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Level 2

421 points

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

Best reply

Alexroet Author

Level 2

421 points

Posted on Apr 28, 2015 3:51 AM

Well I went for another walk last night. 31minutes, 1.67m. Avg heart rate 126.

But this time I called it "outdoor run" instead of outdoor walk. And it says I burned 145cal (vs 196 for my 3.2m walk in the morning) and most importantly- it gave me 31 min of exercise on my green ring. Even though i walked slower, for less time, less distance, and had a lower heart rate- I got 2x as much "credit" for this walk vs the one in the morning (that was twice as long).

So bottom line- calling it run vs walk makes a big difference

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96 replies

Oct 25, 2016 9:19 PM in response to Alexroet

I have found it does the same for me. I had a transplant and walking/exercise is a must. It recorded everything until the update and don't know if it was coincidence but it quit tracking. I reset with Apple support 5 times, sent it in and they sent it back saying nothing was wrong. I can walk sometimes and it will count and other times take the same walk and won't count at all. This has been the most disappointing $400 I have ever spent. I had a Jawbone and it finally died, stepped up to this and have been unhappy ever since. I have considered going to the Fitbit. I bike ride and the time does not count as exercise and very few calories as I pedal constantly going an average speed of 8mph with 5-6 miles daily. If i wanted something to keep up with the date and time, i would wear a watch and that's about all this has amounted to.

curty62

Level 1

4 points

Nov 15, 2016 5:58 AM in response to Alexroet

Great question! Me too.

I've read most of the answers here and it looks like Apple is keeping separate the categories of "Exercise" and "Workout."

To me this doesn't make sense. Any time I'm moving that's exercise, whether walking to the train or going for a run. Someone should tell Apple to simply add the workout to the Exercise Ring!