Active minutes aren't exercise?

[Heather3879]

I'm trying to learn how to use my new Fitbit Charge. It appears that my "active minutes," even when in over my goal of 30 for the day, don't count as "exercise" toward my three workouts a week. Is this correct? Will it be remedied if I use the timer next time?

[Jersey_girl]

How do I separate out my treadmill and weight exercises activity from the 5,313 daily steps listed on my dashboard?    Is there a way to dig deeper into the data to find out?

[SB46224]

I have the same problem. When I'm at work, my Fitbit takes all my walking and it counts toward an exercise day, but when I tread on my treadmill, it doesn't count?

[Bkrazyh]

Perhaps I'm the odd one or maybe it's just because I'm just beginning an exercise regime after a lifetime of being overweight. But my Charge II does record the steps, then, after about an hour, adds a longer and/or more brisk walk to my weekly active goal. But it does NOT add it immediately. AND the walk has to be over 10 minutes. I have found that it seems to sometimes deduct those first 10 minutes from the activity goal as though they didn't exist (an hour walk is recorded as 50 or even 45 minutes). I've found that tightening the band during exercise helps as my heart rate doesn't always register. Maybe fitbit thinks I took a break during that time? I'm new to the thing (and exercise for that matter), so I'm still playing with it and appreciate those of you offering insight and suggestions.

[Jersey_girl]

I think the "activity" like walking, or treadmill work is viewed only when you hit the device when you stop the activity ...then you can see how far you went and how long in minutes.  Once out of that activity, you can't see that info again and I guess everything for day including work on the treadmill gets counted into Steps for the day.  Too bad. I'd like to see "activity" be isolated from regular steps.

[LiLiMeredith]

Finally jponeal describes them iasue perfectly! Thank you!

So here we are in February 2018 and this identical issue is still not fixed. 

I run for 30 minutes most days of the week. While those 30 minutes are invariably indicated as “active minutes” they are more frequently lately not automatically indicated / registered as “exercise” in the track exercise section. I’ve also noticed that even when it is “understood” as exercise and logged there, it’s often not very accurate - that is, usually off by maybe 15 percent and generally ignored not always missing minutes as opposed to counting too many. 

Ive also noticed that my former Fitbit was really accurate at sleep and morning wake up times even if i didn’t get all the new fancy details of the phases of sleep. While the new one has phases it seems inconsistent with asleep time accuracy (the time I fall asleep by mostly tho also think aim awake lots more than I think I was - admittedly it’s may know better). But I’ll post this last issue under a relevant topic heading.

[dontreado]

fitbit counts about 12 minutes at a time to track activity. you can't do 5 minute intervals of activity and expect any activity counted on fitbit.

do two 12 minute intervals and you might get 24 activity minutes.

[Bethany1313]

I read over and over again on forums about Fitbit not tracking active minutes if you don’t do 10 mins in a row but mine will record “9” for example and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen lower numbers than that. Or if I sync it while being active for a while it will show increments going up like “27” minutes then “29” if I check it again during active minutes. I have the Fitbit one. So not everyone’s does this?

[dontreado]

yes mine does that too. to get 20 minutes of activity, I must walk for 20
minutes or more without stopping.

[Jersey_girl]

You can set the minimum time for active minutes. I have set mine to 10 so that I must be active for at least 10 minutes for the activity to record.

[dontreado]

how do you set that? can you set it for 5? will it then accumulate?

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well. 

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, please note that your Fitbit device recognizes and awards active minutes when the activity you're doing is more strenuous than regular walking, which includes everything from a brisk walk to a cardio workout or run. Fitbit devices calculate active minutes using metabolic equivalents (METs). METs help measure the energy expenditure of various activities. Because they do so in a comparable way among persons of different weights, METs are widely used as indicators for exercise intensity. For example, a MET of 1 indicates a body at rest. Fitbit devices estimate your MET value in any given minute by calculating the intensity of your activity. You will earn active minutes for activities at or above about 3 METs and will only awarded after 10 minutes of continuous moderate-to-intense activity.

