what is considered a 'very active minute'?

[Roseman]

I am just curious what causes fitbit to recognize a minute of activity as 'very active;' I keep thinking I am active and do not seem to get much credit.

[KarinaK]

I have the same question, I walked 2 miles on the treadmill at 3.7 mph and got no credit for very active minutes.

[Colinm39 · Accepted solution]

A layman's interpretation of a Very Active Minute (VAM) is steps x speed = calories.

I need 34 calories/5 minutes to get 5 VAM and rounded in the minutes timer graph is 7 calories/minute or greater.

You need to establish how many calories = your VAM and then exercise to that capacity. My rate of walking exercise is 4.2+mph and then I only get about 40% VAM.

With all of the concern over VAM, Fitbit have announced they are stopping VAM and replace it with Active Minutes which could be similar to the Moderate Minutes + VAM on the iPhones.

Watch this space !!!! because the post was about a month ago. Still no confirmation as at 21st June 2014

Added a simpler approach on 8th September 2014

Active minutes are calculated every 60 seconds and 1 active minute is 6 times your sedentary/sleep BMR calories. Therefore any activity that uses 6 x Sedentary BMR (this is the same as 6 MET's) is Active Minutes.

CFM

[Roseman]

From reading the posts and other responses, it appears the Very Active Minute calculation is governed by # steps/minute. Theoretically, moving faster means making more steps/minute = more probability of it being counted as a VAM. I do see a potential issue with tha,t as I tend to take approx the same number of steps/minute when running as when walking, the difference being the stride. Non-step based activities (weight lifting, swimming, cycling, rowing, etc) may not get counted at all despite the fact that your heart rate and caloric burn is elevated.

 According to at least 1 Fitbit community member, a post from about a month ago stated that Fitbit was in process of re-evaluating the mechanism by which it calculates active minutes

[Colinm39]

Yes, Emily one of our Moderators posted, that the VAM issue was being addressed.

I'm still up in Australia at 1am.. It has been hot and will be 102oF (39oC) today..

Probably the change could be for another reason.The incorrect calculation of VAM in the algorithms. If you look at this graph, all of the calories, if applied manually over the time would give me 100% VAM, that is from the Fitbit tracker, not my HRM.

Look at the consistency of the number of steps, the pace and the spikes of VAM calories should not be there. I received 26 minutes of VAM for this 53 minutes brisk walk. The low spike was waiting for the traffic at an interection on my walk.

Still awaiting answers from support to explain because in other areas and posts Support say the calculation is based on 60 second intervals so there is no explanation for the spikes..

[CJY75]

I am having difficulty getting active minutes, let alone very active minutes. I walk as fast as I can, without tripping over things like sticks and twigs and cracks in the sidewalk, and breaking something. I feel as if the tracker is commenting on my effort. Not so much fun.

[ninasimone1212]

I'm now wondering the same thing now that I've just spent 70 minutes on the treadmill walking 3.0 mph at a 2% incline.  In the last 20 minutes of my workout, I jogged at intervals at 3.0 mph, doubling the number of steps I took per minute.  (I am recovering from shin splints, so I'm still trying to run without actually running, if that makes sense.)  

Despite spending a solid 70 minutes straight on the treadmill, I only have 23 very active minutes.  This is rather troubling.  I suppose those 23 minutes would be for the time I spent jogging/shuffling where my steps were doubled per minute, but still - only 23 minutes?!

[Colinm39]

@ninasimone1212   You can analyse that time in the one minute graphs and if you haven't created a timer activity you can do that by

1. Log, Activity, click the large stop watch and enter the period time and update, if it is past, watch the date

2. Then click on the very small stop watch on the RH of the activity description and your graphs are there

3. You should be able to ascertain what your VAM calories are from the calorie Graph.

[Jabrat]

@KarinaK If I walk at 3.7 I don't get anything - but if I walk at 3.8 I get full VAM.  I have to walk 3.8 to 4.2 to get active minutes.  

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@KarinaK wrote:

I have the same question, I walked 2 miles on the treadmill at 3.7 mph and got no credit for very active minutes.

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[ninasimone1212]

Even though I synched my device twice, it didn't update my minutes.  Now, later in the day, it is showing over 80 minutes of VAM, so maybe it was just a a synching fluke.

[Leighjr]

It's a shame it can't learn what would equal an active minute for you as me actually walking to the shops or walking about at home is more than just a bit active as I'm usually on PC, knocking stuff off the TiVo or at one of the consoles. So movement like walking around house, stairs etc is active for me. Not regarded as such by force tho.

[MatthewFitbit]

@Leighjr In Fitbit terms, an "Active Minute" is not a subjective concept. It is calculated using metabolic equivalents (METs), which represent the amount of oxygen used by a body during physical activity. Individual users might have their own opinions about what constitutes "being active", but this system lets us set a relative baseline that should allow you to gauge your activity more meaningfully.

You can check this help article for more details.

