Return to counting activity min. bouts of less than 10

[edwards1411]

Very disappointed in Fitbit stopping the recognition of exercise minutes of less than 10 min as per the CDC.  There have been many studies done that dispute this.  Here are just a few.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=56300&page=3

There's building evidence that short but frequent bouts of exercise can yield plenty of health benefits. Consider the following fitness findings:

• A study published by the American Journal of Sports Medicine in 2006 showed that short walks after dinner were more effective than long exercise sessions in reducing the amount of fat and triglyceride levels in the bloodstream after a hearty meal.
• Research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health showed that short bouts of exercise helped lower blood pressure as well as shave inches off the hips and waistline.
• In a study published in Preventive Medicine in 2006, researchers found that multiple workout sessions as short as 6 minutes apiece could help sedentary adults reach fitness goals similar to those achieved by working out for 30 minutes at a time.
• In a finding published in the journal Psychopharmacology, doctors found that short bursts of exercise could help reduce the craving for cigarettes and help people quit smoking.

"There is no question that short amounts of exercise can help you get fit, help you stay fit, and help you maintain your health," says personal fitness coach Susie Shina, author ofSixty Second Circuits. "You can stay fit in increments as short as 4 and 5 minutes at a time." ...

http://www.acefitness.org/prosourcearticle/3512/super-short-exercise-bouts-at-the-right

New research suggests that micro-bouts of activity—shorter than 10 minutes—can lower one’s risk of obesity as long as the intensity level is sufficiently high. Furthermore, those who focused on shorter bouts were much more likely to meet or exceed the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

The study, published in the American Journal of Health Promotion, found that even brief episodes of physical activity that exceed a certain level of intensity can be just as effective in helping people control their weight as does the current recommendation of 10 or more minutes at a time....

http://happyfithealthy.com/micro-exercise.html

Micro-exercise or workouts of short duration are now gaining in popularity because the benefits have been proven by scientific studies. Micro-exercises of much less intensity also prove to be of benefit, climbing the stairs and vacuuming all count toward your daily physical activity score.

Ultra-short bouts of activity or micro-exercise where never considered to be beneficial until recently.  At least, that’s what exercise physiologists and public-health authorities have been telling us for years. They reported that exercise generally would follow the rules of mathematics. 4 ten minute workouts = 2 twenty minute workouts = 1 forty minute workout at least in terms of health benefits. Exercise lasting less than 10 minutes was not considered to be an exercise and was not considered to provide any health benefits.

The American College of Sports Medicine are now reconsidering the value of ultra-short bouts of activity called micro-exercise. A Canadian study done  at Queen’s University in Kingston, by Dr. McGuire, suggests that the gradual accumulation of “incidental physical activity”contribute to your cardiovascular fitness level.

Recognizing the role of these micro-bursts of activity, – sweeping the floor, taking the stairs – in bouts as short as one minute can also  encourage people who are currently sedentary and find the prospect of structured exercise daunting, says Dr.Ashlee McGuire....

/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/even-brief-bouts-of-exercise-can-prevent-weight-gain-researchers-show/

Brief periods of physical activity, provided they are intense enough, can prevent weight gain just as well as the 10-minute-plus intervals that are currently recommended, according to a study published this week in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

"What we learned is that for preventing weight gain, the intensity of the activity matters more than duration," says Dr. Jessie X. Fan, professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah and the study leader.

"Knowing that even short bouts of brisk activity can add up to a positive effect is an encouraging message for promoting better health," she said in a statement

But the study showed that higher intensity activity was associated with a lower risk of obesity even if conducted in bouts of less than 10 minutes. Taking the stairs instead of an elevator, parking at the far end of a parking lot or walking to the store or between errands can add up, the researchers found.

There is so much more information based on scientific evidence available showing just how beneficial smaller bouts of exercise than 10 min. are to our cardiovascular system and other areas of the body.  Please reconsider this recent change that you have made and bring back the recognition of exercising for less min. than 10.  Thank you!

Moderator Edit: Updated label

[Opivali]

Did you all read why the change was made? It was made to bring Fitbit inline with the way the Center for Disease Control (CDC) measures activity. I would assume that after removing our personal data so that all that is left is demographic data they share it with the CDC. I for one love the idea of the CDC having more data to work with to better understand the human race. Also having a more standardized way of measuring things reduces Baroness data and allows it to be shared more readily amongst the research community.

