Apple Watch Tracking

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azelizabeth
azelizabeth Posts: 34 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just bought my first Apple Watch and really like it. The issue is it doesn't seem to be recording my exercise correctly. For example I walked 3 miles today and have had 13,700 steps and it says I exercised 11 minutes. I hit all my other goals, but can't seem to hit my exercise one. Any advice?

Replies

  • boomhower1820
    boomhower1820 Posts: 86 Member
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    Was it a three mile walk or was three miles for the total of the day? If it was a three mile walk did you start it as an exercise in the Workout app?
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,039 Member
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    Probably, because while walking increases NEAT, unless you're walking fast, it's not cardio.
  • Naruya8
    Naruya8 Posts: 48 Member
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    I had an Apple Watch for a year and whenever I didn't reach my exercise goal it was because I was walking too slowly and it just didn't count as exercise (as it shouldn't). You still burn calories, but it's not really exercise if you just casually walk around. Pick up the pace a bit and your rings will start to fill up ;)
  • MissusMoon
    MissusMoon Posts: 1,900 Member
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    You need to use the workout app on your watch for it to record as "exercise" in that way. Even then, much of my daily walking will record as exercise minutes, but my casual pace is 3.5 mph. Is your watch tight enough to get your heart rate?
  • Naruya8
    Naruya8 Posts: 48 Member
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    MissusMoon wrote: »
    You need to use the workout app on your watch for it to record as "exercise" in that way.

    Not really. If you walk fast enough it adds to your active minutes automatically. I never used the workout app for walking, only if I went for a run or bike ride, and I always filled my rings. Has nothing to do with HR either since it doesn't continuously measure it like Fitbit does if you're not in workout mode.
  • azelizabeth
    azelizabeth Posts: 34 Member
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    I use the workout mode... but it still is not recording when I walk... only if I run for a few minutes. Seems off to record so little when I walked and also some days I have had a lot of steps and I have been really active.

    Not sure what the issue is.
  • Naruya8
    Naruya8 Posts: 48 Member
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    azelizabeth wrote: »
    I use the workout mode... but it still is not recording when I walk... only if I run for a few minutes. Seems off to record so little when I walked and also some days I have had a lot of steps and I have been really active.

    Not sure what the issue is.

    As I said, it won't count casual walks as exercise. You really gotta be power walking for it to count as exercise. Is that what you were doing? How fast were you going? I've never had a problem with it if I was actually walking fast/breaking a sweat. If I was just walking around doing errands/shopping it would not count, as it's a much slower pace and it's not considered exercise.
  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
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    I've been wearing an Apple Watch for just over a year. It records my walks as exercise without using the Workout app, IF I'm walking fast enough. If I go for a walk with my wife and stay at her pace, it gives me the steps but no exercise minutes because her pace is too slow to register as exercise. IIRC, the threshold where it starts recording it as "Exercise" is somewhere around 3 mph (20:00 mile pace).
  • azelizabeth
    azelizabeth Posts: 34 Member
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    Thanks. Perhaps I am walking too slow.... I will attempt a faster pace. It was certainly a workout pace for me.
  • azelizabeth
    azelizabeth Posts: 34 Member
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    So today I really paid attention to my pace and such. I did C25K often running and my heart rate was up there. I really pushed, had 15k steps and my workout was 45 of total push and today exercise recorded at 10 min total. Truly makes no sense to me. Used the activity app, made my heart rate elevate, etc.
  • Anvil_Head
    Anvil_Head Posts: 251 Member
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    azelizabeth wrote: »
    So today I really paid attention to my pace and such. I did C25K often running and my heart rate was up there. I really pushed, had 15k steps and my workout was 45 of total push and today exercise recorded at 10 min total. Truly makes no sense to me. Used the activity app, made my heart rate elevate, etc.

    If you were running and pushing hard for 45 minutes, it seems to me that it should have given you credit for more than ten minutes. I'd try these two things, in this order:

    1) Unpair your watch from your phone, do a force restart, then re-pair it with the phone.

    2) If that doesn't work, take it to the Apple Store. They'll check it out and if your watch is defective they'll exchange it.

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