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 bobby_d,

     bobby_d bobby_d May 3, 2015 11:54 AM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 3 (770 points)
    May 3, 2015 11:54 AM in response to JohnZonie

    Greetings JohnZonie,

     

    It seems you are concerned about the workout results after using your Apple Watch. The articles below may help you calibrate your Apple Watch for better results:

     

    Calibrating your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support

     

    Get the best measurement

    Your Apple Watch will estimate your measurements during workouts based on the information that you entered during setup, but you can further improve its accuracy using these tips:

    • Wearing your Apple Watch regularly can improve the accuracy of the Activity and Workout apps.
    • Choose the Workout that best matches what you’re doing. For example, if you're running on a treadmill, choose Indoor Run.
    • For GPS accuracy when you walk, run, or cycle outdoors, select the appropriate Workout and bring your iPhone. This will also help calibrate the accelerometer in Apple Watch for times when you don’t have GPS, such as during treadmill workouts or when you're running outside without your phone.
    • To get the most accurate heart rate measurement when you use Workout, make sure your Apple Watch fits snugly on top of your wrist. The heart rate sensor should stay close to your skin.
    • You can also use another heart rate monitoring device, such as a chest strap. To pair an external heart rate monitor with your Apple Watch, tap the Settings app on the Home screen, then tap Bluetooth and select it under Health Devices. Learn more about the Apple Watch heart rate sensor, its accuracy, and its limitations.

     

    Use the Workout app on Apple Watch - Apple Support

     

     

    Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities.

     

     

    Best,

    Bobby_D

  • by JohnZonie,

    JohnZonie JohnZonie May 3, 2015 12:08 PM in response to bobby_d
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2015 12:08 PM in response to bobby_d

    Hi Bobby_D,

     

    I've seen this response on other posts but it doesn't address my issue. The heart rate reported by the Watch is consistent with other measurement equipment in the gym, such as on a treadmill, elliptical and indeed even a heart rate app on the iPhone. So I don't think it is the heart rate accuracy per se. During the spin class mentioned above, my heart rate was around  125-135 (70 year-old male, 6', 220 lb.) for most of 35 minutes. I think something else is afoot here - perhaps an algorithm issue or ???

  • by jim49golf,

    jim49golf jim49golf May 3, 2015 2:55 PM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2015 2:55 PM in response to JohnZonie

    JohnZonie,

    I agree, that standard response of calibrating and snug to the wrist does not answer the issue of why the BPM is correctly reflected but the calories are off by a significant margin of 2X. Something else is askew here.

     

    My wife purchased the Apple Watch for all the neat things it does but mostly for it's activity app.  She has been very disappointed with the performance of the Activity / Exercise apps. She uses the Digifit app with a Polar heart rate strap to measure her exercise calories while rowing, spinning, HIIT (high intensity interval training), and weight lifting. All these activities are recorded via her heart rate. Her average time spent doing these exercises is 1 hour 15 minutes daily and she averages 700 to 1,000 calories depending on time and intensity for each day.

    She has been wearing the Apple Watch, tightly on her wrist concurrently with the Digifit and Polar strap (Polar strap not connected to Watch). Exercise app set to Indoor Cycling for the duration of her exercise period. The average activity calories for the past week per day (as shown on the dashboard) is 394 (all daily activity). Generally Digifit registers an average heart rate of 150 BPM during the exercise period while the Apple Watch also registers 150 BPM. Since all of her exercises do not involve distance calculations it seems unneccessary to be concerned about calibrating with a GPS app.

    All this being said, how can she get the Apple Watch to accurately reflect calories burned during her workouts? It is currently only showing about 1/3 of the total for the workout period.  All her personal data (height, weight, age) are the same in both the Apple Watch iPhone app and the Digifit app. Additionally, the Kaiser bike digital readouts show 500 calories just for the indoor cycle ride (no personal data on bike).

  • by JohnZonie,

    JohnZonie JohnZonie May 3, 2015 3:15 PM in response to jim49golf
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2015 3:15 PM in response to jim49golf

    Hi Jim,

     

    Thanks for the reply and info! You wife's data comparison is compelling! I'll bet the calorie burn algorithm used in the watch needs to be modified. Since pretty much all exercises can be rated as an increase in basal metabolism, then I suspect average heart rate compared to so-called maximum heart rate can be used to determine how hard the user is working and therefore establish the basic calorie burn per lb. of weight and minute of exercise. Here is a link that gives some typical data: http://www.nutribase.com/exercala.htm It would be interesting to run your wife's numbers for various exercises to see how it compares to the Digifit (and Watch).

     

    John

  • by Joseph Bacon,

    Joseph Bacon Joseph Bacon May 3, 2015 4:39 PM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (49 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 3, 2015 4:39 PM in response to JohnZonie

    I'm getting a major discrepancy on Calories burned between the cardio equipment and Apple Watch. Both agree on my heartbeat rate, but my Apple Watch consistently shows 40% less calories burned than the cardio equipment shows when I factor in my age and weight. If i don't factor that in when I start the cardio equipment, Apple Watch still shows 30% less calories being burned. This has been consistent since I got the watch last Wednesday and I've been to the YMCA every day.