If the same activity gives you active minutes one day and fewer active minutes the next day, remember that the intensity of exercise is key. Often what seems like the exact same amount of effort over the same distance in fact differs slightly enough to change your active minutes total. Take in consideration that Fitbit devices that track your heart rate do a better job of recognizing active minutes for non-step-based activities, such as weight lifting, strenuous yoga, and rowing. If your device doesn't have a heart rate sensor, your active minutes will be lower for non-step based activities

Finally, you can set the goal of active minutes you wish to accomplish during the day by going to the Fitbit app, then tapping on Account > (under Goals) Activity > Active Minutes. Keep in mind that you can configure active minutes starting on 1 minute but that doesn't mean your tracker will start counting active minutes after 1 minute of intense activity. 

I hope this resolves your inquiry, if there's anything else I can do for you, please feel free to reply. 

[fgarcia]

I am doing Insanity. There are times when I'm done with my workouts workouts, I have completed my activity minutes, yet it fails to log it as an exercise day completed. Because Insanity is 6 workouts a week, 1 being just stretching (and 1 being a rest day out of the 7 day week), I have mine set at 5 days for my goal, yet there are times I only register 3 or 5 days. How can it not register an Insanity workout as an exercise day? Go figure..

[MarcoGFitbit]

Hello @fgarcia, have a warm welcome to the Fitbit Community, it's great to have you on board. 

Thanks for your participation in the forums and for explaining to me the situation you're dealing with at this moment. Please note that if your tracker is counting active minutes but your exercise graph is not increasing in days, it's possible the app is not updating the information correctly, in which case I would like to suggest you the following:

1. Force quit the app, then open it again to see if the graph updated. If this doesn't seem to work:
2. Log out from the app, restart your phone and log back in. 

I hope this can be helpful, give it a try and keep me posted in case you need anything else. 

[Jomrca]

@MikeF that’s just not true... I can’t explain it any better than ‘it’s just not an accurate response’, it would be like telling you a potato isn’t deaf. Fitbit does in fact log active minutes automatically as exercise, as active minutes have nothing to do with step count and more to do with heart rate. If it goes beyond 30min or whatever goal you set for your active minutes then it does automatically log it as an exercise activity, and will even tell you your heart rate zones, how many steps you took during that time, how many calories it contributed for your total. @Heather3879 Mine does and always has. That being said it does sometimes take a while, but it logs it by itself. Next time check your attitudes before weighing in on a matter

you’re clearly not an expert in. All the best to you.

[Bethany1313]

So I keep getting updates on my post but it’s like a bad telephone game. I originally was questioning someone who said their Fitbit only counted active minutes in increments of 10. Like you had to have 10 active minutes before Fitbit would count it. Because my Fitbit counts active minutes in increments less than 10. I’ve seen my active minutes go up by 3 or 4 or 7. Like right now my active minutes say 25. I was asking if other people have seen this. It wasn’t a big query just curious. The very first responder didn’t understand my question and the responses keep getting more and more off track.

Sent from my iPhone

[dontreado]

sorry to have to tell you that you do not have the One so you cannot speak
about that. sorry to have to let you know that you do not know everything
that you think you do. keep your bully comments to yourself in the future.

Moderator Edit: Format.

[Sef650]

dontreado, I can't tell what you're trying to respond to, and you seem really upset.  Maybe you should go for a run.  Seriously.

Bethany1313, I'm seeing a couple posts here referencing users who aren't in the discussion.  So my guess is that some editing is being done to cull unrelated posts.  Probably with good intentions, but it makes it a lot harder to follow.  And that's just a theory anyway.  My point is, you're not crazy.  This discussion really is impossible to follow.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Carsten1]

that is exactly my issue too.

 way too many active minutes logged.

 I just got the Charge HR a week ago, during the week I have a sitting - mainly - office job.. but I incur during my office day alone easy 100+ active minutes, in increments as small as 2 or 3 minutes.

That does not fit with fitbits explanation of MET's, and the need for at least 10 continuous minutes.

[straighttalk44]

If I am chopping onions FitBit Charge counts it as steps for each chop. If I am riding in a Jeep on a bumpy road it counts it as steps. So I never left the Jeep and had 19000 steps.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jersey_girl]

Check your theshold on activity minutes. I set mine for 10 minutes.
Active minutes is different from steps. I am not sure why it is counting
chops as steps. Maybe put the Fitbit on your less dominant wrist?