Active Zone Minutes..............

[RodneyJ]

This past year, I relied almost exclusively on Calories Burned on my Fitbit in order to get into better shape. As the weeks and months went on, I found I was averaging about 35,000 steps per day(highest was 49,000). My goal each day - as a 220 pound guy - was to burn 5,000 calories. Most of my activity centered around walking.....which obviously accounts for the steps. Other activities included playing with my young daughter in the front yard, gardening, and doing chores around the house each day. And although I did lose some weight(about 12 pounds in all), I found that my overall fitness wasn't that great. For instance, my 5k times at local races stayed the same - about 33 minutes. I also found that I couldn't quite keep up with my daughter in the front yard while we were playing - she was always faster, more explosive during games of tag, soccer, football, etc. My bicycling times also decreased - and rides I used to be able to do, I couldn't do anymore......just didn't have the fitness.

Looking back on my Fitbit data, I noticed that......although I would burn 5,000 calories per day....my Active Zone Minutes would often times be under 10 for the day. I have adjusted my heart rate zones based upon my age(56) and my max heart rate(175 - as measured during 5k races.....sprinting for the finish line). Still, my Active Zone Minutes were quite small and inconsistent during the past year. My biggest AZM day was 440 - by climbing a mountain during a long day hike. But then I would have multiple days of 5 or less Active Zone Minutes. Last week, I had a day where I burned 5,200 calories for the day(adjusted for my weight, etc.)......but my AZM was only 6 for the day. I've had multiple days like this during the year - actually, lots of days like that one. I think, primarily, because I was relying so much on walking. I'm at a point now where I can barely break 100 beats per minute while out on walks. Some of my walks are 2-3 hours in length.......but my heart rate stays low. My resting heart rate is 52. 

I'm realizing now that steps, weight loss, calories burned aren't quite what I'm looking for in terms of goals. I'm really more interested - at this point - in getting into better physical and athletic shape. Things like running, getting my cycling legs back, playing with my daughter(and being able to keep up), those are more important to me now. And I'm wondering if I should have been looking at Active Zone Minutes instead of Calories Burned this whole time. I mean, I know that there are some weaknesses to AZM, but my averages this past year for them were pretty low. I've had multiple days of 300+ AZM(from cycling once per week) - but most of the days were less than 10......with many of them about 5 or less, even with all the walking. I'm wondering if anyone else uses AZM to get into better shape - and pretty much ignoring things like steps, calories, etc. I've "noticed" AZM on my Fitbit.....but I was always most concerned with Calories Burned than anything else. Now though.....I feel like I really haven't gotten in great shape concentrating on that number. 

Do you concentrate on the AZM number often? Has it helped??

[RodneyJ]

Forgot to say - I use a Fitbit Versa 4.

[Triletics · Accepted solution]

@RodneyJ no because AZM has its own issues. The problem with AZM is that it sees only two types of effort and that isn't enough. It's either light or vigorous. If you want to get athletic you'll need a variety of efforts to bring different effects to your body. AZM isn't it. Also, the problem is that it may give you a different AZM for exactly the same effort. Here's an example:

 Above you can see 3 minutes of cycling at the same effort (target 90W). The difference is that both intervals are executed at different times of workout. The Left is near the end, right is at the beginning. The effort is the same, for this, I don't burn more calories when HR is higher because I don't output more power. AZM however will be different for both intervals because of drift in the HR.

[RodneyJ]

I've considered this a limit as well. For instance, on the bike, my Fitbit calculates(on the web dashboard) that I'm burning 20 calories per minute during "peak" heart rates on rides. But Fitbit only recognizes the two Active Zone Minute categories - lower and upper(twice as many as lower). This was the reason I was originally going to use Calories Burned on my Fitbit - because it seemed to track everything. It was like.....the harder you worked, the more calories were burned. Whereas AZM - it only recorded activities in those two "zones"....and max effort really was just thrown into that upper zone, where everything is doubled. That never made much sense to me. And that's why I ended up just ignoring AZM. In turn, when I do any kind of weight training in the gym or in my garage, I might only have a handful of Active Zone Minutes for that 60 minute session........but my calorie burn is higher because I'm not sitting in a chair vegging out. What happened then was that I put off weights.......because when I started looking at just AZM, it didn't really count weight training because my heart rate wouldn't be up for an extended period of time(to count towards AZM). Weird what it does to your motivation. I found this same issue when I play with my daughter in the front yard - we could be out there running around for 90 minutes.......but AZM might only be 20. In turn, calories burned were quite a bit.....because it was tracking my heart rate throughout the 90 minutes. I then viewed AZM as useless(this was last year).

At this point, I'm also thinking of getting a Garmin. My Versa 4 is getting quite aged with use(I wear it 24/7). My Fitbit never works with my Strava account either - which always drove me up the wall. Even trying to upload, never worked - always said the file was empty. Multiple requests for help from Fitbit and Strava went nowhere. They just don't work together - at least, not with my Versa 4. My friends who own Garmins all have like an auto upload to Strava. That's why I'm looking at a Garmin now. 

My goals, at this point, are to become more athletic....more fit for athletics. The walking is great - but it's not enough. My 5k times have stagnated with all the walking. My cycling legs are gone. My daughter wonders why I can't keep up with her in soccer anymore. I'm looking for a fitness tracker that can help......whether that is Fitbit or not is something I'll need to really consider.