Return to counting activity min. bouts of less than 10

[edwards1411]

Very disappointed in Fitbit stopping the recognition of exercise minutes of less than 10 min as per the CDC.  There have been many studies done that dispute this.  Here are just a few.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56300&page=3

There's building evidence that short but frequent bouts of exercise can yield plenty of health benefits. Consider the following fitness findings:

• A study published by the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2006 showed that short walks after dinner were more effective than long exercise sessions in reducing the amount of fat and triglyceride levels in the bloodstream after a hearty meal.
• Research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that short bouts of exercise helped lower blood pressure as well as shave inches off the hips and waistline.
• In a study published in Preventive Medicine in 2006, researchers found that multiple workout sessions as short as 6 minutes apiece could help sedentary adults reach fitness goals similar to those achieved by working out for 30 minutes at a time.
• In a finding published in the journal Psychopharmacology, doctors found that short bursts of exercise could help reduce the craving for cigarettes and help people quit smoking.

"There is no question that short amounts of exercise can help you get fit, help you stay fit, and help you maintain your health," says personal fitness coach Susie Shina, author ofSixty Second Circuits. "You can stay fit in increments as short as 4 and 5 minutes at a time." ...

http://www.acefitness.org/prosourcearticle/3512/super-short-exercise-bouts-at-the-right

New research suggests that micro-bouts of activity—shorter than 10 minutes—can lower one’s risk of obesity as long as the intensity level is sufficiently high. Furthermore, those who focused on shorter bouts were much more likely to meet or exceed the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

The study, published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, found that even brief episodes of physical activity that exceed a certain level of intensity can be just as effective in helping people control their weight as does the current recommendation of 10 or more minutes at a time....

http://happyfithealthy.com/micro-exercise.html

Micro-exercise or workouts of short duration are now gaining in popularity because the benefits have been proven by scientific studies. Micro-exercises of much less intensity also prove to be of benefit, climbing the stairs and vacuuming all count toward your daily physical activity score.

Ultra-short bouts of activity or micro-exercise where never considered to be beneficial until recently.  At least, that’s what exercise physiologists and public-health authorities have been telling us for years. They reported that exercise generally would follow the rules of mathematics. 4 ten minute workouts = 2 twenty minute workouts = 1 forty minute workout at least in terms of health benefits. Exercise lasting less than 10 minutes was not considered to be an exercise and was not considered to provide any health benefits.

The American College of Sports Medicine are now reconsidering the value of ultra-short bouts of activity called micro-exercise. A Canadian study done  at Queen’s University in Kingston, by Dr. McGuire, suggests that the gradual accumulation of “incidental physical activity”contribute to your cardiovascular fitness level.

Recognizing the role of these micro-bursts of activity, – sweeping the floor, taking the stairs – in bouts as short as one minute can also  encourage people who are currently sedentary and find the prospect of structured exercise daunting, says Dr.Ashlee McGuire....

/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/even-brief-bouts-of-exercise-can-prevent-weight-gain-researchers-show/

Brief periods of physical activity, provided they are intense enough, can prevent weight gain just as well as the 10-minute-plus intervals that are currently recommended, according to a study published this week in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

"What we learned is that for preventing weight gain, the intensity of the activity matters more than duration," says Dr. Jessie X. Fan, professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah and the study leader.

"Knowing that even short bouts of brisk activity can add up to a positive effect is an encouraging message for promoting better health," she said in a statement

But the study showed that higher intensity activity was associated with a lower risk of obesity even if conducted in bouts of less than 10 minutes. Taking the stairs instead of an elevator, parking at the far end of a parking lot or walking to the store or between errands can add up, the researchers found.

There is so much more information based on scientific evidence available showing just how beneficial smaller bouts of exercise than 10 min. are to our cardiovascular system and other areas of the body.  Please reconsider this recent change that you have made and bring back the recognition of exercising for less min. than 10.  Thank you!

Moderator Edit: Updated label

[SunsetRunner]

Sent from my iPad

[FoxPhile]

FitBit is not my mother, and neither is the CDC.  Nor are either of these entities my doctor, who is much better qualified to judge what does and does not constitute moderate or very active for me.  

However, FitBit is treating this, like they treat so many of its users' suggests, requests and complaints, just like a parent - No means No and they will not budge.

Since I originally posted in this forum I have all but stopped using or paying attention to my FitBit.  While I do get credit for steps, I find it so difficult to achieve the activity goals that it's become terminally disheartening.  Thank you, FitBit for making me feel so bad about myself.  I needed that.  

[phs3]

I've already agreed that this should be at the user's option, so this post is to point out that the alleged policy isn't even consistent: I've seen my old Flex and my new Alta both show fewer than ten Active Minutes at times. If the policy was as stated, then that couldn't happen, right?

[cholly]

Okay Fitbit Moderator (who doesn't moderate very often).....Please be advised that I didn't purchase my original Fitbit device to have the game plan changed months after the purchase.  The problem you have is this -- you should have made the change for devices purchased after the change date -- not one swooping change for all devices. I bet if one of your contractors/vendors made a chance to a Fitbit contract after everyone signed off on it, you would be one very unhappy company who would activate your group of attorneys. 

