Incorrect Exercise / Activity Data

[jimgreene]

Data from wife's exercise today, Indoor cycling (spinning). Digifit app and Apple Watch started simultaneously prior to exercise activity.
Apple Watch set to "Indoor Cycle"

Digifit Results:
Exercise Time: 1:06:05
BPM Avg: 147
BPM Max: 162
Calories: 670

Apple Watch Results:
Total Calories (8:00 am to 6:30 pm): 378 (no way, she had 670 during the 1:06:05 of exercise)
Exercise Time: 43 minutes
Exercise Calories: 239
Dashboard Min Heart Rate: 41 BPM (not likely)
Dashboard Max Heart Rate: 234 BPM (not likely)

1. Why does the Apple Watch register 23 minutes less exercise?
2. Why does the Apple Watch register 431 less calories for the exercise activity?
3. Need a readout that shows BPM Avg and BPM Max for exercise period.
4. Why doesn't Apple acknowledge there is an issue with the Activity / Exercise app and at least say they are addressing the issue?

All this despite carrying her iPhone, despite wearing the watch tightly, despite choosing the correct workout type, despite wearing the watch regularly.

 

[chrismac2]

Data from wife's exercise today, Indoor cycling (spinning). Digifit app and Apple Watch started simultaneously prior to exercise activity.
Apple Watch set to "Indoor Cycle"

Digifit Results:
Exercise Time: 1:06:05
BPM Avg: 147
BPM Max: 162
Calories: 670

Apple Watch Results:
Total Calories (8:00 am to 6:30 pm): 378 (no way, she had 670 during the 1:06:05 of exercise)
Exercise Time: 43 minutes
Exercise Calories: 239
Dashboard Min Heart Rate: 41 BPM (not likely)
Dashboard Max Heart Rate: 234 BPM (not likely)

1. Why does the Apple Watch register 23 minutes less exercise?
2. Why does the Apple Watch register 431 less calories for the exercise activity?
3. Need a readout that shows BPM Avg and BPM Max for exercise period.
4. Why doesn't Apple acknowledge there is an issue with the Activity / Exercise app and at least say they are addressing the issue?

All this despite carrying her iPhone, despite wearing the watch tightly, despite choosing the correct workout type, despite wearing the watch regularly.

I think if you're getting inaccurate heartrate measurements, then your calories burned is going to necessarily be off. I believe the watch only counts exercise minutes when your heartrate is over a certain amount.

Also I would make sure that her sex, height, and weight, are accurate in the Apple Watch app on the phone.----But again, the wild heartrate measurements are a red flag to me. Sorry you're seeing these issues, perhaps a call to Apple is in order.

The watch has only been out for a couple weeks--I wouldn't expect them to be announcing a major issue with Activity tracking until they've actually gathered details/evidence on the problem.

They've publicized the lengths they went through with testing the watch as a fitness tracker, so I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they've done their research.

Good luck! Hope things get straightened out.

 

[arsook]

apple watch calories are way off for both resting calories and exercise

I have used the fitbit, digifit app, and polar heart rate monitor to track my calories for several years. I was so hopeful about the apple watch fitness tracker. The heart rate seems right on but the calorie counts are so far off it not funny.
It gives me 2700 for resting calories mine should be at most 1600. It gives me at most 130 calories for a spinning class that digifit gives me 400.

I am very disappointed in apple. I hope they fix the calorie count on this watch because it makes the tracker useless.

 

[Armen]

Data from wife's exercise today, Indoor cycling (spinning). Digifit app and Apple Watch started simultaneously prior to exercise activity.
Apple Watch set to "Indoor Cycle"

Digifit Results:
Exercise Time: 1:06:05
BPM Avg: 147
BPM Max: 162
Calories: 670

Apple Watch Results:
Total Calories (8:00 am to 6:30 pm): 378 (no way, she had 670 during the 1:06:05 of exercise)
Exercise Time: 43 minutes
Exercise Calories: 239
Dashboard Min Heart Rate: 41 BPM (not likely)
Dashboard Max Heart Rate: 234 BPM (not likely)

1. Why does the Apple Watch register 23 minutes less exercise?
2. Why does the Apple Watch register 431 less calories for the exercise activity?
3. Need a readout that shows BPM Avg and BPM Max for exercise period.
4. Why doesn't Apple acknowledge there is an issue with the Activity / Exercise app and at least say they are addressing the issue?

All this despite carrying her iPhone, despite wearing the watch tightly, despite choosing the correct workout type, despite wearing the watch regularly.

She's wearing the watch too far down her hand. Have her move it at least 2 inches up from her hand.

once the proper heart rate readings come in the calories and exercise will reflect properly.

 

[Julien]

...Digifit Results:
...
BPM Avg: 147
BPM Max: 162
...

