active minutes

[Claire22]

i walked very briskly for 15 minutes non stop & fitbit only registered 5 mins active minutes? why is that? 

[SantiR]

@Claire22 I hope you're doing well! The reason why that happened is because you will get one active minute after 10 minutes of moderate to intense activity. As your walk was for 15 minutes, that is why you got only 5 active minutes.

Hope this helps. Keep me posted! 

[Claire22]

oh okay! so if u go for a 30minute walk the active minutes will only show as 20minutes on the fitbit ios app 

[SantiR]

@Claire22 Thanks for your reply! Yes, that is correct. If it is a moderate to intense activity that will last 30 minutes, only 20 will be counted as active minutes. Please check this post to get some details on this matter! 

Let me know how it goes! 

[Claire22]

ok got it , when i need to reach the daily goal of 30 active minutes i need to walk at least 40 mins to register as active minutes 

[SantiR]

@Claire22 That's correct! It should work like that. Remember that intensity is the key in order to get active minutes! 

Also, take a look at the Get Moving Board as you will find a lot of interesting things there and tips from users to be more active!

Try it out and let me know the results! 🏃🏃🏃 

[Claire22]

thanks for your help , but today i did a 20min walk non stop and it didn't register any active minutes ( it should register 10mins active minutes going by what u said in previous conversation ) & later i did another 20min walk again non stop & when i synced it has registered 12mins active minutes but what about the active minutes for the previous separate walk in the day? 

[SantiR]

@Claire22 You are very welcome. Well, Fitbit calculates active minutes using metabolic equivalents, which are the METs. They measure your energy expenditure and are indicators for exercise intensity. Fitbit trackers estimate your MET value in any given minute by calculating the intensity of your activity. 

For example, an MET of 1 means that your body is at rest. Fitbit trackers will give you active minutes when you reach an MET of 3 or above. Minutes are only awarded after 10 minutes of continuous moderate to intense activity. 

The more calories you burn the higher your MET value, so therefore the more calories you burn the higher your total active minutes. Remember that the intensity of the exercise is the key. Often what seems like the exact same amount of effort over the same distance in fact differs slightly enough to change your active minutes total.

However, if you feel that your tracker is really not tracking that data correctly; please perform a restart on it and try once again. 

Keep me posted! 

[SophiaC]

So 'Active minutes' is not really a good description - perhaps you should call it 'High intensity minutes'. I was surprised to see just 39 minutes active when I actually achieved my 10,000 steps yesterday. I did an exercise class and played badminton, plus being on my feet quite a bit, walking, up & downstairs, etc.  I guess because badminton games usually last 7-9 minutes, then a minute or two hanging about before the next game starts, even though I can get quite hot it would not register many 'active' minutes! 

[Claire22]

if i used the tracking exercise by pressing & holding the button like i do when i sleep, and if i then did a 30minute walk & then press and hold the button to stop exercise tracking afterwards would it register 30minutes as active minutes?