How does indoor cycling get workout data?

You can calibrate your watch to improve the accuracy of health and activity related estimations including:

- Calorie estimations for workouts when using the Workout app.

- Calorie, distance, Move and Exercise estimations in the Activity App.

More information and instructions: Calibrating your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy - Apple Support

I've compared the Workout app data to other data sources. It matches fairly closely on calories, but is way, way off on distance on a treadmill. The treadmill counter and my Fitbit ZIP agree; the Apple Watch reports only about 1/3 of the actual "distance." But the Fitbit and Apple watch agree on calories. The treadmill does not.

John22 wrote:

Thanks. I will try the indoor biking workout today. Since my arms (watch on wrist) don't move then it has to get data from the iPhone in my pocket moving or my heart rate. I wonder if it is the same on the elliptical or is it related to the hand/arm movement.

Thanks again to all who chimed in.

John

I indoor cycle three times a week. When I do this my phone and other personal stuff is on the floor behind the bike. I do not have the phone in my pocket so it cannot "move" during the workout. The  Watch uses your heart rate to determine how intense the workout is and how many calories you are burning. Yesterday I forgot and left my phone in my vehicle while I went to indoor cycle. The  Watch therefore was not connected to my phone during the workout. Yet the  Watch correctly recorded the workout and all data was transferred to my phone when I got back in the vehicle.

Hi John

Depending on the circumstances and the type of activity being undertaken, the Workout app on Apple Watch draws on data from sensors including:

- Built-in accelerometer;

- Built-in heart rate sensor;

- GPS (from your iPhone, if carried with you);

- The motion coprocessor in iPhone 6 and later, if carried with you.

GPS data is not relevant for indoor activity, so the accelerometer and heart rate sensor are used.

More information:

Use the Activity app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Use the Workout app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

http://www.apple.com/uk/watch/health-and-fitness/

John22 wrote:

I have been using the Activity App on my Apple Watch to track some indoor cycling workouts. Does anyone know how it gathers data for the workout? It tracks active calories and total calories. Not sure what that means either.

Thanks.

Your heart rate is used for indoor cycling. I then use the Heart Graph app to display a graph of my heart rate during a workout to determine if my training is in my preferred zone.

John22 wrote:

It tracks active calories and total calories. Not sure what that means either.

Active calories are those that are burned as a result of doing activity, compared with resting calories which are burned even when you are at rest.

The Activity App estimates active calories in assessing your daily progress towards meeting your Move goal:

"Complete your daily Move goal by burning active calories every day. Active calories, unlike resting, are ones that you burn by standing or moving around."

Open Activity App in iPhone, scroll down. After Stand graph(blue graph), you will see Workouts. The indoor cycle will show here.