Apple Watch Results:
...
Exercise Calories: 239
Dashboard Min Heart Rate: 41 BPM (not likely)
Dashboard Max Heart Rate: 234 BPM (not likely)....

Looks like the main problem is the inaccurate HR reading. It looks like she has the Watch too loose. When exercising tighten it up to snug and move up on the wrist slightly.

EDIT: I see Armen beat me to it.

 

[arsook]

Looks like the main problem is the inaccurate HR reading. It looks like she has the Watch too loose. When exercising tighten it up to snug and move up on the wrist slightly.

EDIT: I see Armen beat me to it.

Even when my watch is connected via blue tooth to my HRM the calories are ridiculously off.

 

[Julien]

Even when my watch is connected via blue tooth to my HRM the calories are ridiculously off.

One thing that is different are the algorithms. There is no exact way to measure and every device will give a different results.

Also Apple is only showing exercise calories and all other fitness trackers that I have used include metabolic calories too.

Just to be sure you do have your personal info set correctly?

Apple is new to the game and rather than licensing algorithms form a compony like Firstbeat they have chosen to develop in house. They will get more accurate as the database grows.

For me I rely on my Garmin 620 as my 'official' run/cardio/biking recorder and my Watch as my general fitness health tracker.

 

[arsook]

One thing that is different are the algorithms. There is no exact way to measure and every device will give a different results.

Also Apple is only showing exercise calories and all other fitness trackers that I have used include metabolic calories too.

Just to be sure you do have your personal info set correctly?

Apple is new to the game and rather than licensing algorithms form a compony like Firstbeat they have chosen to develop in house. They will get more accurate as the database grows.

For me I rely on my Garmin 620 as my 'official' run/cardio/biking recorder and my Watch as my general fitness health tracker.

Yes, unfortunately everything in my personal info is set correctly. I am fairly tech savvy and run an online business. I will simply be patient for apple to rectify its algorithms and for now I will patch together other ways to measure my calories.

 

[acosmichippo]

When you guys workout, do you initiate a workout in the workout app? This triggers more accurate and frequent heart rate monitoring. Without it, apple watch will only be taking less accurate readings once every 10 minutes. This really is 100% necessary for accurate exercise readings.

Regarding resting calories, I agree they are WAY too high for me and everyone else I've seen.

 

[IMissJobs]

Just used the watch in an active spin class

I bought the Applewatch to track my spin classes. i have a fitbit,but since it doesn't track spinning I stopped wearing it. I just got my watch yesterday, had my appointment with apple today, thought i set everything correctly and it just didn't work for me. I ride at a place called SoulCycle in NYC and believe me this workout is NOT for the faint of heart. But unfort. I was shown that I only burned 170 active calories for 50 minutes of constant spinning!!!

Most burn from 550-750 C in 1 50 minute workouts..,with weights as well.

I was told that it wasn't nec. to ride with my iphone...I set my fitness app to indoor cycling...started it when the class started, but sadly was disappointed. I know Apple spent a lot of money and time in their fitness lab so I'm sure it works, but would love to know the key to having it work correctly. Any help anyone can give would be appreciated. Meanwhile I am gonna call Apple tomorrow. This was the main reason I bought this watch!

 

[acosmichippo]

I bought the Applewatch to track my spin classes. i have a fitbit,but since it doesn't track spinning I stopped wearing it. I just got my watch yesterday, had my appointment with apple today, thought i set everything correctly and it just didn't work for me. I ride at a place called SoulCycle in NYC and believe me this workout is NOT for the faint of heart. But unfort. I was shown that I only burned 170 active calories for 50 minutes of constant spinning!!!

Most burn from 550-750 C in 1 50 minute workouts..,with weights as well.

I was told that it wasn't nec. to ride with my iphone...I set my fitness app to indoor cycling...started it when the class started, but sadly was disappointed. I know Apple spent a lot of money and time in their fitness lab so I'm sure it works, but would love to know the key to having it work correctly. Any help anyone can give would be appreciated. Meanwhile I am gonna call Apple tomorrow. This was the main reason I bought this watch!

I think the key is getting accurate heart rate readings. If you view your heart rate data in the health app on your iPhone during the time of your workout, what does it look like? sounds like it's either missing some readings completely, or reading too low. If that is the case, make sure you have the band on snugly, and if you do, try moving it farther up your arm (closer to your elbow). you may have to loosen the band a bit to move it far enough up.

 

[grenhall]

Has anyone successfully put in their workouts from a third party app, like Runkeeper, and get credited with the workouts in the Activity app?

 

[LIOC]

Has anyone successfully put in their workouts from a third party app, like Runkeeper, and get credited with the workouts in the Activity app?

I get credit using Nike Plus running, but it will not record your HR unless you start a run w/ workout app as well. Not only will it not record your continuous HR, but it will stop recording your HR in the normal 10 min interval if you are using Nike+ and have not started the workout app as well.