[FoxPhile]

I've also had the experience where FitBit records Active Minutes in increments less than 10 when it somehow "detects" activity.  But when I actually press the button on my ChargeHR to put it in exercise mode, if I'm active for less than 10 minutes while I'm in that mode, it registers nothing - zero minutes.  So I might earn minutes by walking to the grocery store because for some reason the FitBit detects that, but when I'm huffing and puffing on my treadmill in exercise mode - when I'm actively *trying* to exercise, if I have to stop before 10 minutes I get nada.  

[Rossweisse]

I don't think FitBit moderates these posts after a while, and I don't think they really care about users who don't fit neatly into their preferred demographic.

I'm currently on my fourth round of treatments for breast cancer; I've been Stage IV for 18 months now. I use FitBit to make sure that I move enough. I have trouble moving actively enough to suit FitBit for long enough to get credit. That is, in effect, a breach of contract from the policy at the time I bought my tracker, when all my active minutes counted.

But I suspect that most FitBit employees are under 35, habitually bicycle to work, and look exquisite in Spandex. To them, 10 minutes of activity is nothing, so they feel it should be nothing for all of us. There is a lack of empathy, a lack of charity for others, that is distressing.

But it's unlikely that a moderator will read this or care about it. I'm preaching to the choir!

[Rich_Laue]

@phs3 Fitbit never said you cant get only one active minute.

What seems to be is a misunderstanding here. Fitbit said active minutes will only be counted when the minutes are connected to ten minutes of activity.

So do a microexercise of 5 minutes, but thrn dont sit down, do a short 5 minute walk and youl get 5 active minutes.

So if a 10 minute walk is taken, but if in only 1 off those minutes, are in the burn mode of 3 tmes the BMR then only 1 active minute will be rewarded.

@cholly as Fitbit stated, they noticed that every tracker had their own way of calculating active minutes. With the new trackers following the CDC guidlines, the simplest was to move the active minute calculations off the tracker and onto the web. This allowed the same math to do the active minute calculations for all trackers. 

As for does anyone from Fitbit moderate here, not really, they look the ideas, and add a comment or two. This area is not for a discussion, but strickly to send your thoughts to the developers, who are the ones who monitor here.  

@FoxPhile when typy walk to the grocery store even îf you use tye button to track less then 10 tou will get active minutes,  simply because you continue to move while shopping.  Hold the button do a wicked workout, stop the tracking, then sit down, nope nada, you havent actuall moved for 10 minutes. Now do tyat same workiut, and instead of plopping on the couch take a 5 minute walk around the house, you'll get that 5 minute wicked workout recorded.

[FoxPhile]

@Rich_Laue  You see, you still don't get it.  If I do 5 minutes of brisk activity and stop, it's because I either don't have the energy to continue walking around or my arthritic knee hurts so badly I can barely stand, much less move.  Plopping on the couch is pretty much ALL I can do. 

When I walk to the grocery store, often the first thing I have to do when I get there is plop down on the bench to rest for a few minutes before I can get up and do my shopping.  Walking over uneven sidewalks and such is much more difficult for me than walking on my treadmill.  Many times, if I'm too pooped from my walk - or again if the knee hurts too much - I use the store's scooter to do the shopping.

Is it terrible to be in this bad shape?  You bet it is.  I hate it.  But if I feel like the Fitbit is DE-motivating me instead of motivating me, it's not a help, it's a hinderance.  

On good days, I can do 10 minutes - even as much as 30 if the activity is moderate.  On bad days, I can't, but I can do very short bursts of 5 to 8 minutes several times a day.  But when I do the first such burst in the morning and get no minutes counted, I feel like there's no point in doing any others, so I wind up plopped on the couch all day long.  

I've had days where I've achieved my activity goals.  Doing that is a terrific motivator.  It makes me feel good and inspires me to keep trying.  I'm human.  But on the days when it's really hard for me to move at all, and Fitbit fails to recognize that I've even made an effort, then my Fitbit is not doing its job FOR ME.  

[Rossweisse]

<< ...I've had days where I've achieved my activity goals.  Doing that is a terrific motivator.  It makes me feel good and inspires me to keep trying.  I'm human.  But on the days when it's really hard for me to move at all, and Fitbit fails to recognize that I've even made an effort, then my Fitbit is not doing its job FOR ME.  >>

Ahh-men.

I can do at least 10,000 steps most days. I work really hard at it. It's managing what Fitbit recognizes as "active" that's the problem. There is nothing more discouraging than working hard for ten minutes or more, only to get no credit for it.

[cholly]

FItbit is a fun little toy; we just can't depend much on a little toy.  Therefore, Fitbit keeps pushing out cute looking little toy devices that we keep buying.  A simple pedometer would do the same job, but I bet it wouldn't be as cute as my Alta.  Next time I purchase, I will look for another cute looking little device that does a better job. 

