Yeah I though that as well.
From a quick Google a brisk walk is around 20 minutes per mile.
When selecting indoor run/ walk. Does the watch still show pace?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Workout/Activity bug on 1.01?
- Thread starter Knightcastle
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yeah I though that as well.
From a quick Google a brisk walk is around 20 minutes per mile.
When selecting indoor run/ walk. Does the watch still show pace?
Yes it does. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but during outdoor walks it using the phones GPS to calculate your walking stride. Once calculated it uses that info for your indoor walking pace. Mines has been pretty much spot on with the treadmill I use.
Yeah, it definitely does. My brisk walks have been 16-18 minutes per mile, but I tend to walk quite quick generally.
A quick note on "pace" - pace means nothing.
Pace is calculated with the recorded distance and time. If you walk two miles in 30 minutes, you have a pace of 15 minutes per mile, no doubt you will get credit for near enough the full 30 minutes - all is well.
Say the same walk has a point of interest. A pond the dog likes, a statue, something like that. You take an extra 15 minutes to enjoy this, and add another 0.1 miles to your journey (say you're wandering up to it, or around the edge of it, something like that).
Your average pace has dropped to >21 minutes per mile. Is it fair to no longer include the 2 miles you walked at 15m/pm because there was a slow stint in your walk? Of course not. The watch still has your heart rate recordings for this time, it (should) know the pace you were doing for this time, perhaps you don't deserve the full 45 minutes, but you certainly still deserve the original 30.
If pace really is the measure of whether or not something constitutes "exercise" I think that's a shame. The amount of technology built into the watch to track things like that, and you bump into an old friend or discover a hidden gem and forgot to hit "pause" and your whole workout is wiped out? Shouldn't be the case.
I do not believe pace alone is the issue. And believe AW to be "smart" enough to figure things out just as you say.
For example, I will often do a full hour workout out the gym. However, the "circles" rarely give me a full 60 min exercise and it makes sense. Why? My hour "at the gym" includes a 5 min warm up. I imagine may warm up, especially the first couple minutes is not intense enough to register as exercise.
And the opposite happens. If I go for a 60 min run, I sometimes get credit for 62-63 min. Again makes sense. Why? After my run, I walk for 5+ min to cool down. The first couple min are likely still registering as exercise due to my movement, HR, etc.
I actually find the exercise ring the least useful of the three. I'm already in the habit of exercising 6-7 days a week and nerves less than 30 min. Mostly 45-90 min and occasionally 2 hours. Since at this point, you cannot change the exercise ring goals, I find it rather useless.
After almost four weeks, I'm finding Move much more useful, motivating and accurate. And I'm still trying to find a challenging but achievable calorie number. Remember Move and Exercise are part of each other. Calories burned during exercise count towards move calories. Plus you get credit for calories burned that did not count as exercise.
But to your example, yes you should get credit for any minutes that meet the criteria of exercise. Apple even notes this by saying you don't need to do it all at once. Indeed, I have noticed getting credit for a few minutes of exercise here and there even though I haven't done a formal exercise yet.
If you have doubts on it working, try different situations. Preferably controlled where you know the variables. Then if still in doubt have Apple check it out.
But I'm very, very pleased with the fitness aspects of AW. Both in motivation and accuracy. Yes, I wish exercise had more options (like setting higher minutes or raising the threshold of what is exercise). But those may come in the future.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
I disagree. It should give you credit for your "move" goal to be sure. But simply moving 3 miles doesn't mean you participated in "exercise". That's not to say that a leisurely 3 mile walk, isn't at all beneficial, but it's not beneficial in the same way that "exercise" is with an elevated heart rate.
I acknowledge that there is a difference from 1.0 to 1.01, but perhaps 1.01 is actually more accurate and what it should have always been.
If you don't mind me asking, what is your resting heart rate? Does anybody know exactly how "elevated" your heart rate needs to be above resting to be considered exercise per the Apple watch? 25 BPM higher? 20% higher?
Edit: reading some of the pace discussion above, I can assure you that Apple Watch doesn't use overall pace for a recorded exercise to determine exercise... you don't even need to use the exercise app at all to get credit. It is likely almost entirely elevated heart rate as I indicate above, however it may also include some form of instantaneous rate/pace calculation as well. Or not even necessarily the instantaneous pace, but simply rapid accellerometer movement. Regardless, the primary factor is almost definitely heart rate. (that's how you can get exercise credit on a stationary bike)
Edit 2: Doing a few calculations (cause I'm a dork like that), and basically I calculated that based on what I, personally, would consider to be a brisk walk (17mi/min pace) would have required you to have been idle for a full 25 minutes to have been going at a fast enough speed to get credit for a 49 minute exercise. It's obviously impossible to figure these things out without hard data, because you likely were walking faster at some points, walking leisurely at some points, and stopped to talk at some points. I would recommend going on a walk at a consistent pace throughout (ideally your normal walk pace) and then look at the data. You might also want to walk a couple more times at a consistent (but faster) pace to compare.
