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 Rob Cumberland,

    Rob Cumberland Rob Cumberland Jun 5, 2015 11:05 AM in response to arsook
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 5, 2015 11:05 AM in response to arsook

    arsook wrote:

     

    Please go to https://www.apple.com/feedback/watch.html and report the problem. Hopefully it will be addressed in the next software update.

    I have reported my issues. I'll be waiting to see what we hear from WWDC next week, if there's nothing I'll probably be returning my Watch.

     

    What's the point wearing it if you have no idea what it's doing? Visual feedback is a great principle but not when you get conflicting results trying to react to that feedback.

  • by SavannahBanker,

    SavannahBanker SavannahBanker Jun 7, 2015 2:37 PM in response to Alexroet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 2:37 PM in response to Alexroet

    My exercise ring has gone crazy recording minutes where there was no activity.  I took a nap after a brisk walk and it says I have been exercising for 303 minutes today?!?!

  • by Alexroet,

    Alexroet Alexroet Jun 8, 2015 11:57 AM in response to Tony0330
    Level 2 (324 points)
    Jun 8, 2015 11:57 AM in response to Tony0330

    what stair counter? I haven't seen stairs anywhere in apple watch

  • by Alexroet,

    Alexroet Alexroet Jun 8, 2015 12:09 PM in response to Alexroet
    Level 2 (324 points)
    Jun 8, 2015 12:09 PM in response to Alexroet

    I think I may have figured this out.... at least part of it.

     

    They say the green exercise ring measures "any activity at or above the level of a brisk walk".  So the question is, what is a brisk walk?? Somewhere in these forums someone said a brisk walk is defined as a pace of 16min/mile, and/or a HR greater than 120.

     

    I think that's what it all comes down to.  I thought the problem was when my arm wasn't swinging because I was pushing the stroller.  But then I did a long walk when I wasn't pushing the stroller and still didn't get credit.  Then I did another "outdoor walk" WITH the stroller, and I boosted my pace up, and I DID get credit- even with my arm not swinging.  So I think the key is just that there is some magic threshold of pace and/or HR and only activity above that level gets counted.  Like this morning I got 26min credit for my 30min walk/job- probably because it took me 4m to get warmed up.

     

    Of course this does not help with bicycling. 

     

    I guess it makes sense- they want 30m of real exercise, not just a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. Nonetheless I think a HR of 120 and a 16min/mile is a pretty high bar.

     

    Then the other piece of the story- I read that "other" activity is counted as a brisk walk.  Apparently that's regardless of what you're doing.  I've done an "other" workout while sitting on the couch watching tv, and it gave me minute-for-minute credit. I guess that's why.  Other counts as "brisk walk", which is what the green ring measures.

     

    So it seems that, for me at least, maybe it actually IS working as intended?

     

    I hope this gets tweaked in the next update.  Or I wish Apple would at least explain it better.

  • by Charles Sholdt,

    Charles Sholdt Charles Sholdt Jun 9, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Alexroet
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 9, 2015 8:33 AM in response to Alexroet

    I was watching the WWDC Keynote yesterday. During the Watch segment it was revealed that exercise would count toward calories burned (Move) in Watch 2.0. This was stated more as a new feature rather than as a bug that needed to be fixed.

     

    Anyway, we can all stop complaining. It will be fixed shortly.

  • by arsook,

    arsook arsook Jun 9, 2015 10:07 AM in response to Charles Sholdt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 9, 2015 10:07 AM in response to Charles Sholdt

    Hi Everyone,

     

    Here is my answer from AppleCare iOS Senior Advisor about all the problems with resting calories and active calories:

    "You asked at the perfect time.  Apple had a conference yesterday announcing that iOS 9 and the Apple Watch OS will be released in the fall.  It’s going to be an exciting time for all of us.  Prior to that the rumor is iOS 8.4 is going to be released before then, so keep an eye on your iPhone."

     

    Based on this I told my husband to return his watch and if they repair this function then he can re-buy in the fall!

     

    Keep reporting your problems to Apple and on this forum because that is the only way they will acknowledge and fix these problems.

  • by Charles Sholdt,

    Charles Sholdt Charles Sholdt Jun 9, 2015 10:44 AM in response to arsook
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 9, 2015 10:44 AM in response to arsook

    I guess I'm a little mystified about why you would want to return your watch and then go back a by the exact same one again. The fix  will be a simple software update through your iPhone.