[phs3]

@Rich_Laue -- thanks, clearly I had not grokked in fullness. OK, so it's at least consistent. But what I'm still not seeing anywhere is an explanation of why this makes sense *for everyone*. Of course Fitbit wants to avoid bloatware, with thousands of niggly options that only a few people use, but there's a clear upswell of unhappiness with this. And it *IS* a significant change in behavior, and thus violates the Principle of Least Astonishment.

[Rich_Laue]

@FoxPhile i actually do get it, too many people her are thinkinking that active minutes can only be rewarded with a minimum of 10, then they are totally confused when only 3 show up. 

My answer is an explanation as to the logic and the parameters to receive Active minutes are.

@phs3 my comment was not to evildoers why one soze should fit all,  but to ecolain more on Active Minutes, whiich are clearly explaned in the help document.

I would like to remind again,  this area is for posting comments and thoughts that ate directed to the developers. Not for conversations among the users. 

[Rossweisse]

@Rich_LaueRich_Laue, I appreciated your explanation. That was helpful.

As for "conversations among the users," though, we have established that the developers don't read this thread and don't much care what we think. What's the harm in discussing the things that bother us? At least this way we know that there are some people who do care, even if they can't fix anything. You know, misery and company...

[phs3]

@Rich_Laue I for one greatly appreciate that you and others there are responding, but I have to comment on:

>This area is not for a discussion, but strickly to send your thoughts to the developers, who are the ones who monitor here.

That's not my definition of "Community". Nor, I would suggest, is that something Fitbit really wants to try to enforce. The annals of the software vendor industry are littered with the bones of companies who tried to stifle user-driven innovation and managed only to generate irritated customers and stale products.

Moderating against flamage and abuse is quite another matter. By having things labeled "Community", which (I assume, but disremember) have ToS, Fitbit is arguably not only encouraging discussions amongst its users, but is taking on some responsibility for moderating and enforcing those ToS.

YMMV, IANAL, etc., but having participated in such things for well over 35 years, I think I've seen most if not all of the possible approaches (and, alas, offenses).

P.S. "strictly", not "strickly" 🙂

[Rich_Laue]

This area is seperate from the community section amd has been set apart for suggesred ideas.

From the description 

Feature Requests

Let our developers know what you'd like to see added to the Dashboard, the mobile app, or your next Fitbit device.

[phs3]

@Rich_Laue: I get here via a link titled "Community". Ergo...

[Rossweisse]

"The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 2 Cor. 3:6.

Anyway, I'm telling the developers what I think. They're free to read it if they're interested.

[SunsetRunner]

Based on the length of this thread, there is plenty of desire for activity measurement to trigger in blocks less than 10 minutes.  So "fit" experts @Fitbit, which is better, to move 5 minutes an hour all day, or park for 2 hours and then move for 10?  Given all the research that indicates that parking on your tail for hours at a time is undesirable, you really want to stop dis-incentivizing more frequent motion by rewarding activity in shorter blocks.  Make it configurable, so those who want it in 10 minute (or longer) blocks can have it.

I have a Charge 2 I got a few months ago.  My next tracker will count activity in less than 10 minute increments.  I hope my next tracker is a fitbit tracker.

[Rossweisse]

Phil.b, thank you. I agree with you. However, there is no evidence that anyone at FitBit cares what we think.

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[pamela007]

Well said phil.b!  Fitbit - about time to give us the option to configure!

[SunsetRunner]

Sent from my iPad

[Rich_Laue]

I think it might take a change in the CDC policy before Fitbit will change, or maybe a message from the surgeon general.

Currently there needs to be at least a 10 minute period of activity before any of thise minutes will be considered active minutes. The activity does not have to be in the activeminute range, yes it is possibleto get only 1 active minute

Most people don't simply get up, walk fast for 2 minutes then set down.

[Rossweisse]

<< The activity does not have to be in the activeminute range, yes it is possibleto get only 1 active minute >>

...but you do have to be moving for at least ten to get even that one, IF the Fitbit gods deign to grant it. I've never had that little, although occasionally I'll get nine minutes.

I have Stage IV breast cancer, and I work hard to walk at least five miles a day. Sometimes I really push myself, and get no activity credit; other days, it accumulates easily. My pace is the same (believe me, I know what my body can do at this point), so I wonder what's going on. It would be much easier for me to push for five minutes at a time, but that study - which, it should be noted yet again, did NOT compare outcomes for five versus ten minutes of activity - but I have to recognize that I've done my best, and not worry about it.

[Sabino]

If they only concerned by what the CDC says, why do they bother selling to mugs like me in Europe?

Yeah, well, easy answer I know.

I want to able to record all minutes of activeminutes. Even less than 10.

[janel]

Now that the CDC has removed the 10-minute requirement, Fitbit's rational for it no longer exists. How quickly will Fitbit's 10-minute requirement be removed?

From the CDC page: "Removal of bout length requirement – every little bit counts!"