Active minutes?

[SeniorMarge]

I am a very active person. For last 2 months, I've been very actively working on the construction of my own gym. That involves moving piles of building materials; walking up/down ladders various height; lifting heavy objects;  cutting lumber to size; installing wiring - I can't imagine being MORE active for avg 6 hrs a day. Yet, the Fitbit says, "total active minutes" was only 60 for last week. When I was being active for avg 6 hrs for 5 days straight. What gives? What counts for "active minutes" for Fitbit? Can anyone please explain?

[LZeeW · Accepted solution]

@SeniorMarge   You don't say what model Fitbit you use.  But I read your other post where you tagged it as a Charge 2 question.  Even if you have a different Fitbit, this explanation is the same for any Fitbit that measures heart rate and gives active minutes, not active zone minutes.  As explained in Fitbit's Help article, What are Active Zone Minutes and active minutes on my Fitbit device?, you must do 10 minutes of continuous moderate-to-intense activity to earn active minutes.  Fitbits that award active minutes use the 220 - age = maximum predicted heart rate and the threshold for active minutes is 50% of your MPHR.

You can look at your heart rate graphs and they should be color coded for your heart rate zone.  Is it possible that a lot of the work you did wound up broken into little segments that didn't meet the 10 minute threshold?  I use an active zone minute Fitbit now.  But I remember it like this.  If I did 12 minutes of activity, I got 12 active minutes.  But if I did 5 minutes, had a lower heart rate for a bit, then 5 minutes and had a lower heart rate, and so on, I got nothing.

[SeniorMarge]

Thank you for taking time to explain. It could be that I have a naturally
low heart rate, and it doesn't go up much even if I sweat. Also, my heart
slows down in a flash. My recovery time is very short. Just an anomaly,
most people my age are the exact opposite.