Relationship between Activity and Workout apps.

[Dc2006ster]

I recently purchased my first Apple Watch, a S7, and am trying to understand the relationship between Activity circles and the Workout app.

Am I correct in thinking that the Watch constantly monitors calories burned, minutes of exercise and whether or not I have stood and moved in any hour and that these metrics form the basis of the activity rings ?

Also, am I correct in thinking that the Workout app measures and displays other data appropriate for the type of exercise but has no additional affect on the Activity rings?

So, if I exercise but do not use the Workout app I will still get the same result on the rings? I ask because none of the included apps seems to exactly fit my seniors exercise classes and I can monitor my heart rate , Cals, minutes etc. using a complication on my chosen Watch face.

 

[jz0309]

I recently purchased my first Apple Watch, a S7, and am trying to understand the relationship between Activity circles and the Workout app.

Am I correct in thinking that the Watch constantly monitors calories burned, minutes of exercise and whether or not I have stood and moved in any hour and that these metrics form the basis of the activity rings ?

Also, am I correct in thinking that the Workout app measures and displays other data appropriate for the type of exercise but has no additional affect on the Activity rings?

So, if I exercise but do not use the Workout app I will still get the same result on the rings? I ask because none of the included apps seems to exactly fit my seniors exercise classes and I can monitor my heart rate , Cals, minutes etc. using a complication on my chosen Watch face.

congrats on your new watch!
The watch actually measures your heart rate and then calculates calories burned etc based on the info your provide.
When you start a workout, your heart rate is measured very frequently (I do not know exactly but let's say every second), when your heart rate is above average AW knows you are "exercising" thus giving you exercise credit.
When you exercise without using a workout app, the more infrequent (say once per minute) measuring of your heart rate will give you some credit but not the full credit.
if your exercise is not listed in the workout app, there is a "other" that I would suggest you use.
Also, it is recommended to calibrate your watch https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204516

here is another article that might be of interest: https://appletoolbox.com/how-does-the-apple-watch-count-exercise-minutes/

 

[NoBoMac]

Pretty much this^^^.

"Exercise" ring will be anything the watch considers "brisk" (eg. walking fast for some length of time) activity when not using Workout, otherwise whatever the Workout app collects.

"Some length of time", not sure, but in a different thread, I stumbled upon how VO2 is measured based on daily activity. Assuming "brisk" falls under same/similar parameters:

Apple Watch produces the best results when the user’s expected six-minute walk distance is less than 500m

Re: heart monitor: in Workout, it's records every 5ish seconds (probably takes 5 seconds to get a a proper count). When not in workout, if moving, every few minute, if sitting/idle, about every five-ish minutes.

 

[bluespark]

The Fitness app (what I think you're referring to when you mention the Workout app) used to be called Activity. IMO, that was a much clearer name, but Apple presumably changed it to sell the Apple Fitness component. Regardless, the activity rings work just fine without Apple Fitness. You'll advance the rings based on things your watch senses (it senses a *lot*), workouts you start on your phone or watch, or workouts you start from other apps (if you give those apps permission to write to your Health data). As one example, I'm a Peloton user and link my Peloton app to Apple Health. That means that my activity rings will reflect data provided by Peloton, among other things.

One of the best parts about this that's rarely discussed (in part, I think, because it works so seamlessly) is that the watch and activity rings know to avoid duplicative data. For example, when I ride my Peloton, Peloton will send burned calorie metrics to Apple Health, but my watch's sensors would already be estimating a calorie burn based on my movement and heartbeat. Apple's system is smart enough to recognize that those two inputs describe the same workout, and to choose the better of the two in any particular situation.

For your seniors exercise class, I suggest starting a workout on your watch for two reasons: First, that will help distinguish that movement from other movement, and second, to track specific exercise minutes (in other words, you might want credit for the time in that exercise class even if your heart rate is not elevated the entire time).

In short, it works really well. And nothing against Apple Fitness, but you can ignore that entirely and still use the rings without issue. Enjoy!

 

[Graham4723]

I regularly take a seniors exercise class (actually a cardio recovery class). I use the ‘mixed cardio (open goal)’ workout.

 

[Dc2006ster]

I regularly take a seniors exercise class (actually a cardio recovery class). I use the ‘mixed cardio (open goal)’ workout.

Thanks. I have been using either Mixed Cardio or Functional Strength. They seem to collect the same data. One day I would switch between those , cycling or rowing during the 1 hr of a class but that was a pain and it seems to be pointless.

One day I used Outdoor walk while clearing snow from our and a neighbours drive and sidewalks. The map produced by the GPS was a little messy .

 

[Dc2006ster]

Thanks for the input folks. Very informative. It seems that choosing a workout gives a more accurate reflection of my activity.

 

[mk313]

Thanks. I have been using either Mixed Cardio or Functional Strength. They seem to collect the same data. One day I would switch between those , cycling or rowing during the 1 hr of a class but that was a pain and it seems to be pointless.

One day I used Outdoor walk while clearing snow from our and a neighbours drive and sidewalks. The map produced by the GPS was a little messy .

FYI, if you want to switch between exercised in the same workout session, you can swipe right, then choose the + mark, and add a new activity. It's pretty quick & seamless and it nice if you want to keep track of different activities. If you're just looking to get the workout data, then probably not worth it, but it's a simpler way to achieve what you were trying to do (if I understood your post correctly)

 

[Dc2006ster]

FYI, if you want to switch between exercised in the same workout session, you can swipe right, then choose the + mark, and add a new activity. It's pretty quick & seamless and it nice if you want to keep track of different activities. If you're just looking to get the workout data, then probably not worth it, but it's a simpler way to achieve what you were trying to do (if I understood your post correctly)

Thanks, I will give that a try. Eventually I will probably just pick a single workout and go with that but at at the moment I am experimenting and trying to understand the whole system.

 

[jon08]

One thing to keep in mind is also that the watch grossly overestimates your step count when not in “workout” mode (but presumably most other smart watches do so too, don’t know). For example, often when I’m at home it will record several thousand steps, when clearly I did NOT move half as much around the apt. Turns out it will record most of your hand swings as steps as well, which is disappointing.

For example, I folded a few clothes and it recorded like 20 steps just for that, simply for moving my hands around while standing in the same place all the time.

 

[DeepIn2U]

congrats on your new watch!
The watch actually measures your heart rate and then calculates calories burned etc based on the info your provide.
When you start a workout, your heart rate is measured very frequently (I do not know exactly but let's say every second), when your heart rate is above average AW knows you are "exercising" thus giving you exercise credit.
When you exercise without using a workout app, the more infrequent (say once per minute) measuring of your heart rate will give you some credit but not the full credit.
if your exercise is not listed in the workout app, there is a "other" that I would suggest you use.
Also, it is recommended to calibrate your watch https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204516

here is another article that might be of interest: https://appletoolbox.com/how-does-the-apple-watch-count-exercise-minutes/

Bless you for this. This is awesome information much appreciated.

 

[chriswhv6]

Yesterday i went for a 33 min walk, activated the outdoor walk app yet the exercise rings only filled up by 5 mins only.
Super frustrating i must admit :/