Alexroet

Q: What counts as "exercise" for the green ring??

Does anyone know what counts as "exercise"? i.e. what does it take to advance the green ring??  All the apple watch info I've seen says "brisk walk". I went for an "outside walk" using the workout app today. I walked for 56 minutes, and did 3.18 miles, with an average heart rate of 128.  Yet it only counted as 17 minutes towards my green exercise ring!! What gives?  We can't all be Christy Turlington training for a marathon!  I'm an out-of-shape working mom with a baby!  That's about as good "exercise" as I get these days.

My resting heart rate is pretty low, usually 55-65, so 128 is a pretty decent burn!  I think that was a brisk walk! Maybe other people walk faster, but I was pushing a stroller and there were some decent hills.

 

So does anyone know what the criteria are? Does your heart rate have to be above a certain threshold?

 

One other thought I had- I was pushing the stroller so my left arm wasn't swinging at my side- could that affect how it measures my motion?

And, would it have made a difference if I had called it "outside run" instead of "outside walk"?  I know people that jog a 17" mile...

 

If the point of this app is to get people to get out and moving around more, it's discouraging for the 'goals' to be so hard to reach.  And there are lots of articles these days that say walking may be better exercise than running.  For walking to not be "good enough" is pretty deflating.

iPhone 5, iOS 8.3

Posted on Apr 27, 2015 9:42 AM

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Q: What counts as "exercise" for the green ring??

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  • by Alexroet,

    Alexroet Alexroet Jun 15, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Charles Sholdt
    Level 2 (324 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Charles Sholdt

    Eh, it's hardly correct.  Using "other" just gives you minutes, regardless of what you're doing.  So yes it's a workaround, but it also feels like a cheat.

  • by Tony0330,

    Tony0330 Tony0330 Jun 15, 2015 11:30 AM in response to Rob Cumberland
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 11:30 AM in response to Rob Cumberland

    That's actually the more important point.  No one bought the Watch because of the exercise ring.  It's there, so we gripe about it (me included) because it's so SNAFU'd, but that's not why anyone bought the Watch.

     

    The weaknesses in heart rate monitoring are far more troubling. 

  • by G3gator,

    G3gator G3gator Jun 15, 2015 11:43 AM in response to Tony0330
    Level 3 (571 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 11:43 AM in response to Tony0330

    I didn't buy the watch for the "exercise ring" per se. But, I did buy it primarily for fitness and health tracking. And, these do not work as they should, including the exercise band. I didn't buy my car for its radio, but I have reason to expect it to function correctly.

     

    I think a number people bought the watch primarily for fitness features and have been disappointed. These problems seem to be software and will be fixed soon, I hope, as an Apple Watch owner and an Apple shareholder.

     

    George

  • by angeluk69,

    angeluk69 angeluk69 Jun 15, 2015 11:50 AM in response to G3gator
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 11:50 AM in response to G3gator

    Totally agree with what George is saying.

     

    I bought my Apple Watch as I have a huge interest in my personal fitness whilst I'm losing weight. I also had no way of actually using the Health App without using multiple 3rd party apps to write data.

     

    The watch is supposed to bridge that gap for me and I can honestly say it has helped, but when the Move App isn't working as well as it could be, then people are more than entitled to query when this will be dealt with.

     

    After all, I don't just use my phone to make calls anymore, so why would I use my watch just for telling the time (especially when its been marketed so heavily for the Health and Fitness side of things)???

  • by mattjackson81,

    mattjackson81 mattjackson81 Aug 27, 2015 12:15 AM in response to nicolafromnorth vancouver
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 12:15 AM in response to nicolafromnorth vancouver

    I had all these problems, walking with a buggy, walking with my kids, doing an hours excercise and only logging 3 minutes at the best! For a £600 watch I figured it was going back to the shop! I walked purposely moving my wrist, and still it was not logong the green ring properly. last night I decided to unpair my watch from my phone and start again. After pairing the watch again, I went for a 30 minute walk with my little one in her pushchair and my iPhone also instead of going through the woods my normal walk I decided to go round the high street thinking the gprs signal would be better. I chose brisk walk from the app on my watch then off I went with my wrist pushing the buggy. I got home, checked my watch and my exercise ring was full, well over lapped! So I came to the conclusion, that maybe when I first paired my device, perhaps the 2 20 minute walks with my iPhone maybe  the gps signal was not strong enough, and the watch got the wrong idea. It's just a theory, but pairing he device again seems to of worked wonders.

  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 Aug 27, 2015 1:51 AM in response to mattjackson81
    Level 5 (5,103 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 1:51 AM in response to mattjackson81

    Thaks for that - that's useful information

  • by Rob Cumberland,

    Rob Cumberland Rob Cumberland Aug 27, 2015 2:28 AM in response to nick101
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 2:28 AM in response to nick101

    Why doesn't Apple have anything to say about the problems people are having with their Watches?

     

    They changed how the heart rate monitor works in 1.0.1 without explaining why. They haven't responded on clear bugs like BMR on the Watch ignoring BMR in the Health app. Why are the Calories in a workout so astronomically different from non-workout exercise? And why are workout Calories so far short of the work that our exercise machines have done (simply not possible)?

     

    They must know people are wrestling with their Watches trying to get sensible, consistent results but not a word from Apple. But hey, the autumn update gives you a nightstand clock mode. Right.

     

    I wrestled for 3 months and it went on eBay.

     

    Before someone tells me, I know Apple don't read this. Maybe that's half the problem.

  • by nick101,

    nick101 nick101 Aug 27, 2015 3:17 AM in response to Rob Cumberland
    Level 5 (5,103 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 3:17 AM in response to Rob Cumberland

    1. Apple has never engaged in general discussion about bugs, issues etc. It's no surprise that they're not making an exception for the watch. They do get engaged in discussions with beta testers and members for their various seed programmes.

    2. Watch OS2 will be available in a few weeks and can be expected to include bug fixes as well as the new features that you're not interested in.

     

    My own experience is that, by and large, the watch has done a good job in the areas discussed here. Not perfect, but I never expect perfection from software - anybody's software

     

    None of that helps you much, especially since you've disposed of the watch.

  • by G3gator,

    G3gator G3gator Aug 27, 2015 3:48 AM in response to nick101
    Level 3 (571 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 3:48 AM in response to nick101

    "My own experience is that, by and large, the watch has done a good job in the areas discussed here. Not perfect, but I never expect perfection from software - anybody's software."


    That says it for me as well. I am looking forward to the coming bug fixes.


    George

  • by Rob Cumberland,

    Rob Cumberland Rob Cumberland Aug 27, 2015 5:24 AM in response to nick101
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Aug 27, 2015 5:24 AM in response to nick101

    Nick, I'm not asking for a general discussion on bugs. I'm just suggesting that early adopters - when a product is so clearly not yet ready - are beta testers. I know Apple doesn't tell us about faults or what it is doing to fix them.

     

    I'm saying maybe they should. If I had half an idea of what they were doing I might have stayed on board.

     

    You say some bugs will be fixed in the autumn but we don't actually know. We don't know which ones or when because Apple hasn't said a word.

     

    I hope it works out for you but I got tired of waiting.

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