Something I’m missing, or time for a new watch?

[AppleInLVX]

Hey all, I thought I’d put this out there just for your opinions. I’ve had two watches, one Series 2, and one Series 5. I’ve passed along the older model to my wife. We went for a walk last night, and she was a little disappointed at the metrics she got. It seems the watch isn’t being as precise, and not crediting as much workout time as mine does, even for the same effort.

I know that some of this is down to body metrics (and my walking 5 minutes longer to the mailbox), but it seems like the discrepancies are a little more than can be explained that way. In particular the active and total calorie counts are pretty off. Take a peek:

I suppose what I’m wondering is if there’s a way to better set the watch up for her, or if it’s just time to get a new one, given it’s a few years old at this point.

 

[Puonti]

Have you both configured your body measurements correctly in the Health app on your iPhones?

Looking at those numbers, I could imagine the difference in calories coming from different body weights. It takes more calories for a heavier person to move the same distance in the same time.

The pace difference I can't explain. Presumably you stayed together the whole walk (except where you popped briefly by the mailbox), so after an hour of walking I'd expect the pace to be pretty close.

 

[iamasmith]

One thing to mention is there is some time difference in the workouts - just getting that out of the way.

Anyway, I was asked some time ago by somebody that was going out for a run with a Garmin satellite enabled wrist computer (can't remember the model) but the question was that another runner had exactly the same model and ran the same route with different metrics etc. so how could this be, and this is difficult without a diagram and I'm not about to make one.

Firstly, when a GPS device starts up and starts recording it locks on to a set of satellites to take it's recording but there are many 'birds' in the air that it could lock on to. Depending upon what it has been previously using when you meet up or various other factors these satellites can be different ones as there are pretty much guaranteed to me many that the device can get a location from.

Next is a factor that effects accuracy dramatically, and that is the Azimuth Angle between the satellites. A narrow angle, i.e. two close together makes it harder to pinpoint an exact location so the accuracy bubble widens. Combine that with the first point mentioned and you can see you will get differences.

Then, you have the fact that measuring elevation based purely upon the GPS data is not particularly accurate so your mention of an S2 which doesn't include a barometric altimeter might influence this greatly.

Finally, again, depending upon the satellites chosen there will be differing amount of weather related influence upon the propagation of the signal which will again account for some differences.

TL;DR Barometric Altimeter will be better.. rapid changing weather conditions may well ruin the benefits that you get from that bit these are common problems with this kind of tech. A lot of complex physics and side effects come into these accuracy readings and you aren't just being 'looked up' on a perfect 3D grid.

 

[waw74]

One thing to mention is there is some time difference in the workouts - just getting that out of the way.

he did say he went to the mail box afterwords to account for the time difference.
and except for that 5 minutes of the mail box trip, they were walking together.
so differences in azimuth angle and weather influence should be minimal.
the altitude lined up pretty close, and if the trip to the mailbox was about 125meters one way, then distance was pretty close also
And, not sure but I think he was more referring to calories burned

I know that some of this is down to body metrics (and my walking 5 minutes longer to the mailbox), but it seems like the discrepancies are a little more than can be explained that way.

I did a little math, and if you went about 1/2 the speed of your walk on the mailbox trip, the pace should be about right

from a Harvard study...
walking at 3.5 Miles/hour ( 5.6 km/hr) for 1/2 hour
based on weight
57kg - 125 lbs - 120cal
70kg - 155 lbs - 149cal
84kg - 185 lbs - 178cal

This is a Pace of about 10:42 per KM compared to yours of 16:35 per KM, but This was the slowest pace for walking they had, but the faster speeds and even other activities kept close to the same ratios of calories burned to body weight.
and just my opinion but for a walk, 3.5 Miles/hour ( 5.6 km/hr) is a really quite fast and approaching "jogging speed", so don't worry about your speed, you guys are doing great.

using the Harvard calorie numbers as a guide, if you're around 40lbs (18kg) heavier than her, I think the ratio of your calorie numbers looks to be about right. (just an estimate based on their numbers, not scientific at all)

also, this weight difference is based on what is entered in your profile, so if those numbers are not current that can affect it.
I believe if you have a scale that updates the health app, it will keep this current (although I might be wrong on this)

Get the most accurate measurements using your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Your Apple Watch uses the personal information that you provide to help calculate metrics for your daily activity. You can further improve its accuracy using these tips.

support.apple.com

 

[AppleInLVX]

Hi folks,

First off let me thank you for time and considered responses. Very nice to hear from all of you, and I appreciate the feedback. So, what I’m reading here is that there’s a load of things that can impact the exercise, from external things like satellites to the settings of the watch itself.

