Charge 6 not logging all the walk and fat burn minutes

[hanwill]

 
my new watch is not logging all the walk and fat burn minutes that come with it - as you can see the difference between old watch and new, and I haven’t changed my lifestyle. As I am reading through the forums it looks like it’s a production default so I am thinking to return the watch.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[JohnnyRow]

Did you just switch from am older model tracker? if so, which one?

[Hanwill1]

It was an old model HR 2

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

That explains it.  Several ago, Fitbit changed from measuring "Active Minutes" to "Active Zone Minutes", usually shortened to "Zone Minutes" or "AZM".  Along with this change, came a change in how the heart rate zones are calculated, now instead of being based strictly on age, also taking into account resting heart rate, being based on heart rate reserve, the difference between resting heart rate and max heart rate.  And most people find the new heart rate zones harder to attain, but the goals are generally lower.  As you can red in the attached links, these are in accordance with newer standards from national and international health organizations.  But, as you can also see in the links, these changes also did not affect the older fitbit models such as yours.  You can easily see your new heart rte zone limits on phone app by tapping Zone Minutes circle near top of Today screen.  Another change you will see is that the zones are now usually called "moderate" and "vigorous" instead of "fat burn" and "cardio".

https://blog.fitbit.com/active-zone-minutes/

What are Active Zone Minutes or active minutes on my Fitbit device? 

[Hanwill1]

Thank you for the links and for your help. 🙏🏽

such a shame, fat burn minutes were a big motivator for me… takes away from the gamification of it all. 

[JohnnyRow]

If you want more detail on how zones are calculated

https://support.google.com/fitbit/answer/14237938?hl=en-AU&sjid=10186839488782665695-NA#zippy=%2Cwha...

[JohnnyRow]

Actually I think you can still see the old zone minutes on the fitbit.com dashboard. It just has not been updated in many years and there are not plans to keep it current.  Some object to that, but it is useful to adapt to these changes, which can seem sudden.  And it does have some other useful options, in my opinion.

p.s. It's in the links, but I didn't mention, now get double minutes for "moderate" and "vigorous" zones.

[Caldwell39]

Thanks. So because I have a low resting heart rate, at 84, almost 85, years of age I’ve got to get my heart rate up to 93 to get any zone minutes.  That ridiculous.  

[JohnnyRow]

@Caldwell39I don't know what is considered a low resting heart rate at age 84. My RHR at age 77 varies around low 50s.  Anyway,  according to the previous formula of fat-burn zone starting at 50% of your max heart rate, with your max heart rate being (220-age) = 136, I calculate your fat burn zone would start at 68, putting you there continuously.  With the new formula, I calculate you reaching the beginning of "moderate" zone at 105 bpm, calculated by heart rate reserve (HRR) = 136-84=52.  40% of 52 =20.8 added to RHR to give lower end of moderate zone, by my quick calculation.

Edited: above calculations all off. I misinterpreted Caldwell's statements as saying his RHR was 84, but that was his age, so ignore all above.

But exercise has benefits for everyone, no matter what numerical numbers we do or don't achieve.

[Caldwell39]

I’m certain your calculations are correct. It doesn’t follow that the result is reasonable. My resting heart rate today is 65 which is about right. I agree that any exercise is better than none. But I don’t like getting 9 minutes credit for rowing, abs, kettlebell swings, push ups for an hour. There a word for how I feel about it. 

[JohnnyRow]

Sorry, I misinterpreted, "I have a low resting heart rate, at 84, " but 84 was your age, not your RHR, so my calculations were all off.  Apologies.

[Caldwell39]

So now you’ve gotta re do them or I won’t be able to sleep. 

[JohnnyRow]

Just look on phone app Today screen and click on Zone Minutes circle at top; scroll down a bit and it shows "Your heart zones".

[Caldwell39]

Thanks again for listening and responding.  This morning I rowed and worked out with crunches, push-ups stretching etc  And got 30:minutes credit.  My effort was not much different than it usually is, but at my charge 6 varied from light to moderate to vigorous and back to moderate.  I know it’s all mental but I felt more like I was accomplishing something. The only thing I did differently was go into my fittings and delete custom zone in the heart rate settings. 

[JohnnyRow]

Glad it seems to be working better for you now.  I don't think I've ever used a Custom Zone.  I didn't think it would affect the moderate and vigorous zone times unless it was the custom max heart rate you had set but deleted, but I could be wrong there.

As I mentioned to @hanwill above, I think you can still see the earlier Active Minutes on the Fitbit.com Dashboard, which stopped getting updates several years ago, which causes confusion to some.  I still use that sometimes, particularly to see heart rate graphs on my desktop PC full screen width to see more detail, or at least so it seems to me.

[Caldwell39]

Thanks. I’ll check that out. 

[JonInHen]

I am younger, but in same boat.My resting heart rate is about 50.  With these changes, I am physically incapable of getting to the heart rates necessary for vigorous or peak performance.  Had no problem until I updated to Charge 6.  Kind of destroys the whole purpose of owning a Fitbit.