JohnZonie

Q: Workout calories expended accuracy

Hi,

 

After a few workouts with my trainer, it appears the Watch's calculation of calories expended is off by a factor of 2. I have verified my personal data entry (age, weight, height, sex entries as being correct. During a recent spin workout, my heart rate was appropriately elevated, yet the reported calories were 296. My trainer estimated it should have been more like 600-700, based on the amount of work I was doing. Similar spin participants reported calorie counts in the higher range with other measurement devices (Fitbit, Polar, etc.)

 

Anyone else seeing this kind of issue?

Apple Watch

Posted on May 3, 2015 11:22 AM

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Q: Workout calories expended accuracy

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  • by mpamike,

    mpamike mpamike May 18, 2015 9:03 AM in response to JohnZonie
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    May 18, 2015 9:03 AM in response to JohnZonie

    I'm wondering what all of that BS about the secret fitness lab and 2 years of research... I think Apple needs to step it up a notch !

  • by ChangedtoGSIII,

    ChangedtoGSIII ChangedtoGSIII May 28, 2015 9:59 AM in response to mpamike
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    May 28, 2015 9:59 AM in response to mpamike

    I agree with you.  I'm very frustrated.  I've calibrated, run outside, inside, spent hours on elliptical machines and stair steppers.  The numbers reported by the watch are still way off.  I have a MSFT Band, that is bulky and uncomfortable but reports accurate numbers. 

     

    I'm close to returning the Apple Watch.  They should have written better apps that accurately report exercise results.  To me, this is one of the most important features of the watch.   Scanning your boarding pass is a fun gimmick, but exercise is critical to me and Apple needs to provide a correction ASAP.

  • by ChangedtoGSIII,

    ChangedtoGSIII ChangedtoGSIII May 28, 2015 10:01 AM in response to bobby_d
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    May 28, 2015 10:01 AM in response to bobby_d

    I tried it, it did nothing to improve the reporting results.

  • by aline56182,

    aline56182 aline56182 May 28, 2015 10:50 AM in response to ChangedtoGSIII
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    May 28, 2015 10:50 AM in response to ChangedtoGSIII

    I'm sorry to hear that they haven't fixed that yet. I agree that it was one of the most important features of this watch. I used it mainly for that reasin and I returned it until they fixed the issue. Hope you're able to return yours still or hopefully they resolve the issue. Thand you for you response to this post.

  • by ChangedtoGSIII,

    ChangedtoGSIII ChangedtoGSIII May 28, 2015 10:54 AM in response to aline56182
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    May 28, 2015 10:54 AM in response to aline56182

    I am going to arrange for a return.  Like I said before, the MSFT Band is bulky and  less comfortable, but at least it correctly reports calories burned.  Also has UV sensor and includes email, messages, and phone alerts.

     

    Thanks

  • by aaistrup,

    aaistrup aaistrup May 28, 2015 10:55 AM in response to JohnZonie
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    May 28, 2015 10:55 AM in response to JohnZonie

    I'm also in the same boat.  My husband bought me the apple watch so that I didn't have to wear my polar watch with chest strap anymore.  I've been take the same indoor 45min spin class for over a year now.  I consistently post calorie burns between 450-600.  Today I wore my apple watch instead and used the workout app for indoor cycle.  The same class only yielded a 284 calorie burn.  This just can't be correct.  My friends all purchased Fitbit watches.....and now I'm sad that my WAY expensive apple watch can't seem to accurately calculate my calorie burn.  I had accurate heart rates all throughout my workout.  All similar to my polar watch with chest strap so I know that it was picking up on my heart rate correctly.  It HAS to be an INCORRECT calorie burn algorithm Apple is using! I'm very disappointed!

  • by Kpfromkop,

    Kpfromkop Kpfromkop May 28, 2015 11:36 AM in response to aaistrup
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    May 28, 2015 11:36 AM in response to aaistrup

    I started getting accurate elliptical calorie reading after Apple watch update 1.0.1 and then calibrating it outside.

  • by ChangedtoGSIII,

    ChangedtoGSIII ChangedtoGSIII May 28, 2015 11:53 AM in response to Joseph Bacon
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    May 28, 2015 11:53 AM in response to Joseph Bacon

    I have the exact same problem.  It happens on the elliptical and stair master at the gym, and happens when I run.  I use MapMyRun, Garmin and Polar with chest strap (not at the same time, but during different runs to compare/contrast), and I use Microsoft's Band.  The Garmin, Polar, and Band are within 10 - 15 calories on a 4 mile run, or 45 minutes on the equipment.  Frankly, the equipment is close too.  The Apple Watch is off anywhere from 50% to 40% less calories reported burned than the other devices.