  • by Alxmgt,

    Alxmgt Alxmgt May 3, 2015 6:41 PM in response to bobby_d
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2015 6:41 PM in response to bobby_d

    Hi bobby_d,

         I bought my wife the 38mm sport watch.  Her watch is having the same issues as JohnZonie.  The calories (both resting & active) are way off.  She will do an hour of fast walking on the treadmill and the watch says she burned 200 calories, while the treadmill says 1000...  She begins the workouts by selecting a workout type on the watch first.  She's been using it since April 24th and it has never been accurate.  Very disappointing.  The watch is basically useless as a fitness tracker because you cant trust its accuracy.  

  • by eTina007,

    eTina007 eTina007 May 3, 2015 9:11 PM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 3, 2015 9:11 PM in response to JohnZonie

    I've noticed the same issue. I have participated in a Spin/Cycling class that was 55 mins long. I normally burn between 500-700 calories but the watch is only showing 200-300 calories burned. Huge discrepancy. The heart rate monitor has been accurate. I checked to make sure all my personal info was accurate in terms of age, weight, height, etc.  I hope that Apple can send an update for the exercise app!!! This was the main reason I got the Apple Watch.

  • by hockeymom3,

    hockeymom3 hockeymom3 May 4, 2015 4:30 AM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 4, 2015 4:30 AM in response to JohnZonie

    I am having the exact same issue.  A 55 minute spin class on the Apple watch says 232 total calories and 148 Active calories whereas the Polar Watch says 364 (both watches show the same average heart rate of 124) during the class. I posted a similar issue yesterday after a 2 hour bike ride with the apple watch showing 35% fewer calories than than the Polar Watch and 50% fewer calories than a general biking calorie calculator.

     

    Wearing the watch tighter doesn't make sense since both are showing the same average heart rate.

    GPS accuracy shouldn't be an issue in a spin class.

    My iPhone has always been with me.

    I've worn the watch every day, except when sleeping, for 6 days and there has been no improvement in accuracy.

  • by Kpfromkop,

    Kpfromkop Kpfromkop May 17, 2015 4:33 AM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2015 4:33 AM in response to JohnZonie

    I bought Apple watch thinking that it would consider heartbeat while counting calories , I am thinking of returning this watch. 

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill May 17, 2015 5:25 AM in response to Alxmgt
    Level 10 (103,375 points)
    Apple TV
    May 17, 2015 5:25 AM in response to Alxmgt

    Alxmgt wrote:

     

    Hi bobby_d,

         I bought my wife the 38mm sport watch.  Her watch is having the same issues as JohnZonie.  The calories (both resting & active) are way off.  She will do an hour of fast walking on the treadmill and the watch says she burned 200 calories, while the treadmill says 1000...  She begins the workouts by selecting a workout type on the watch first.  She's been using it since April 24th and it has never been accurate.  Very disappointing.  The watch is basically useless as a fitness tracker because you cant trust its accuracy. 

    Are you sure that your disappointment isn't due to wishful thinking. Without passing comment on whether an active count of 200 is correct or not, I do think a thousand for an hour of walking is kinda optimistic.

  • by Kyleotis,

    Kyleotis Kyleotis May 17, 2015 5:57 AM in response to JohnZonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 17, 2015 5:57 AM in response to JohnZonie

    Yes!  I'm having the exact same problem during spin class!  It says I've burned 218 calories.  And yes, my heart rate, height, weight are all correct.  I agree the algorithm must be incorrect.

  • by JohnZonie,

    JohnZonie JohnZonie May 17, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Kyleotis
    Level 1 (36 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 17, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Kyleotis

    Until Apple fixes the algorithm, here is a link to a web site to calculate calories burned: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie- burn-calculator.aspx

     

    This seems to agree pretty well with other measurements I've seen. At this point, the Workout app is a convenient way to get average heart rate and duration of the (indoor) exercise only. I use this calculator for spin, elliptical and indoor bicycling. I use this calculator to log the results into Notes. Recent 47:41 spin with avg. 133 bpm  shows 436 on Watch and a more reasonable 760 by calculator (70 y-o male, 220 lb., VO2Max: 47.5)

     

    Hope Apple fixes the Workout app!

  • by aline56182,

    aline56182 aline56182 May 18, 2015 8:17 AM in response to eTina007
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2015 8:17 AM in response to eTina007

    I'm having the same exact issue as well. I bought for the same reason and it's very disappointing when you spend that kind of money and try to rationalize the cost of it to only find its not as accurate. I'm debating on returning it and just going back to the Fitbit for activity and Polar for calorie tracking.

  • by mpamike,

    mpamike mpamike May 18, 2015 8:59 AM in response to Joseph Bacon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2015 8:59 AM in response to Joseph Bacon

    I'm having the exact same issue too but mine is the "Indoor Bike" setting. The Life Fitness upright bike for a 65 min workout reports 640 cals the watch reports 424 active / 137 resting 561 total thats a far cry from 640.

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