Exercise ring inconsistencies

[kharty]

I'm coming from using a Fitbit to the AW2 and am still figuring out how the exercise ring works. On Saturday I went on a bike ride and used the stock workout app and chose outdoor bike ride. I biked 3.78 miles and it took 37 minutes and my average heart rate was 124 bpm. However I only got credit for 2 minutes of exercise out of the 30 minutes goal. On Sunday I used Endomondo to track my bike ride. I went 4.33 miles in 33 minutes and my average heart rate was 123 bpm. That ride got me 12 minutes out of 30. However on Thursday I went for a leisurely walk around my block and used the outdoor walk setting on the activity app and my 24 minute walk got me 19 out of 30 exercise minutes. The walking was much less intense than the bike rides but I got more exercise credit? I'm confused...

 

[anon(5719825)]

Last night I went for a 35 minute walk and wore two Apple watches, each paired to a different phone to see what they would say at the end of the walk. One gave me 34 minutes credit and the other, 33.

Make sure that you are walking not so leisurely as you said above. get your heart beating a bit faster then normal. Also, when you go for the walk, open the workout app and set the type to other. Using the workout app seems to insure that the minutes will actually count as exercise.

 

[kharty]

But my point was that the bike rides I took were much more intense than the walk I took and I got more exercise minutes for the walk.

 

[anon(5719825)]

My point is though is to set the workout type to other before you begin riding the bike and then make sure you select start the workout do that the timer is running. That seems to have mage the difference for me in making sure all my minutes are counted.

 

[kharty]

Ok, so I should just use the "other" workout choice for workouts rather than whatever I'm actually doing like outdoor cycle or outdoor walk?

 

[anon(5719825)]

I would try that and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Mac Guy]

I read something in the Apple Support Knowledge Base (do they call it that anymore) that mentioned something about using the natural swing of your arms for metrics.

On one colder morning I kept my hands in my pockets and my readings were much lower than normal. I haven't tried repeating the hands-in-pockets mode, and subsequent walks have had normal readings for me.

Hands on the handle bars may be affecting your results. I wish Apple were absolutely clear on how they measure workouts so we could make sense of the results.

 

[bamf-hacker]

If you start and end an exercise activity in the Apple Activity app, the time is counted towards the exercise ring. Your activity ring might not fill if you don't get your heart rate up. I just tested this to make sure. I started an other workout while standing at my desk and kept it going for ten minutes. My exercise ring went up by ten minutes, but my activity ring did not change much because my heart rate is not elevated.

 

[kharty]

Well I just went for a fairly brisk 10 minute walk on my lunch break. I used the "other" setting in the exercise app and exercise ring shows the entire 10 minutes. It also counted on my move ring. Still puzzled on why when I used the outdoor cycle setting and biked for 37 minutes on Saturday I only got two minutes counted towards exercise.

 

[Mac Guy]

Still puzzled on why when I used the outdoor cycle setting and biked for 37 minutes on Saturday I only got two minutes counted towards exercise.

Maybe try wearing your Watch on your ankle?

 

[eyecrispy]

I'm coming from using a Fitbit to the AW2 and am still figuring out how the exercise ring works. On Saturday I went on a bike ride and used the stock workout app and chose outdoor bike ride. I biked 3.78 miles and it took 37 minutes and my average heart rate was 124 bpm. However I only got credit for 2 minutes of exercise out of the 30 minutes goal. On Sunday I used Endomondo to track my bike ride. I went 4.33 miles in 33 minutes and my average heart rate was 123 bpm. That ride got me 12 minutes out of 30. However on Thursday I went for a leisurely walk around my block and used the outdoor walk setting on the activity app and my 24 minute walk got me 19 out of 30 exercise minutes. The walking was much less intense than the bike rides but I got more exercise credit? I'm confused...

Strange. I don't bike so can't tell you why it's that way, but I've not had problems with indoor/outdoor walks and runs. I also use other for weights. They all work fine. But I do keep my HR elevated. Wonder if there's a bug in the bike setting.

 

[knoxDavid]

I also wish Apple was clearer on how the exercise ring determines if it fills. I do believe heart rate is a factor as I've noticed on my outdoor walks if my heart rate stays up I get more minutes (never all). However, I do get good results on Outdoor runs and elliptical machines. Rene has posted on iMore that if you have an activity you do that you feel is not giving you credit to use other as it will give you full credit for your time (at the same level as walking I believe). I do that for Yoga as I consider it "exercise" but the watch does not

 

[anon(5719825)]

Last night, I went out to buy some groceries. Just before I left the house, I opened the exercise app on the watch and quick started the "other" workout. Total time to the store and back was 49 minutes. I got credited 49 minutes excericise and filled all the rings just by going to the store.

 

[Mac Guy]

I do believe heart rate

Correct. I read that on a Apple Support page IIRC. But there's certainly more to in than that. I wish I knew what it was.

 

[eyecrispy]

I also wish Apple was clearer on how the exercise ring determines if it fills. I do believe heart rate is a factor as I've noticed on my outdoor walks if my heart rate stays up I get more minutes (never all). However, I do get good results on Outdoor runs and elliptical machines. Rene has posted on iMore that if you have an activity you do that you feel is not giving you credit to use other as it will give you full credit for your time (at the same level as walking I believe). I do that for Yoga as I consider it "exercise" but the watch does not

Yep. I believe that's how it works. If you choose "Other", it will credit you the say way it does for walking.