  • by arsook,

    arsook arsook Jun 9, 2015 10:57 AM in response to Charles Sholdt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 9, 2015 10:57 AM in response to Charles Sholdt

    My husband and I bought the watch to replace a Fitbit HR.  The fitbit has a great tracker, shares with other apps, and counts calories reliably.  It also will tell you how many calories and how many steps, etc. with graphs you did in the last month in addition to many other functions.  Apples tracker is poorly designed in comparison.  Therefore,  we are very disappointed.  It is a fun device and since we both have the iphone 6 plus and do not like to carry it around at our facility it is useful to have the Apple watch notifications and phone calls.  However, that does not overcome the main purpose we bought the watch for which is the fitness tracking.

     

    Additionally, having been an early adaptor on many Apple devices my personal opinion is that the tracker will not be fixed in September.  I suggested to my husband that he simply go back to the Fitbit and repurchase when Apple watch gets their act together.  I waited too long and cannot return it.

  • by Julia Siporin,

    Julia Siporin Julia Siporin Jun 9, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Alexroet
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 9, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Alexroet

    Stair Stepper is one of 10 Workouts listed; scroll down past Outdoor Walk, Indoor Walk, Other, Indoor Cycle, Outdoor Run, Outdoor Cycle, Elliptical, Rower, ... Stair Stepper is at the bottom.

  • by pjrisner,

    pjrisner pjrisner Jun 15, 2015 6:17 AM in response to alex_h1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 6:17 AM in response to alex_h1

    I'm a 62 yr old woman; for me 120 - to 125 bps is a 'brisk walk', yet I walked 40 minutes this morning (inside) and was credited with only 2 minutes of exercise.  I did enter my age & sex, so what gives?  My fitbit was always right on!  The Apple exercise calculator is messed up

  • by angeluk69,

    angeluk69 angeluk69 Jun 15, 2015 7:14 AM in response to pjrisner
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 7:14 AM in response to pjrisner

    I don't get how this exercise ring works either...

     

    I'm a 33yr old dog walker and obviously walk at a different rate to when I'm actually exercising so don't actually expect that to show on the ring, but Ive just done 20 mins on the treadmill and averaged 125BPM, yet not one exercise minute???

     

    How on earth is this supposed to motivate someone to exercise more???

     

    I've only had my watch since Thursday and understand that the watch takes time to 'learn' the users movements to gain accuracy, but this seems daft

  • by G3gator,

    G3gator G3gator Jun 15, 2015 8:03 AM in response to angeluk69
    Level 3 (571 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 8:03 AM in response to angeluk69

    The exercise function is not working correctly. Hopefully, it will get fixed soon. Hopefully.

     

    George

  • by Charles Sholdt,

    Charles Sholdt Charles Sholdt Jun 15, 2015 8:11 AM in response to G3gator
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 8:11 AM in response to G3gator

    Use Other in the exercise app. It will correctly credit Move and Exercise. You won't be able to track distance, etc.

     

    IT was announced during the WWDC keynote that this will be fixed.

  • by Rob Cumberland,

    Rob Cumberland Rob Cumberland Jun 15, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Charles Sholdt
    Level 1 (25 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Charles Sholdt

    I watched the keynote but don't remember anything about existing features being fixed. I'll have another look.

     

    Regarding "learning" I haven't seen any improved tracking of Calories or other metrics over the 5 weeks I've used my Watch. The Watch learns your gait by checking against your Phone but that only takes 20 minutes. Workout data hasn't changed at all.

     

    A Watch could learn more about an individual's heart rate range but it doesn't seem to.

     

    I have tried a couple of Workouts again recently and the Rower Calories still far too low.

     

    Also, the Watch is showing about 110 Resting Calories/hour, although the Health App knows my Resting Calories have been recorded as around 60/hour. The total Watch Resting Calories/day would be about 1,000 Calories more than I eat.

     

    I bought a Watch that took Heart Rate every 10 minutes but now sometimes never takes my Heart Rate at all unless I select Workout. During a Rower Workout yesterday my Heart Rate was recorded as 200 to 213 for 6 minutes and after a gap of a couple of minutes 62. Neither was close.

     

    There is more than Exercise that's broken.

  • by G3gator,

    G3gator G3gator Jun 15, 2015 10:50 AM in response to Charles Sholdt
    Level 3 (571 points)
    Jun 15, 2015 10:50 AM in response to Charles Sholdt

    "It will correctly credit Move and Exercise."


    I don't know what you mean by "correctly." Yes, it will credit the minutes if you start and stop it promptly. But, little else, certainly not calories expended. 


    George

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