If I cut my lawn for 60 minutes and engage the outdoor walk workout, I use approximately 180 calories . If i cut my lawn for 60 minutes and engage the 'other' workout, I use approximately 370 calories. Why am I getting such a difference ?
Apple Watch
Hi
When recording a workout via the Workout app, choose the activity type that most closely matches your workout. This enables Apple Watch to use the most appropriate sensors and data sources when estimating the results, including using tailored calorie calculations for preset activity types.
For Outdoor Walk workouts, data sources include Location Services / GPS data when it is available. (Apple Watch Series 2 has built-in GPS capability, whereas other models can use GPS data from the paired iPhone, if it is also taken along).
In the absence of GPS data, the watch will rely your arm movements, as measured by the built-in accelerometer, when estimating results including pace and distance. When mowing a lawn, your arm will not swing in the same way as it would when walking, so estimations made on this basis may be inaccurate.
For activities that are not included within the list or that are not sufficiently similar, choose to record your workout under "Other". This credits one minute of Exercise for each full minute of the workout. Active calories for Other workouts are estimated at a rate equivalent to a brisk walk or based on data recorded by the heart rate sensor, whichever is higher.
These factors likely explain the difference in the results that were recorded for your workouts.
More information:
Wouldn't it use the heart rate as a guide then? For instance if I am lying down and my heart rate is low, I would not burn many calories, whereas when I am cutting the lawn my heart rate should be roughly the same regardless of the workout I am using. I can see some variation but am a little surprised at double the calories for the same workout. I have not noticed a sizable difference between the elliptical and the 'other' workout when using an elliptical at the gym.
Outdoor walk thinks you are walking and tries to calculate your calorie burn based on that and some other parameters such as your heart rate and weight etc. Other has no idea what you are doing and is intended for activities that don't really fit a box, as such it sets a middle of the road rate and doesn't change regardless of whether you work hard or just lie down while you are doing it.
Why do different workouts calculate different calories for the same heart rate
