To log or not to log

[mvbenz]

So I have been using the Apple 4 watch for two months now. I have been remodeling a room in my house and usually log a mixed cardio session. Per session a am burning 2000+ calories (hanging and sanding drywall will do that to you). So today for giggles I decided to not log a mixed cardio and let the watch just monitor as normal. It states I burned 255 calories. So which is right?

My thought is the watch when logging an exercise is constantly measuring heart rate where as not logging it is just sampling every so often. I know on my wife's Fitbit, if it senses she is more active than normal, it starts to monitor more closely and then assigns it to a general workout that she can rename later. It watches for 10 min before it takes up the monitoring. My polar A370 did the same thing. If your activity increased, it would monitor more closely.

It looks like the Apple watch isn't recognizing my heart rate is up and that it should monitor more closely, does that seem like an accurate statement or is there a setting to get it to do that?

While I don't want to overstate calories burned by logging a workout I also don't want to get ripped off as there are times where if we are walking around a lot and it turns into a hiking session, I don't want to not get credit for the burn because I don't start a session.

Thx.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Neither is likely accurate. They watch is using it’s built in software to attempt to show calories for a set exercise.

If you are outside that particular exercise parameters, it can not be accurate.

 

[mvbenz]

Neither is likely accurate. They watch is using it’s built in software to attempt to show calories for a set exercise.

If you are outside that particular exercise parameters, it can not be accurate.

Thanks for the feedback.

Your statement doesn't make sense unless you know how the watch actually is programmed and if you do please share as it is good to know for future use.

I know there is a set formula used to calculate calories burned. While it is an approximation and there is no real way to get exact numbers it should be within reason.

I have found calculators on the web that do this. It is based on activity duration, average heart rate over the activity span, age, gender and weight. When I used one for a timed workout I logged with the watch, it was within a few 100 calories which to me is fine as the watch was less than the calculator and it's all about average in the long run.

I did a test with my polar A370 and the watch when I first got it and they were within reason of each other for a stationary bike session.

Question: If I log a workout, it shows me the heart rate over time. Is there a way to look at the heart rate data when a work out is not logged? It would be interesting to see what the watch saw and the sampling rate as I worked for 4+hrs today and my heart rate was up for a lot of it.

Thx...

 

[oeagleo]

There are a number of heart rate graphic apps that are out there, Heartwatch, and Heart Analyzer to name a couple. I use Heartwatch, and it gives quite a bit of info in graphic form for your all day heart rate, even will break it down into normal, resting, and exercise.

 

[mvbenz]

There are a number of heart rate graphic apps that are out there, Heartwatch, and Heart Analyzer to name a couple. I use Heartwatch, and it gives quite a bit of info in graphic form for your all day heart rate, even will break it down into normal, resting, and exercise.

Thank you. I'll check them out.

I did find an article on apples site explaining the heart rate measurements and it looks like in the health data app the sampling while working without logging a session ramped up to once a minute. Comparing that to a logged session, the logged session was once every 2-3 seconds (continuos).

The average heart rate at a one minute interval is not as accurate as every few seconds so that is why the big deviation in calories burned calculation.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666