Apple Watch User Questions

scarey0022
scarey0022 Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I made a decision to get the Apple Watch series 1 instead of the Fitbit because I believed it would be more versatile and whatnot. I usually go by my treadmill or MFP calorie input when I do cardio. Today I did variations (3 mph to 4 mph to 2.5 mph to 4 mph, etc). Not only did my watch say double the calories the treadmill did, I reached a mile in about 0.17 miles before the treadmill said so. Essentially, I’m wondering which would be more accurate? My treadmill is nothing special if that would account for anything, not gym quality or anything.

Replies

  • mroloff
    mroloff Posts: 16 Member
    I've been using an apple watch for my workouts for about 2 years now. I trust it more for calorie burn than machines or MFP since it accounts for your heart rate and weight (with the caveat that these are far from perfect so it's more a guideline than a hard and fast truth) but I've found it be consistently wonky for distance on indoor activity, by a small-ish amount like you experienced. It's more reliable on distance for outdoor activity where you're actually going somewhere. For indoor distance tracking, I go with whatever the treadmill says on the assumption the manufacturer knows how long their own treadmill belt is and programmed the machine accordingly.
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    Neither your watch or treadmill will be exceedingly accurate. Your best bet is to pick one to use as a starting point, stay consistent using that number for a while and see what the effect of eating that number of calories is over 3 weeks or so and adjust accordingly.
  • scarey0022
    scarey0022 Posts: 15 Member
    Thank you guys for everything! From what I gather, the watch would be more accurate calorie wise (although I am aware there’s really no truly 100% accurate reading) since it does take into account my physical stats and my heart rate. As far as distance I’m not really sure how it comes to it’s distance conclusion while a person is on a treadmill. I let my watch arm move freely as if I was running outdoors so it could try to gather my movements as I was told that will give a more accurate reading but i don’t know about it! Everything about treadmill running with it seems a little off, but as I am not able to get out to find a place to run outside nearly any, this is gonna be awfully difficult.
  • cleesus
    cleesus Posts: 87 Member
    You can always use a running app like Nike Running Club, I used it while running on treadmills and it was accurate for distance. It also has an apple watch app
  • aq16
    aq16 Posts: 6 Member
    I would say watch. I’ve had one for about 3 years and it seems pretty accurate with the active calories. Congrats on the watch! I love it

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