Last edited:
Activity minutes clearly required an elevated heartrate (and threshold based on your age/height/weight/gender). I don't think a 25 min mile is going to get you the heartrate you need for the minutes. It's just how it works.
This is 110% related to the heart rate bug.
An elevated heart rate = Exercise.
The watch is no longer recording heart rates at 10 minute intervals.
Yesterday my watch only reported my heart rate TWICE. Yes TWICE in a 13 hour day. I haven't gotten exercise credit since I updated my watch.
An elevated heart rate = Exercise.
The watch is no longer recording heart rates at 10 minute intervals.
Yesterday my watch only reported my heart rate TWICE. Yes TWICE in a 13 hour day. I haven't gotten exercise credit since I updated my watch.
Oh, that's not good. My watch will only be delivered in a few days and after waiting so long it's really disappointing that something like this is so broken. I hope they fix it soon.
I've just done 30 minutes on an indoor bike, which has closed off the exercise ring on the watch but not in the activity app on my phone.
I can only guess that this is due to the programme on the bike having warm up and warm down times, hence my HR wasn't elevated enough.
It's a bit frustrating having come from Garmins that all you get to see if the average heart rate, and there's no graph...
I can only guess that this is due to the programme on the bike having warm up and warm down times, hence my HR wasn't elevated enough.
It's a bit frustrating having come from Garmins that all you get to see if the average heart rate, and there's no graph...
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
There should definitely be a graph. There are certainly many areas of improvement when it comes to metrics of activity tracking.
I'd also like to be able to at a glance see improvments/changes over time (distance, HR, etc). Like over the course of weeks/months/etc
For the record, I did a 30+ minute workout on the rowing machine yesterday, with an average heart rate of 142 bpm, which is well into the aerobic zone. I watched my heart rate throughout and from 8:08 to 8:35, all recorded heart rates were between 140 and 149.
I got credit for 9 minutes of exercise.
I can't imagine that those 27 minutes where my heart rate was consistently in the aerobic zone should be classified as anything other than exercise.
I got credit for 9 minutes of exercise.
I can't imagine that those 27 minutes where my heart rate was consistently in the aerobic zone should be classified as anything other than exercise.
Awesome thread. Glad I'm not the only one.
For the last month straight I've been wearing the AW on my left wrist and the Fitbit charge on my right wrist.
* The AW is always a minimum of 400-500 steps lower than the Fitbit everyday.
* The Fitbit will count almost all steps where the Apple is more discriminating. Apple will not count a 5-10 minute dog walk as exercise unless you're really moving fast.
*In order to have anything count towards the exercise you need to be moving constantly at a brisk pace.
* If you really are OCD like I am about hitting your goal then you almost always have to use the workout app and use the "walk" or "other" when taking a stroll. I think me and my girlfriend walked 3 miles and the Apple gave me 35 minutes towards the goal.
*Until the kinks are worked out I'm wearing both
* With all this said- I still love my AW
For the last month straight I've been wearing the AW on my left wrist and the Fitbit charge on my right wrist.
* The AW is always a minimum of 400-500 steps lower than the Fitbit everyday.
* The Fitbit will count almost all steps where the Apple is more discriminating. Apple will not count a 5-10 minute dog walk as exercise unless you're really moving fast.
*In order to have anything count towards the exercise you need to be moving constantly at a brisk pace.
* If you really are OCD like I am about hitting your goal then you almost always have to use the workout app and use the "walk" or "other" when taking a stroll. I think me and my girlfriend walked 3 miles and the Apple gave me 35 minutes towards the goal.
*Until the kinks are worked out I'm wearing both
* With all this said- I still love my AW
I have yet to fail to get my activity while using the workout app (I always use it so I can't speak to not using it). However I tend to get my heart rate quite high (180 area) while I'm working out. My wife is not hitting her goals but she also refuses to use the workout app. I'm not sure if she's getting her heart rate up either.
I do not get much credit for family walks in the evening (~20 min mile pace) but I wouldn't expect to either.
I do not get much credit for family walks in the evening (~20 min mile pace) but I wouldn't expect to either.