 

[grenhall]

I get credit using Nike Plus running, but it will not record your HR unless you start a run w/ workout app as well. Not only will it not record your continuous HR, but it will stop recording your HR in the normal 10 min interval if you are using Nike+ and have not started the workout app as well.

But you're using the Nike Plus on the watch then right?

I had to put my watch to charge yesterday when I headed out to the gym. But Runkeeper doesn't seem to want to sync to health so I added the calories from my "normal" heart rate monitor and heart rate as well. Didn't work.

 

[maconut]

Data seems accurate for elliptical

For my first workout with the watch (this morning), I did an elliptical workout for 25 minutes. I used the watch/Workout app, and the heart rate strap that works with the elliptical. I checked my heart rate 4 times and the treadmill and watch were within a couple of beats of each other, and usually the same. The calorie burn at the end was ten calories lower on the watch than on the elliptical. That's close enough for me, since I'm not in training. I'm just trying to move more and get regular exercise.

I started with 100% battery and finished with 97% battery.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

There's been a lot of good points about ensuring you're in workout mode and wearing the watch correctly so it can accurately read your heart rate, but I thought I would also throw this out there too: perhaps other fitness trackers have continually erred on the high side. Think about it. If I by a fitness tracker (Brand X) and it says that I burn a fair amount of calories, the higher that number the better I will psychologically feel...which means I will subconsciously like that product. I'm not saying that fitness trackers put up ridiculously high numbers, but think about it from a marketing standpoint. I think most of the fitness tracking market has slowly edged their numbers up over time...

 

[LIOC]

But you're using the Nike Plus on the watch then right?

I had to put my watch to charge yesterday when I headed out to the gym. But Runkeeper doesn't seem to want to sync to health so I added the calories from my "normal" heart rate monitor and heart rate as well. Didn't work.

Yes, I'm using Nike plus on the watch. I think even though it is not recording my HR it is monitoring it. The only way I have seen anyone getting credit for an activity is if the watch deems your HR to be high enough for what is considers exercise.

 

[arsook]

There's been a lot of good points about ensuring you're in workout mode and wearing the watch correctly so it can accurately read your heart rate, but I thought I would also throw this out there too: perhaps other fitness trackers have continually erred on the high side. Think about it. If I by a fitness tracker (Brand X) and it says that I burn a fair amount of calories, the higher that number the better I will psychologically feel...which means I will subconsciously like that product. I'm not saying that fitness trackers put up ridiculously high numbers, but think about it from a marketing standpoint. I think most of the fitness tracking market has slowly edged their numbers up over time...

Unfortunately, the numbers on the resting calories are 1200 more than the norm. (compared to fitbit, my fitness pal and yes a dunking test I took) and so the calibrated low calories for the exercise are on the ridiculous side. And taken together (exercise and resting) the calories for the day come out so high as to render looking at them useless.

And yes I know how to use the apple watch correctly. We simply have to wait for a fix or return the watch.

 

[acosmichippo]

well i think we are conflating issues. I think pretty much everyone agrees resting calories are way, way too high.

But I do see a lot of people thinking that apple watch is under reporting active calories - it's those people I think Bryan was commenting to.

 

[lch6257]

I have used the workout app for two days now. My Tues workouts consist of an intense 25 mins of weightlifting where the focus is heavy and high reps of squats, declined abs on a bench, chest press, lots of shoulders and curls, dead lifts, etc. I used other and got a whopping 167 calls in 25 mins of intense lifts. Then I took a 1 mile walk and racked up another 100 cals burned. Based on the weightlifting activity, I would say the number is low. I can feel the burn so that is fine no matter what the watch tells me. However, day 2, I did a 14 mile cycle burn on my road bike and this time, I snugged up the watch. I got 495 cals in 48 mins of hills and mixed flats. I would say that is dead on accurate. So, my experience thus far is that it is off for "other" type of activity but when worn snug and allowed to measure your heart rate accurately, I found it to be right on the money of what i expect for a cardiovascular burn. YMMV...for me so far so good. I like it, it motivates just the right amount. I will ad that the taps even on prominent are barely noticed in the throws of peddling hard up a tough hill, but to be expected. I can see room for improvement, but overall I see they made a strong first effort at fitness tracking and I am happy with it.

 

[arsook]

well i think we are conflating issues. I think pretty much everyone agrees resting calories are way, way too high.

But I do see a lot of people thinking that apple watch is under reporting active calories - it's those people I think Bryan was commenting to.

Please everyone should go to https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html

to report these issues. I spoke to apple technical support today, opened up a case, and was told that the more people report this the more likely the next new software update will fix it.