[slysam]

Walking, I tend to see very active minutes around or above 4 mph. I am only 5' 1"--I've never looked at the average steps per minute. Usually around 4mph +/- most of the walk will be rated as "moderately active" with some spikes of very active. I am sometimes passing joggers at this speed, so it is possible fitbit might be crediting me with "running". Running, I am not a great runner, I find if I pace myself I run similar to my brisk walking pace, if I all out-run I go faster but can't sustain it for long. Oh, I have looked at MET values and the ratings of exercise intensity on the Center For Disease Control and other sites. Very active minutes is fitbit's equivalent of "vigorous activity"--it is the highest level it gives us for our activity. By most, if not all accounts, walking is considered moderately active not vigorous. I did notice on MET charts, walking 4mph is something like 5 METS. I notice with manually logged activity, I see VAM if my calorie burn is more than 5 calories per minute. I found this surprisingly consistent in my case--I get very active minutes if I seem to burn something like more than 5 times my resting rate. It looks like fitbit credits me with a calorie per minute inactive--but from having left my fitbit on a table all day I can say the total comes out to less than 1 calorie per minute. So my guess is someone that burns 2 calories per minute at rest, may need to burn 10 calories per minute to see VAM But as near as I can tell, I usually (maybe always) see VAM when running. I think impact is part of what fitbit factors in. I first realized this when I use to do a lot of intervals with a jump rope. I planned to log th activity assuming fitbit wouldn't track it well, then when I look I would see a block of very active minutes during my jumping time (with no logging). I looked at the pace and it was actually slower than some of my walking and was only adding a "step" per jump so it wasn't just the speed that was rating it so highly.

[slysam]

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@ninasimone1212 wrote:

Even though I synched my device twice, it didn't update my minutes.  Now, later in the day, it is showing over 80 minutes of VAM, so maybe it was just a a synching fluke.

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I've been noticing something similar that I can't quite make sense of lately. I also notice a difference between what the app and website report. I've not paid enough attention to it to notice patterns. My sense is for some reason there has been a delay in calculating or reporting when I do earn VAM. My last post is assuming all is working properly, I've had a fitbit more than three years and most of that time my VAM are pretty consistent with my activity. And I have to work pretty hard to get them--I always have and that is actually how it is meant to be. I did seem to earn them more easily while walking when I weighed more, but it might be I walked with more impact in my steps. If so, I am sure my joints are happy to be lighter even if my VAM are not as impressive.

[crandle99]

I was also puzzled, but this makes sense. I did a 60-minute kickboxing class and earned 6 active minutes. But I guess we're even, because when I ride my horse I get lots of steps 🙂

[Jane819]

I am expierencing the same problem and its very frustrating and discourging.......I know I walk more then 5 active minutes a day, I usually walk on my first break at work, then again lunch time and last break, many days, I walk after dinner 😞  I am 62 years old, I can't walk fast like when I was a teenager just to get my minutes up.

I timed myself on my own, I walk average of 1 mile per 15 minutes (non stop), but according to flex trac, I only have 1 minute in, I believe flextrac should change the way it keeps track of the active minutes.

[Colinm39]

@Jane819Have you examined you active minutes in the Activity Log ?. Fitbit tracker calculates your VAM every 60 seconds and if you can find a day where you have had active minutes you can analyse the calories.

If you are walking at 4mph you should be getting VAM and it maybe in the arm movement.

I have to walk at 4+ mph and need 7 calories/minute for 1 x VAM.

I think you must be borderline, don't get discouraged and analyse those minutes.

Don't hesitate to post if you need help with that.

[AussieJeff]

Colinm39 you sound very knowledgeable as per your VAM post. I would be interest to know if you Log Activities. And what that might look like. I just spent 3 hours window cleaning which I would think qualifies to be logged.  But my flex has already rewarded me in terms of active minutes & steps. It feels to me like cheating if I was to Log any extra calaries. Or do I misunderstand to concept. Your advise would be appreciated. 

[Colinm39]

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@AussieJeff wrote:

Colinm39 you sound very knowledgeable as per your VAM post. I would be interest to know if you Log Activities. And what that might look like. I just spent 3 hours window cleaning which I would think qualifies to be logged.  But my flex has already rewarded me in terms of active minutes & steps. It feels to me like cheating if I was to Log any extra calories. Or do I misunderstand to concept. Your advise would be appreciated. 

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@AussieJeffNo movement is cheating and as long as you keep in mind that any manual recorded activity is never accumulated in the "Bests" or Badges.. If the manual activity involved steps they would show in your totals. but again not in the Achievements and Badges.

I would examine the calorie recorded by the Flex over the time period because they maybe in excess of what is considered a window cleaning activity. If you do overwrite the time period with a manual record the steps and distance will remain but rthe calories will change. I suppose with a flex it would be interesting to see if Fitbit';s filtering algorithms work for non step movement and wrist activity.

I normally examine the activity as a Perceived Effort and if I were to use the Cleaning Windows activity in Fitbit it is close enough to a 3.0mph (4.8kmh) which would give me about 6,500 steps at walking pace. I have verified that with my HRM.  The image below is what I "play" around with for Perceived Effort. Using the HRM would give you are more accurate calorie count.

For this type of testing I enter manual activities for the walking  and I use the "I don't know the distance" so that it doesn't upset my step totals in the Friends and the Groups.  I keep inputting them at the same start time and then delete them when I'm happy about the Perceived Effort.  Ironically this Step Conversion Table would give me 5,220 steps/hour for Window Cleaning.

Here are some other Step/minute Conversion Activities to give you a "feel" of effort.  Read this one

[AussieJeff]

Thanks so much. Your advice & info are excellent.

As best I can work out, I recored around 6 thousand steps for the 3.5hr period. Plus 30 very active minutes.
I wear flex on my preferred (left Hand ) and had adjusted to that in settings. A ladder was involved in part, but as the "flex" does not record stairs there were no rewards offered.
I have now added 450 Calories for this activity. The calorie graph gave me a constant "32" per bar over that time period.

So thank you for informing me that I should use the "activities Log" in future. Im Very glad I wrote you.
Thanks again.