I do. If my heart rate goes above 92 it seems to kick in. I guess I was walking too slow with my daughter.
I use a 3rd party app on my runs, Nike+ GPS. I still get credit for my runs. The exact times do not always match, as like you say, it may be several min before my HR is high enough for Apple to register as exercise.
Like others, I wish the Execise ring had more options. But I'm sure that will come. Personally, I'd like an effort level grade or indicator. Move helps with that as more effort/stress more calories.
----------
I get a graph on my Nike+ GPS app when wearing a BT HR chest trap. And oddly if I don't wear the strap and run with both the Nike app AND Apple Outdoor run app going with NO strap, my Nike will still register and graph my HR. Not sure if the Nike is stealing the information from Health or what as 3rd party apps are unable to access the HR monitor in AW. Least they are not supposed too.
Mad Mac Maniac
macrumors 601
Yeah I think that's what's going on. Because you can't get heart rate when you only run the Nike+ app. I also use Nike+ and I think I'm going to start using exercise and Nike+ together. If that becomes too cumbersome I may just ditch Nike+... but I do like the extra data and I have years of history with Nike+. Also, when full apps come later this year, all my concerns with Nike+ will likely be solved.
That's me. I have years on my Nike. It works well (but not perfect) w/Apple watch. I'm sticking w/it for now. I'm sure future updates will improve Apple's app and then I'll switch.
Great Feedback!!
Thanks
To use " walk ' or " other "
Did it matter in your usage comparison or testing?
What is the difference in AW calculations? ... if you know
Just curious
Or just flip a coin and pick either one
I think it does a pretty good job. Least for me. Here is a not untypical way I use it and it recorded;
I used Other workout to do a 10 min pre-run stretch & walk. 5 min of stretching including dynamic stretching and 5 min walking with increasing speed. After the 10 min, "ended" the other workout. And it appears the Exercise ring gave me 9 min of exercise. This makes sense as roughly the 1st min I was not moving enough and HR not high enough to register as exercise.
I then did a fairly easy 35 min run at a very constant pace. I did this using the Nike+ GPS app on phone/AW on a treadmill. At the end of my run, I "stopped" the run on my Nike (using the watch), but contiued walking for another 5 minutes as a cool down.
So for my total of 50 min workout routine, the Exercise circle gave me 48 min of exercise credit. Which seems accurate. Of that 50 min total time I'd expect the first min or two to not be intense enough nor the last minute or two of cool down to register as Exercise. But I'm sure those are registering as Move.
I've seen this as well where I just ran for 45 min with no real warm up. Just running slower for the fist 10 min or so. Exercise migh only give me 42-43 min credits. I'm assuming it takes a couple min for my HR to reach whatever threshold Apple has.
I used Other workout to do a 10 min pre-run stretch & walk. 5 min of stretching including dynamic stretching and 5 min walking with increasing speed. After the 10 min, "ended" the other workout. And it appears the Exercise ring gave me 9 min of exercise. This makes sense as roughly the 1st min I was not moving enough and HR not high enough to register as exercise.
I then did a fairly easy 35 min run at a very constant pace. I did this using the Nike+ GPS app on phone/AW on a treadmill. At the end of my run, I "stopped" the run on my Nike (using the watch), but contiued walking for another 5 minutes as a cool down.
So for my total of 50 min workout routine, the Exercise circle gave me 48 min of exercise credit. Which seems accurate. Of that 50 min total time I'd expect the first min or two to not be intense enough nor the last minute or two of cool down to register as Exercise. But I'm sure those are registering as Move.
I've seen this as well where I just ran for 45 min with no real warm up. Just running slower for the fist 10 min or so. Exercise migh only give me 42-43 min credits. I'm assuming it takes a couple min for my HR to reach whatever threshold Apple has.
Yeah, some distance oddity going on for sure.
I had no problems until today and I started my walk, within 8 mins it told me I'd done 2 miles.. in reality I'd probably done about 1/2m with a good uphill start.
Stopped the activity, saved it, created a new one and it tracked normally the rest of the walk.
I had no problems until today and I started my walk, within 8 mins it told me I'd done 2 miles.. in reality I'd probably done about 1/2m with a good uphill start.
Stopped the activity, saved it, created a new one and it tracked normally the rest of the walk.
Attachments
I have noticed that your HR needs to be above 100 BPM in order to count towards the exercise goal so a leisurely stroll won't count. You DO get credit on your move ring for all of that however.
This is NOT new in 1.01. I noticed it the first few days. If you want to count your entire walk as exercise, set it to OTHER. That seems to just count the entire time you are doing whatever you are considering exercise.