Exercise has stopped calculating on the activity app

Unless your metrics match the criteria 3mph would NOT count as exercise. Apple clearly states that it must be a minimum of "A Brisk Walk" to recored. Unless you are over 80 and shorter female then 3mph is not going to count as exercise. It is just casual walking.

Fitness tracking: For accurate fitness tracking, check that:

You have enabled Wrist Detection:

- On your iPhone, in the Apple Watch app: My Watch > General > Wrist Detection - on

You have enabled Fitness Tracking:

- On your iPhone, in the Apple Watch app: My Watch > Privacy > Motion & Fitness - check that Heart Rate and Fitness Tracking are both enabled.

Also, when you are not using the Workout app, it's also important for your arm to swing naturally as you walk or run, because the Activity app relies on arm motion and the accelerometer to track movement.

Exercise: To register progress in the Exercise ring within the Activity app, you need to engage in activity that equals or exceeds "the intensity of a brisk walk".

Personal information: When you first used the Activity app, you entered personal information: birthdate, gender, height and weight. Apple Watch uses that information (via the Activity and Workout apps) "to help calculate a variety of metrics for your workouts and daily activity". Metrics are "a set of figures or statistics that measure results" (dictionary). So the watch is using your personal information to help it assess your activity level.

You may have originally entered inaccurate information and/or it may since have changed (eg weight loss / gain). To keep it accurate (and enable your watch to use accurate metrics) check and edit your information:

- On your iPhone in the Apple Watch app, go to: My Watch > Health - tap on Edit at the top right.

Calibration: You can calibrate Apple Watch to help it deliver more accurate results including:

- Exercise, Move, calorie and distance estimations in the Activity app.

- Distance and pace estimations for walking (and running) workouts in the Workout app when GPS is not available (eg if you don't take your iPhone with you).

- Overall calorie estimations for many of the other workout categories in the Workout app.

Follow the instructions here:

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

Workaround / solution: To achieve Exercise ring progress in the Activity app without necessarily achieving the required exercise level, try recording your walk via the Workout app using "Other" as the activity type (when you start the activity, choose between available goal types by swiping sideways or choose Open to start the workout without setting a goal).

More information:

Use the Activity app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Use the Workout app on Apple Watch - Apple Support

You calibrate by walking for at least 20 minutes with the phone with you - that way the watch gets to use the phone's GPS to measure distance and calculate stride length. Details here:

https://help.apple.com/watch/#/apd0443fb403

So, looking at your posts - if you start a Workout, you get credit for the exercise, but if you don't start a workout, you get no credit? Is that correct?

Is the other stuff being recorded in the Activity app (calories, steps, stand time)?

If so, have you calibrated the Watch by taking the phone with you when you walk for at least 20 minutes?

If so, try to reset the Watch - hold the digital cron and the side button together until the Apple logo appears - around 10 seconds

I have the same problem too and now I fix it by reset the watch. But recently happen too frequent and the activity app stop working after I leave it on the table for a while so would like to know what's happening to the app as well. The workout app works well and record the activity without problem even the activity app is not working.

But, I don't think Apple has said what a "brisk walk" is.

From the various comments here, it seems to me that it is in the range of 3.5 - 4.0 mph. Does it vary by age and size? Is there anything to suggest it does?

George

Because it is relative to YOUR metrics (age, sex, hight, weight [and other metrics could be added to make it more accurate]). Like I said if you are a shorter elderly female then 3mph might qualify as a brisk walk. If you are a 40 years old taller male then you may need to go closer to 5mph to qualify.

The key is that your heart rate is raised significantly above resting rate. Speed is a factor, and it may well be that the app has a lower speed limit, but that's not necessarily the case.

My brisk walking pace (not power walking, simply walking briskly) is 4 mph *on flat terrain*. Uphill, it might be as low as 2 mph, depending on the gradient. I'll still get tracked. Your brisk walking pace might be very different. It would be hard to get a lot higher than 4 mph without entering power-walking territory. On the other hand, if you're not in good health, or significantly overweight, or have a muscle/joint problem etc, your brisk (as in having to work to maintain) pace might be a lot slower.

I do agree with those others who have suggested that less than 3 mph could be too slow for this to register, but the factors I've outlined might mean that that speed represents quite some work for you.

Here is some data that might be helpful.

I've just completed a roughly 4-mile walk on flat terrain, and the Activity app has tracked it accurately I didn't start a Workout. As recorded:

- Average pace over the walk, which included a couple of stops, each of a few minutes, is recorded as 21.55 minutes/mile (i.e. something under 3mph). Actual walking pace would have been higher, around 18 min/mile (about 3.5 mph).