     

    I did the calibration and update to 1.0.1 and it changed maybe 5%, but is still to far off to be usable.  I'm going to Apple Store tomorrow.  If they can't fix, they can keep the watch and I'll keep the bulky, less comfortable, but accurate Microsoft Band.

  • by ChangedtoGSIII,

    ChangedtoGSIII ChangedtoGSIII May 28, 2015 11:57 AM in response to aaistrup
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    May 28, 2015 11:57 AM in response to aaistrup

    That's the strange thing, the Heart Rate is dead on, but the calories burned is way off.  I do the Elliptical and StairMaster at the gym and I wear the Apple Watch and Microsoft Band so I can compare and contrast.  They both report the same Heart Rate, but the Band reports almost twice as many calories burned as the Apple Watch.  Also, the Band reports Heart Rate, Exercise Time, and Total Calories burned on one screen; you have to swipe three screens on the Apple Watch.  The Band also costs $199, not $399. 

  • by Texas Susan,

    Texas Susan Texas Susan May 28, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Alxmgt
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    May 28, 2015 1:44 PM in response to Alxmgt

    She will do an hour of fast walking on the treadmill and the watch says she burned 200 calories, while the treadmill says 1000

     

    The only way a fast walk will burn 1,000 calories an hour is if you're walking about 10 mph. The basic rule of thumb is that you burn about 100 calories per mile. That being said, 200 calories obviously is too low; it's probably more like 400-500. I don't worry as much about the calories counted with the Apple Watch as I do my distance and pace when I'm walking or jogging. It seems to do as fine a job with those as my Garmin GPS watch. I just wish it recorded mile splits.

     

    Also, I wouldn't assume that other fitness wearables are more or less accurate than the Apple Watch. I used to jog/walk with a Nike FuelBand and also used a FitBit. The FitBit was extremely inaccurate with its step count (always at least twice as high as the FuelBand; 10,000 steps usually yields five miles for me, so it was easy to judge the accuracy/inaccuracy). The FuelBand often seemed to underestimate the calorie expenditure. Hard to imagine that any fitness wearable is 100% accurate.

     

    I like how the Apple Watch pushes me to close those rings!

  • by eduardfromchicago,

    eduardfromchicago eduardfromchicago Jun 8, 2015 12:45 PM in response to Winston Churchill
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    Jun 8, 2015 12:45 PM in response to Winston Churchill

    Hi said fast walking...so your question must be how fast she was? I think with 4 mph you can burn on random hill mode 1000 calories per hour

  • by Texas Susan,

    Texas Susan Texas Susan Jun 8, 2015 1:10 PM in response to eduardfromchicago
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    Jun 8, 2015 1:10 PM in response to eduardfromchicago

    Still doubtful that 4 mph on random hill mode really burns 1,000 calories per hour. Maybe climbing Pikes Peak it would, though!

     

    Why trust the accuracy of the treadmill versus any of the fitness wearables?

  • by eduardfromchicago,

    eduardfromchicago eduardfromchicago Jun 8, 2015 1:15 PM in response to Texas Susan
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    Jun 8, 2015 1:15 PM in response to Texas Susan

    OF course was verified with an another health device: wahoo tickr run per example...I did it many times and each time very accurate with treadmill

  • by Texas Susan,

    Texas Susan Texas Susan Jun 8, 2015 1:24 PM in response to eduardfromchicago
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    Jun 8, 2015 1:24 PM in response to eduardfromchicago

    First of all, the original poster never said what mode his wife was using, just that she was fast walking at 4 mph. Second, did you fast walk 4 mph on a treadmill, and it said you burned 1,000 calories? Is that what you're saying? Or are you saying that that the treadmill's calorie estimation is the same as another fitness device that you've used?

  • by eduardfromchicago,

    eduardfromchicago eduardfromchicago Jun 8, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Texas Susan
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    Jun 8, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Texas Susan

    I did on treadmill fast walking random hill and I checked with wahoo trck run(wahoo app) and the result was apox 1000 cal/65min

    So can be done!

    Don't be so picki 

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