Strength Training

[Buadhai]

For several years I've been doing a 15 minute workout each morning that includes about five minutes of stretching and ten minutes of strength training: crunches, plank, hand weights, etc. With my Apple Watch 2 I called that "Strength Training" and always ended up with 69-70 Active Calories.

Yesterday morning I did my first such exercise with an Apple Watch 6. It seems to now be called "Traditional Strength Training". I ended up with 66 Active Calories.

This morning, "Traditional Strength Training" wasn't one of the choices listed, so I picked "Functional Strength Training". I did the exact same routine and ended up with only 28 Active Calories.

I did later see that the old "Traditional Strength Training", is still there under "Other", so now I've added it to the list.

"Functional Strength Training" seems to fairly represent what I do: "Choose Functional Strength Training when performing dynamic strength sequences for the upper body, lower body, or full body, using small equipment like dumbbells, resistance bands, and medicine balls or with no equipment at all." <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207934#strength-training> (The support page no longer contains a description of "Traditional Strength Training", so we really don't know what they mean by that.)

So, now I'm wondering which is correct? The 69 Active Calories I got when the activity was "Strength Training" or the 28 Active Calories I got when the activity was "Functional Strength Training"?

Which should I choose?

 

[Snørrbjørg]

Traditional Strength training is like deadlift, backsquat and bench press using a barbell with heavy weight plates. This type of compound exercises gives around 200+ calories an hour.

 

[akash.nu]

Yeah traditional strength training is essential weight training as mentioned above.

Yours is functional.

 

[Buadhai]

So, for the past few years I've been credited with twice as many Active Calories as I theoretically burned?

I guess I'll have to wind back the clock and double up on all those strength training workouts.

 

[LongWayHome]

I wasn't aware that "functional strength training" was even an option....

 

[Buadhai]

I wasn't aware that "functional strength training" was even an option....

I don't recall there ever being anything but "Strength Training". When I look at my old workouts as preserved in HealthFit, it's just called "Strength Training" all the way back over a year. The first time I ever saw "Functional Strength Training" was today on my watch, in Fitness and in HealthFit. If you look at the Apple support document (URL in the OP), "Traditional Strength Training" isn't mentioned at all. I only found it by looking in "Other" on the list on my watch this morning.

To me, it looks like Apple has gone back and reclassified all my "Strength Training" workouts as "Traditional Strength Training".

OTOH, I'm old and forgetful, so maybe Functional and Traditional have been there all along.

 

[LongWayHome]

I don't recall there ever being anything but "Strength Training". When I look at my old workouts as preserved in HealthFit, it's just called "Strength Training" all the way back over a year. The first time I ever saw "Functional Strength Training" was today on my watch, in Fitness and in HealthFit. If you look at the Apple support document (URL in the OP), "Traditional Strength Training" isn't mentioned at all. I only found it by looking in "Other" on the list on my watch this morning.

To me, it looks like Apple has gone back and reclassified all my "Strength Training" workouts as "Traditional Strength Training".

OTOH, I'm old and forgetful, so maybe Functional and Traditional have been there all along.

Well I learned something new today. At the end of the day I wouldn't worry about what its classified as. If you are putting the work in that's all that matters.

 

[Night Spring]

OTOH, I'm old and forgetful, so maybe Functional and Traditional have been there all along.

Apple keeps adding new workout categories every year, so it's likely they just added the Functional category this year.

Any workout in the Other category doesn't really give you an accurate calorie measurement. Start a Other workout and sit still, and start an Other workout and run as fast as you can, it'll report the same calorie number. I can't find it now, but I remember reading somewhere that it credits you with the calories you would burn if you were doing a brisk walk. So the subcategories under Other is useful as a reminder of what type of workout you did, but not calibrated to give you an accurate calorie count.

 

[Buadhai]

Apple keeps adding new workout categories every year, so it's likely they just added the Functional category this year.

Any workout in the Other category doesn't really give you an accurate calorie measurement. Start a Other workout and sit still, and start an Other workout and run as fast as you can, it'll report the same calorie number. I can't find it now, but I remember reading somewhere that it credits you with the calories you would burn if you were doing a brisk walk. So the subcategories under Other is useful as a reminder of what type of workout you did, but not calibrated to give you an accurate calorie count.

That's interesting. Functional Strength Training is a main workout while Traditional Strength Training is an "Other".