 

[sterno74]

Resting Calories

So here's a couple workouts that I've done:

Cycling 1 - 278 active calories, 79 resting calories, duration 38:41
Cycling 2 - 590 active calories, 149 resting calories, duration 1:13:48
Cycling 3 - 782 active calories, 225 resting calories, duration 1:50:28

So now to compare those numbers against calculators that estimate calories:
Cycling 1 - Apple: 357. Calculator: 368 (3% difference)
Cycling 2 - Apple: 739. Calculator: 698 (6% difference)
Cycling 3 - Apple: 1007. Calculator: 1038 (3% difference)

So that seems pretty consistent. Apple tends to return a little lower overall total calorie burn but it's within a few percent of the totals I get elsewhere. Also the app I'd previously used for calculating calorie burn when cycling is consistent with the online calculators (i.e. it's combining active and resting calories).

The calculation seems to have me burning about 2.05 calories per minute at rest which would mean I'd burn 2952 calories/day. Looking at the move section of the activity app, I see it's showing an average resting burn rate of around 2900 calories/day. When I go online to find a calorie burn calculator that incorporates an estimation of activity level, it matches quite well. So here you can see your BMR if you don't move at all, and how it is affected by your level of activity: http://www.bmrcalculator.org/

So for me, the base BMR came back as 1862/day. That number means what my calorie burn would be if I literally stayed in bed all day and didn't move. But the watch is assuming I have some moderate exercise (which is true). So based on that the number comes back as 2886, which is right in the ballpark of what the watch is estimating.

The reality is that this is all a pretty complicated interplay of how our bodies work. If you don't move at all, the number is simple. When you exercise regularly, not only do you have the calories burned from exercising, but you also have the calories burned from maintaining your body being increased. So if you are moderately active, even if on a given day you sat on the couch all day, you'd still burn more than your BMR suggests because your body is still keeping all that muscle mass, etc. It would shift over time. Also, this is why weight lifting can be beneficial to weight loss (it ups your maintenance calorie burn).

That said, it would be helpful if Apple would explain what the watch is doing to come up with all of its numbers.

 

[arsook]

So here's a couple workouts that I've done:

Cycling 1 - 278 active calories, 79 resting calories, duration 38:41
Cycling 2 - 590 active calories, 149 resting calories, duration 1:13:48
Cycling 3 - 782 active calories, 225 resting calories, duration 1:50:28

So now to compare those numbers against calculators that estimate calories:
Cycling 1 - Apple: 357. Calculator: 368 (3% difference)
Cycling 2 - Apple: 739. Calculator: 698 (6% difference)
Cycling 3 - Apple: 1007. Calculator: 1038 (3% difference)

So that seems pretty consistent. Apple tends to return a little lower overall total calorie burn but it's within a few percent of the totals I get elsewhere. Also the app I'd previously used for calculating calorie burn when cycling is consistent with the online calculators (i.e. it's combining active and resting calories).

The calculation seems to have me burning about 2.05 calories per minute at rest which would mean I'd burn 2952 calories/day. Looking at the move section of the activity app, I see it's showing an average resting burn rate of around 2900 calories/day. When I go online to find a calorie burn calculator that incorporates an estimation of activity level, it matches quite well. So here you can see your BMR if you don't move at all, and how it is affected by your level of activity: http://www.bmrcalculator.org/

So for me, the base BMR came back as 1862/day. That number means what my calorie burn would be if I literally stayed in bed all day and didn't move. But the watch is assuming I have some moderate exercise (which is true). So based on that the number comes back as 2886, which is right in the ballpark of what the watch is estimating.

The reality is that this is all a pretty complicated interplay of how our bodies work. If you don't move at all, the number is simple. When you exercise regularly, not only do you have the calories burned from exercising, but you also have the calories burned from maintaining your body being increased. So if you are moderately active, even if on a given day you sat on the couch all day, you'd still burn more than your BMR suggests because your body is still keeping all that muscle mass, etc. It would shift over time. Also, this is why weight lifting can be beneficial to weight loss (it ups your maintenance calorie burn).

That said, it would be helpful if Apple would explain what the watch is doing to come up with all of its numbers.

Using the calculator you post the results state:
Very High You exercise very heavily (i.e. 2x per day, extra heavy workouts)
2837 Calories/Day
Apple is giving me 2700 calories for my resting calories. When I work out only 50 minutes of spinning class I have bumped up to 3400 for the day.
It is so frustrating! I am wondering the apple calculator is off because of one stat that we enter-whether it is age, male or female along with weight?

 

[Pagemakers]

I find the heart rate inaccurate too…..

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1877025/

 

[touchstoned]

Heart rate has been perfect for me, and has been logging since april 24th. Range is 41-193bpm, which is about right considering I surf for at least 2 hours a day on average and my resting heart rate is usually around 40-50bpm.


I should preface that statement by saying that I use the sport band, and I keep it quite snug on my wrist. I've seen a lot of women post photos of them wearing the watch and they tend to be... loose.