Very Active Minutes

[kikif617]

Hello all, my active minute never shows the correct amount of minutes (but I do believe my step counts are correct, so I'm very confused).  I always walk 30 minutes straight same pace, and it seems to only add 17 minutes for my active minutes, but it does show me having taking almost close to 5 thousand steps, which seems about right. So I don't understand why the minutes are always incorrect, and it pretty much happens 8 times out of 10. Please help. Thanks

[NurseMeggo]

Depends on your pace. If you use a hrm and manually enter data it adjusts active minutes pretty realistically

[slysam]

According to the Fitbit Help section article on "Very active minutes", you should e burning at least 6 times your resting rate to see very active minutes. It is somewhat based on MET values. Sitting still is something like 1 MET value since it basically uses just your resting metabolism rate in calories. Sleeping is a little less than 1 MET because it basically uses your basal metabolism rate. So different activities have different MET values depending on how much energy/calories people typically burn doing the activity. For walking on flat ground, many MET charts would indicate it should be a speed of 4.5 (around that) to earn 6 METS. So I guess this means for most people, walking 4.5 mph burns 6 times what they would burn sitting still on the sofa. The "very active" minutes seem to be the transition point between moderate and vigorous activity. Walking is usually considered moderate activity--though it will depend on the speed, route, whether carrying things, etc. Fitbit does credit me with some VAM if I was 4 mph, but I don't get full credit. If I were to log that activity or to log the same calorie burn--I lose the VAM and have 100% moderately active minutes. I would tend to agree that walking 4mph is moderate activity for me in terms of exertion unless hills are involved or I am carrying something heavy. My guess is that fitbit is probably tracking the walk fine, but your pace isn't really fast enough for verya ctive minutes. Whether it actually is vigorous for you... depends on the route, your fitness, etc. Does it feel like vigorous activity? If so, logging it may help especially if you choose an option that includes hills or whatever special factors there were (this is where a heart rate monitor would be handy). But if it doesn't feel like vigorous exercise to you, then the mix of moderate and very active is probably actually about right.