activity levels under trainer report ?

[SunsetRunner]

Does anyone know what numbers equate to the following under Trainer Reports?

Sedentary

Lightly Active

Active

Fairly Active

Very Active

Athletic

Thanks

[Colinm39 · Accepted solution]

@SunsetRunnerI have been using Premium for over 2 years and cannot work out the calories. I believe it is based on your own defined Trainer goal and compares the previous results. I have enclosed 4 reports and you can see my average jump all over the place

7 weeks to date               1,332 calories is Active

12 weeks End Jan 14    1,506 Calories Active - Slightly higher on the Marker on the bar graph

12 Weeks End Oct 13    1,549 Calories Lightly Active

12 Weeks End Jul 13     1,457 Calories Active - Under the Active Marker on the bar graph

7 Weeks ending February 22nd 2014

12 Weeks ending January 2014

12 Weeks ending October 2013

12 Weeks ending July 2013

[Colinm39]

@SunsetRunnerHere is another Trainer report which had me as Fairly Active @ 1,618 calories but the very next 12 week period had me back at Active with more calories based on the past.

At this time we had trouble altering our goals and it defaulted to a very high final week in the period before and we had to wait a week before we could adjust the goals.

So all in all I cannot help because Fitbit will not release details of their calculations.

12 Weeks ending August 2012 - Lightly Active

12 Wks end November 2012 - Back to Active with more calories

[slysam]

Colin, Have you looked at your total calorie burn numbers compared to you BMR at that time? The reason I ask... There are a lot of activity calculators that will estimate daily calorie burn based on "activity level". They basically multiply the BMR they are using by an activity multiplier. For sedentary I've seen either 1.2 or 1.25 used. I've always assumed Fitbit was doing similar, because at one point I would get a rating of "lightly active" and my average calorie burn for the week was similar to what I would see at a "lightly active" activity level on some of these calculators. The calorie burn in the report, isn't that just the total calories burned when "active" (lightly, moderately or very active)? And it includes BMR, that is why the sedentary calories vary week to week. I am not sure this is useful information the way it is presented as I've never been able to recognize any pattern other than the lower my sedentary calories the higher the activity level. Anyway, active or moderately active is usually around 1.55 times BMR. I always assumed that should more or less correspond with 10,000 steps but I find my 10k step days are sometimes a little lower than that level.

[Colinm39]

@slysam   Yes I have done that analysis, my BMR is 1,584 on Fitbit and 1,580 on Mifflin-St.Jeor. My weight has remained stable of the last few mmonths when the results below ere recorded.  My results are similar to yours.

This year I'm concentrating  on quality effort and the following are the results and using the Total Calorie Burn not Trainer Calorie Burn.

Time Period                               Average       Calories  Activity

                                                     Steps/Day    Burned     Factor

31 days in December 2013      16,588           2,854       1.80

31 days in August 2013             10,288           2493       1.57

31 Days during Jan/Feb 2014    8,555            2,502      1.58

I don't use theTrainer calories because they are not accurate. There is an error there, and what should be purely Activity Calories and NOT including BMR,  has a portion of BMR. 

For Fitbitters who are reading this, here is the scale of the Activity Factor Sylsam and I are posting about. It is your BMR x Factor.

Sedentary.  (factor 1.2)  Little to no regular exercise.  

Mild activity level: (factor 1.375) Intensive exercise for at least 20 minutes 1 to 3 times per week. This may include such things as bicycling, jogging, basketball, swimming, skating, etc.  If you do not exercise regularly, but you maintain a busy life style that requires you to walk frequently for long periods, you meet the requirements of this level. 


Moderate activity level:   (factor 1.55) Intensive exercise for at least 30 to 60 minutes 3 to 4 times per week. Any of the activities listed above will qualify. 

Heavy or (Labor-intensive) activity level:   (factor 1.7) Intensive exercise for 60 minutes or greater 5 to 7 days per week (see sample activities above).  Labor-intensive occupations also qualify for this level.  Labor-intensive occupations include construction work (brick laying, carpentry, general labor, etc.). Also farming, landscape worker or similar occupations.  

Extreme level: (factor 1.9) Exceedingly active and/or very demanding activities:  Examples include:  (1) athlete with an almost unstoppable training schedule with multiple training sessions throughout the day  (2) very demanding job, such as shoveling coal or working long hours on an assembly line. Generally, this level of activity is very difficult to achieve.