How does apple watch estimate calories for different types of exercise?

[Anonymous]

I'm asking because mine doesn't seem correlated at all with my heart rate. The most obvious one is that I'll do a peloton class for 45 minutes, have an average HR of around 140, and get 250 active calories. Swimming 45 minutes with an average heart rate around 125 gives me 450 calories.

I know it's an algorithm but you'd think it would be somewhat correlated with HR.

[Anonymous]

Poorly

[Anonymous]

Swimming will always burn more calories. Your entire body is in resistance against the water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swimming will always burn more calories. Your entire body is in resistance against the water.

+1 These watches are notoriously inaccurate but it makes perfect sense for it to report swimming burning more than sitting on a bike.

[Anonymous]

your watch also probably doesn't get a consistent reading for HR while you are swimming.

[Anonymous]

I don't know but this is why I returned mine. I compare it with the Fitbit and it's so off. Like it doesn't make sense, it's so off. I will say the Peloton may be like my Studio mirror and miscalculate the calories completely because the watch is synced to the mirror. Yesterday I did a 26 minute easy run burning 192 calories at 142bpm. Then 28.5 minutes on a weight lifting class burning 291 (why is active and total calories the same?) at a lower heart rate of 121bpm. It makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

My watch gives me no credit until I’m at 122+ for heart rate. A walk for 45 minutes at 115 will give me no exercise minutes. When I lift weights for 45 minutes I get 120 active calories burned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My watch gives me no credit until I’m at 122+ for heart rate. A walk for 45 minutes at 115 will give me no exercise minutes. When I lift weights for 45 minutes I get 120 active calories burned.

Same - I get zero exercise or activity credit when I'm doing weights at the gym. I'm sweating and working hard for an hour and...nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My watch gives me no credit until I’m at 122+ for heart rate. A walk for 45 minutes at 115 will give me no exercise minutes. When I lift weights for 45 minutes I get 120 active calories burned.

Same - I get zero exercise or activity credit when I'm doing weights at the gym. I'm sweating and working hard for an hour and...nothing.

Are you not entering “functional weight training” when you begin your workout? I do and think the Apple Watch significantly over counts calories burned. If I trusted it as accurate and adjusted my eating, I wouldn’t fit through doors after too long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My watch gives me no credit until I’m at 122+ for heart rate. A walk for 45 minutes at 115 will give me no exercise minutes. When I lift weights for 45 minutes I get 120 active calories burned.

Same - I get zero exercise or activity credit when I'm doing weights at the gym. I'm sweating and working hard for an hour and...nothing.

Are you not entering “functional weight training” when you begin your workout? I do and think the Apple Watch significantly over counts calories burned. If I trusted it as accurate and adjusted my eating, I wouldn’t fit through doors after too long.

No, I haven't been for exactly that reason. I was hoping it would pick up that I'm doing something for 45 minutes, but it seems like I either get way too much calorie credit or I get zero.

[Anonymous]

I wear a chest strap heart rate monitor and also use the watch for either High Intensity Interval Training and Traditional Strength Training and my watch consistently undercounts my calorie burn, especially cardio/HIIT, by 200-300 calories. Based on my limited research, apparently the heart rate chest monitor is more accurate but who knows? I don't adjust my eating based on calories burned so I guess it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My watch gives me no credit until I’m at 122+ for heart rate. A walk for 45 minutes at 115 will give me no exercise minutes. When I lift weights for 45 minutes I get 120 active calories burned.

Same - I get zero exercise or activity credit when I'm doing weights at the gym. I'm sweating and working hard for an hour and...nothing.

Are you not entering “functional weight training” when you begin your workout? I do and think the Apple Watch significantly over counts calories burned. If I trusted it as accurate and adjusted my eating, I wouldn’t fit through doors after too long.

PP. I use “traditional weight training.”

[Anonymous]

There is no formula for calories burned. It is way more than heart rate.