off completely.
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I wish I could remove the stand ring all together. Yesterday I was in the kitchen making Christmas cookies. I was standing for several hours. My stand ring never registered it.
 
Rogifan said:
I wish I could remove the stand ring all together. Yesterday I was in the kitchen making Christmas cookies. I was standing for several hours. My stand ring never registered it.
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I know, right? The rings cannot be trusted to always present the facts, which means they shouldn't be trusted as the sole source of activity data.
 
Duncan68 said:
I normally do around a 40 minute walk, which involves walking up and and down a bridge over an interstate three times. I've never had a problem closing my exercise ring until the start of this month. Today, because my December Challenge is to double my Move Goal 4 times, I decided to add an extra 25 minutes to my walk (not on the bridge). When I got back home, I discovered my Exercise Ring wasn't closed and was sitting at 29 minutes. This despite the fact that my total walking time was 1 hour 7 minutes! I tried to trigger the last minute by an indoor walk, but it seems I couldn't get my heart rate high enough. I had to actually go back out and walk to close my ring.

This is a bloody joke.
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Start a yoga workout and enjoy your tv show and a beer ;)
 
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I just gave up and started using 'other' until I received credit for the 30 minutes.

This months challenge is focussed on miles. It wants me to go 5.8 miles a day. Guess I'm not getting the achievement this month...
 
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