The exercise ring is far too easy to fill

[atlas_0]

For example, my ring suggests 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Today I walked to work, which took 40 minutes and I walk fast, as I arrived at work I got a tap on my wrist "You've completed todays exercise!"

Great I thought, it was 7am, and my exercise ring was full, as expected.

It is now 2pm, and apart from nipping to the brew room a few times, and going to the canteen for dinner, I have been sat at my desk.

My exercise ring is just over half way round again, showing that I have done 47 minutes of exercise today.

It seems like everytime I nip to kitchen and back downstairs, its counting as exercise. I'm certainly not out of breath, or even remotley putting my body under any stress.

I honestly think I could drive to work, sit at my desk all day, and just the trips to the kitchen and bathroom throughout the day would fill the exercise ring!

Does anybody know under what circumstances the watch changes from counting movement, and instead counts exercise?

If I recall correctly, it calculates exercise from a combination of your height, weight, and heart rate. So if your heart rate is over X, it counts as exercise for your height/weight.

I may be entirely wrong on that, but it was the best explanation I've heard.

 

[klymr]

If I recall correctly, it calculates exercise from a combination of your height, weight, and heart rate. So if your heart rate is over X, it counts as exercise for your height/weight.

I may be entirely wrong on that, but it was the best explanation I've heard.

I'm almost positive that isn't correct. I've gotten as little as 1 minute of exercise credit at a time, just from walking. It happened just yesterday in fact, and I certainly didn't have an elevated heart rate. We know the watch isn't monitoring heart rate constantly, so it would have a hard time figuring out how many minutes to credit. Height and weight is probably factored in, though we don't officially know for certain.

Also, this is Apple's official word on exercise credit (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204517):

Earn Exercise and Move credit
Every full minute of movement that equals or exceeds the intensity of a brisk walk counts toward your daily Exercise and Move goals. For wheelchair users, this is measured in brisk pushes. Any activity below this level counts only toward your daily Move goal.

Make sure that you earn Exercise credit during walks by allowing the arm with your Apple Watch to swing naturally. For example, while walking your pet, let the arm with your watch swing freely while the other holds the leash.

If you need both hands while walking, for example to push a stroller, you can still earn Exercise credit by using the Workout app. The Activity app relies on arm motion and an accelerometer to track movement, but the Workout app can use the accelerometer, a heart rate sensor, and the GPS on your iPhone if you carry it with you. Open the Workout app on your Apple Watch, tap Outdoor Walk, and bring your iPhone on the walk.

 

[bgrace]

I'm almost positive that isn't correct. I've gotten as little as 1 minute of exercise credit at a time, just from walking. It happened just yesterday in fact, and I certainly didn't have an elevated heart rate. We know the watch isn't monitoring heart rate constantly, so it would have a hard time figuring out how many minutes to credit. Height and weight is probably factored in, though we don't officially know for certain

That's my understanding too. Heart rate only factored in for exercise credit when workout has been started in Workout app.

 

[gwhizkids]

Yesterday, I was using a Gazelle glide stepper machine. I did not activate a workout and got zero credit for about 20 minutes on the thing. I wasn't pushing hard, but my heart rate was elevated to some extent. Today, just do reasaonably brisk brief walk around my office complex: 10 mins of credit. I'll try the stepper tonight using one of the canned workouts to see if that helps.

 

[bgrace]

I calibrated my Apple Watch yesterday per Apple's instructions, but it's still giving me exercise credit in the Activity app for just walking around the house or office. Will the exercise tracking get more accurate the more I use it during workouts?

 

[gymratjudy]

Woke up to my activity ring being not only full but in my sleep supposely I burned 908 calories had 166 minutes of exercise and stood for 22 hours. It also doubled yesterday's activity numbers. It was working fine last night before bed. Didn't have an issue after the latest update until now. I unpaired it but still didn't fix the problem. Any suggestions?

 

[DeepIn2U]

The Exercise ring seems to register any brisk movement like walking fast which I always do. Needs better calibration especially for those of use that workout and use apps for that.

Just yesterday I nipped over to the kebab shop for some take-away. Then I nipped home, murdered a brew and had my tea.

Me mum was going a wee bit doo lally, so I had to sort her out. Me mate was saying arsenal had a better midfield than QPR and I was like 'u wot? Don't be daft'

For someone in the UK what the hell kind of English or swerdish is that? What is nipping? Who drinks beer then tea?!?? What do you mean sorting your mom out?

Thanks. I've been using myfitnesspal also. Viewing calorie intake and calories burned is so useful.

Great app so many before it failed for years.

I still don’t understand calories other than a unit of energy. I thought it was the same as kilojoules but it’s not measured the same way when being burned or consumed. It’s so damn hard to burn 960 calories. I can eat half that in 7mins eating a Cinnabon but an hour of exercise 10K steps, brisk, 2 floors of stairs x2 per day and can’t be done?! Grrr it’s disappointing and a dream killer.

 

[Shirasaki]

The Exercise ring seems to register any brisk movement like walking fast which I always do. Needs better calibration especially for those of use that workout and use apps for that.



For someone in the UK what the hell kind of English or swerdish is that? What is nipping? Who drinks beer then tea?!?? What do you mean sorting your mom out?



Great app so many before it failed for years.

I still don’t understand calories other than a unit of energy. I thought it was the same as kilojoules but it’s not measured the same way when being burned or consumed. It’s so damn hard to burn 960 calories. I can eat half that in 7mins eating a Cinnabon but an hour of exercise 10K steps, brisk, 2 floors of stairs x2 per day and can’t be done?! Grrr it’s disappointing and a dream killer.

Which is the exact reason why I opt in kJ and never look back. It is just so much easier to manage in general

 

[tl01]

For those of you closing the ring quickly....what is your average heart rate etc? What is your heart rate while walking around normally? I don’t close my exercise ring unless I am planning to exercise. I have to exert myself to get it to happen.

 

[jav6454]

The Exercise ring seems to register any brisk movement like walking fast which I always do. Needs better calibration especially for those of use that workout and use apps for that.

Do you know how the ring counts minutes? It counts based on readings from the heart rate sensor. Any spike in the sensor with a accelerometer+gyroscope feedback that movement is being made, the watch will take this as a "walk". So if you walk around the office, your natural arm movements will tell the watch it's moving and also a slightly elevated heart rate will confirm it.

When outside, GPS via your iPhone will let the watch know you are also moving.

 

[Ingster]

The exercise ring is much like the stand ring in a way it is a set figure which aims to get regular people moving, 30 minutes is a suggested minimum amount of exercise per day and it should be easy to fill but it keeps counting and gives you awards for more exercise done (200% etc) The main challenge should be to fill the move ring, this is one you can change your goal by moving more and burning more calories, Stand is easier as it's the small ring, exercise is the medium ring and move the hardest as the large ring