I don’t know that I can do much about the externals, although I think that if my wife and I each leave from the same place and are in close proximity for the whole of our walk, then it shouldn’t matter all that much from that perspective.

As for the settings, we’ve looked at them, and all seems well. I am about 25lbs heavier than my wife, so that does come into play.

What really seems to bother my wife is that we go on these walks, and I am credited for for more actual “exercise” time than she is. At the end of the day, I wind up closing my exercise ring, and she does not, in spite of equal or more exercise on her part, and it irks her. So I guess the question is, how does the workout translate into “minutes of exercise” towards closing the exercise ring. Is the difference in both calories and exercise minutes a fair outcome given all the factors, or if this a problem with the way the watch is getting or parsing the data. Overall, it looks to me like the watch is, for all that it’s a little older, keeping pretty good metrics.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Hi folks,

First off let me thank you for time and considered responses. Very nice to hear from all of you, and I appreciate the feedback. So, what I’m reading here is that there’s a load of things that can impact the exercise, from external things like satellites to the settings of the watch itself.

I don’t know that I can do much about the externals, although I think that if my wife and I each leave from the same place and are in close proximity for the whole of our walk, then it shouldn’t matter all that much from that perspective.

As for the settings, we’ve looked at them, and all seems well. I am about 25lbs heavier than my wife, so that does come into play.

What really seems to bother my wife is that we go on these walks, and I am credited for for more actual “exercise” time than she is. At the end of the day, I wind up closing my exercise ring, and she does not, in spite of equal or more exercise on her part, and it irks her. So I guess the question is, how does the workout translate into “minutes of exercise” towards closing the exercise ring. Is the difference in both calories and exercise minutes a fair outcome given all the factors, or if this a problem with the way the watch is getting or parsing the data. Overall, it looks to me like the watch is, for all that it’s a little older, keeping pretty good metrics.

Make sure she knows that your requirements to close all 3 rings every day is going to be different than her, even if you both do the same activity (such as the evening walk).

From what I can tell, the series 2 appears to be accurate. If she is new to the watch and hasn’t been a very active person prior to, it is going to be an adjustment for her mentally and physically.

 

[DaPhox]

Try to get hold of some cheat mode settings so your wife can be happy. Something clearly has to be wrong with the watch, not your wife.😏

 

[waw74]

If she has to work harder to close her exercise ring, it just means the watch thinks she's fitter than you are.

closing my exercise ring requires a lot less energy output than it does for an athlete.
We're both exerting the same "percentage" of our fitness, it's just their 100% is a lot more than mine.

 

[mk313]

Three things I can think of
1. Are both watches running the same operating System? I know that Apple tweaks this between releases (there was an issue tracking heart rates when the newest OS came out, but that has been resolved over time. It wasn't there previously, so if they are running different versions of Watch OS, that could play a part
2. Relative fitness levels could also be impacting it. If she's fitter, she could be getting less credit for the exercise, as she's not exerting herself as much.
3. If she was holding something that kept her hands moving around less than normal, that could also impact it. When I walk the dog or cut the lawn, I get less credit than I do when walking normally for the same amount of time.
4. On the next watch, swap watches to see if her results improve. If they do, you can assume it's the watch. If not, it's likely due to personal differences that a new watch won't impact.

 

[AppleInLVX]

Thank you again. My wife’s both happy to apparently be fitter than I am, and frustrated that it takes more effort to close her rings. She said that going forward, she’d simply log her walks as Yoga, which seems to credit exercise regardless of effort. She’s kidding, of course... I think.

 

[artfossil]

If your wife wants to make sure to close her exercise ring, she can track her walks as “Other” so that time, not heart rate, is what counts. I’m 72 and that’s what I do for my outdoor walks when I know my heart rate is where I want it and it’s the time and distance I want to track.