How Is The Active Minutes Goal Determined?

[FocusedII]

I am not sure I am asking this in the right place, but a search of the entire community, didn't give me what I was looking for.

I do not want to know how to change the "Active Minutes" goal, I want to know where it came from? I know information that I enter about my age, weight, etc. is used to set calorie goals for the X lbs/week I want to lose. But, how was it determined that I needed to have X number of active minutes each day?

I have a Fitbit Blaze if that helps.

[SteveH]

According to fitbit:

"By default, you are given a starting goal of 30 active minutes a day based on the CDC recommendation of 20-30 minutes of daily moderate-to-intense activity. "

taken from: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1379/

[FocusedII]

Thank you for the reply. I had already read that article and while it is informative, it doesn't tell me what I really want to know. I suppose I should have been clearer.

Why does the "Active Minutes" goal change if it initially started at 30 minutes? I have been using my Fitbit Blaze for less than 2 months now, and as I become more familiar with its features, I look up what they mean and how they are calculated. I did not initially notice the "Active Minutes" feature, probably because I was always successful in meeting that goal. But, recent bad weather has meant I have been house bound and couldn't do my usual hour+ morning walk/run and I am failing to meet the 100 minutes that my Fitbit lists as my goal.

So, if it starts at 30 minutes, how did my device decide, that after only 45 days, I should be doing 100 minutes of higher intensity activity each day?

[SteveH]

I knew that you could manually change your active minutes goal but I wasn't aware that it could change automatically. I cannot find any document or post that helps explain why or how it does so. So, I'm afraid I can't help but I will be following this thread closely in the hope that someone can solve the mystery.

[Alicat2104]

Mine has never changed automatically, it's been 30 mins since I joined in May 2015.

[Ennay]

sorry, misread

I have read somewhere that some of the goals can self adapt, but now I cant remember where.

Are you sure you are looking at goal vs. average over a time period?

[WavyDavey]

Periodically, there is a goal review where you can adjust it upwards or downwards. It's not difficult to accidentally bump up the goal without noticing when the app recommends it.

[GershonSurge]

It come's from the CDC's dumbing down of the real goal. I think it's 20 minutes of uninterrupted moderate activity three times a week.

If you trace it back, it goes to Ken Cooper's book "Aerobics" that was published in 1968. The idea was to get 30 aerobics points a week. I think one of the options was to run three miles in 20 minutes three times a week. This reduced all-cause mortality in men by 30%. In women, it reduced it by 85%. Double the exercise for men and the all cause mortality is reduced by 60%. Triple it, and you reduce it by I think 80%. 

Ken Cooper didn't include diet in the study and was left with a big hole he later corrected. He found food does matter and recommends pretty close to a whole food plant based way of eating.