Yet, if I call my walk a 'run' in the workout app, it gives me more exercise minutes- even for the same distance/time/pace/heart rate. So I suspect the accelerometer is the key. But still- it can calculate my distance, it knows my time, it knows my heart rate. that's 1/4(ish) of what it should be! I'm suspecting the problem is that I'm pushing the baby's stroller, so my left arm isn't moving as much. My bottom line is- several times now I have walked for almost an hour, at a brisk pace (3.5mph), and with a HR >120, yet it only 'gives' me 15 min on my exercise ring. how is 'outside run' different than 'outside walk'? How elliptical different from rower different from stair stepper? (I understand that inside vs outside is about using GPS or not). does HR have to be >130? Or 80% of your max? something like that?Īlso- what's the difference between the workout choices in the workout app? i.e. exertion)? Does it use the accelerometer to figure out how fast my arm is moving? Is it some combo of all of these? What is (are) the threshold(s)? i.e. What I'm trying to figure out is: HOW does the watch determine what is ' movement that equals or exceeds a brisk walk'? Does it use GPS to measure my distance, and divide that my the time to get a pace? Does it use the heart rate sensor to monitor HR (i.e. For walking to not be 'good enough' is pretty deflating.

And there are lots of articles these days that say walking may be better exercise than running. If the point of this app is to get people to get out and moving around more, it's discouraging for the 'goals' to be so hard to reach. One other thought I had- I was pushing the stroller so my left arm wasn't swinging at my side- could that affect how it measures my motion?Īnd, would it have made a difference if I had called it 'outside run' instead of 'outside walk'? I know people that jog a 17' mile. So does anyone know what the criteria are? Does your heart rate have to be above a certain threshold? My resting heart rate is pretty low, usually 55-65, so 128 is a pretty decent burn! I think that was a brisk walk! Maybe other people walk faster, but I was pushing a stroller and there were some decent hills. Yet it only counted as 17 minutes towards my green exercise ring!! What gives? We can't all be Christy Turlington training for a marathon! I'm an out-of-shape working mom with a baby! That's about as good 'exercise' as I get these days. I walked for 56 minutes, and did 3.18 miles, with an average heart rate of 128. I went for an 'outside walk' using the workout app today. what does it take to advance the green ring? All the apple watch info I've seen says 'brisk walk'. Does anyone know what counts as 'exercise'? i.e.

Maintain a brisk pace of instruction