- Heart rate was around 80 bpm, against my normal resting rate of 55-60 bpm.

- I'm 6ft and medium weight for my height

What does that tell us:

- The Activity app can record mild activity. Although my heart rate was elevated, it was nowhere near the aerobic zone (which, for me would be from around 95-100 ppm). You certainly don't have to be pushing 5 mph to move the needle.

- Tha activity can be recorded without starting a workout. It's possible that starting a workout raises the bar.

The OP hasn't yet been specific about precisely what hasn't been recorded (see my first response). But it's a reasonable supposition that *something* should have been recorded, and we can't *assume* that slow walking speed is the only cause.

It seems that the evidence, at least presented in this thread, is anecdotal. And, without enough data (age, weight, height, resting heart rate), to draw any well founded conclusion as to what actually does determine "exercise." All Apple has said, to my knowledge, is "brisk walk" without defining it.

FWIW, I dont think anyone here has posted the experience of getting 'exercise' credit at a pace of 3 mph or less. Were the calculation different for each person, I would expect for some, this would be "brisk."

Also, it doesn't make sense to me that heart rate would be the determining factor because the watch is not constantly monitoring one's heart rate to determine if an exercise has commenced (unless triggered by starting a "Workout."

George

The difficulty is not just the lack of a large body of structured evidence, it's that what little there is is contaminated by speculation - not surprising, since we have so little from Apple to go on.

However - I have posted some actual data that shows (a) exercise bing recorded at an overall walking rate less than 3 mph and (b) heart rate recored during it. I take your point that, in the absence of a Workout, heart rate measurement isn't frequent enough to be the sole factor. But - the start of this thread was the OP's issue that the exercise isn't being recorded *at all*, and the favoured hypothesis has been that the OP just wasn't walking fast enough.

I have demonstrated that the Activity app is able to recognise and record exercise at a relatively slow rate of walking - possibly not as slow as the OP, but still significantly slower than some of the speeds that have been advanced as possible thresholds.

We need the OP to do 2 things if we're to help him/her with the problem:

1. Provide more detail about what precisely isn't (or is) being recorded

2. Carry out the diagnostic/repair steps that have been posted by Jonathan and me.

Here are some 'back of the envelope' calculations. Cardio exercise is usually divided into 5 zones.

1. 50-60% of MHR (minimal and usually considered a starter point for sedentary individuals)

2. 60-70% of MHR

3. 70-80% of MHR (*Cardio zone and where you want to be at most of the time)

4. 80-90% of MHR

5. 90-100%of MHR

In all likelihood you would need to achieve at least zone 2 for Apple Watch to count. Zone 1 is minimal and is more for people just starting with health conditions.

**MHR is related to your age (among other things). An easy way to guesstimate it is the old stand by 220-age. So lets say the OP is 65, Then 220-65=155. So 155x60%=93 for the botton of Zone 2. Then the OP would need to maintain a AHR of 93 or higher in order to get any meaningful exercise if he/she is 65 or older.

*Many trainers and physiologist agree you should be in at least zone 3 (aka: cardio zone) most of the time in order to see meaningful improvements.

** Here are some great MHR calculators. http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm

Noting beats the feeling of achieving your MHR but can only be safely (and practically) done by trained athlete.

While that's sound info, I don't think it's relevant to my post:

1. The OP posted that in his case, Activity wasn't recording anything. Various people suggested that he/she wasn't walking fast enough for it to register. I posted my example to suggest that that might not be the whole of the answer

2. Your points about the relative values of the various aerobic levels do, indeed, confirm to general opinion. But they're not relevant to the OP's post.

3. If you think I need advice on my fitness programme, thank you, but I don't believe I do. I'm not 80, and I'm not looking at my walk as a way of improving my fitness. I took the walk because it was a nice day. It happened to provide an opportunity to get some empirical data related to the responses to the OP's post.

When I want to improve my fitness, I run. One day, I'll beat my marathon best of 3.23. But I won't be doing it by walking.

One more anecdotal piece of evidence.

Last night I walked from the ball game (which my team won!) to my car at a fast pace. How fast? I don't know but I was passing everyone else. I recorded 15 minutes of 'Exercise" (no workout app going). I just checked and there was not a single heart-rate measurement during that time. My heart rate could not have determined that I was 'exercising.'

George

G3gator wrote:

Last night I walked .. to my car at a fast pace. I just checked and there was not a single heart-rate measurement during that time. My heart rate could not have determined that I was 'exercising.'

Jonathan UK wrote:

when you are not using the Workout app .. the Activity app relies on arm motion and the accelerometer to track movement.