[cholly]

I agree that research is very important, and major universities have clinical trials for this  purpose.  In a clinical trial, the participant knows what they are getting into -- they must read through and sign many documents.  However, this is just a little Fitbit that we're talking about, which isn't all that accurate to begin with, therefore, I cringe at the thought that researchers may actually use data from Fitbit!  Nope, I'm not interested in Fitbit being involved with medical/scientific research; leave that to the major universities!  And, let Fitbit work on keeping  their servers from having glitches.  I don't even care to address Fitbit's business sense when they decided to change their formula to calculate active minutes -- well, I'll touch base on it a little -- pretty poor business sense!

[Opivali]

Aha, accuracy. To be truthful I find its steps and distance data to be pretty accurate. I walk a indoor track that has been set up and measured to be 1/10 of a mile. There is enough metal in building to make the GPS almost useless. So, I don't use it. That being said my Surge is almost dead on. A little off yes, but close enough to most likely be usable by the research and medical communities.

[Jasper8888]

Agree completely. Count every active minute...or allow us to define it....the 10 minute setting is only one opinion....with many others differing. FIT BIT should provide the platform to be configurable and never align with one study or another....they are always changing.

[Dunadan0000]

Looks like Fitbit may have changed back to its original setting . Fitbit, is that correct?

[edwards1411]

I don't think so,  I've looked around for some kind of announcement and don't see anything.  There is a lot of dissension, but it seems to me that Fitbit is standing by the changes.

[jnichols]

There needs to be a place to file defects.  This is not an enhancement or a feature we need added.  This feature worked at one time and then you changed the way you calculate with the new software upgrade.

The way the device currently calculates active minutes will only work for a very small number of people.  Most excersise out there will cause you to stop at some point.  For example Crossfit, or any other sort of interval training, where you go max effort for a set amount of time then rest, then max effort, then rest, max effort etc.  Any weight training will not register because you need to change your weights etc.

I went to crossfit the other day and clicked a button on my watch stating that I am starting a new exercise. Then I worked out for 40 minutes max effort, really worked hard.  I had a PEAK heartrate for over 20 minutes and a cardio heart rate for an additional 12.  At the end of all of that I push another button on your device saying the exercise is finished.  You would think that if I told the device the when I started and stoped, and during that time I had over 20 minutes of the highest range of heart rate your device measures that it would be smart enough to understand that I was indeed active. Instead it shows that I have 0 active mintues.  This is a defect that needs to be fixed.

[Rossweisse]

The Moderator's response still cites the CDC study, even after @edwards1411 has patiently and thoroughly demolished its conclusions. That does not make me sanguine about the prospects of getting this particular (and massive) problem fixed.

I'm another one with health issues. I have Stage 4 breast cancer that's metastasized to my sacrum. I have a fair amount of pain. I often can only move for  a couple of minutes at a time, but I do it as often as I can. And sometimes, like any anyone else,  I just don't have ten minutes.

For me, and for a lot of other people, every minute counts. I suggest that - if someone in the Fitbit hierarchy is still wedded to the CDC study - you add an asterisk saying that the CDC thinks we should exercise for ten minutes at a time. Then give us the individual activity moments that we have earned.

Even though I very rarely get very active minutes, I'm always chuffed when I do. Why not give the activity circle different colors, a la the sleep semi-circle, according to the activity level?

I greatly fear that you're letting people make "requests" only to calm us down, and that no one really cares what we think. But by taking these things away from us, you are discouraging people from activity. And isn't encouraging us to move more, however much or little, the whole point of Fitbit? Please help us!

[Kathi2]

Isn't it amazing that we have to justify why we want something back that is the one of the reasons we bought the Fitbit in the first place?

Fitbit, just DO it!


Sent from my iPad

[Rossweisse]

@Kathi2, it's discouraging.

I just finished a 25-minute telephone conversation with my brother, and walked around during the whole thing. It was a big push for me, but I wanted to get those active minutes. I paused - just paused - twice, to pat a cat on my way past her. Guess how many "active minutes" I have showing for today? EIGHT. And how many steps do I have for the day so far? Almost 14,000. What's wrong with this picture?

[Rossweisse]

Update: I'm now at 20,086 steps (a friend took me to an art fair, and I managed to stay on my feet for 45 minutes!), and...8 active minutes.

And how do I even have eight minutes, given that we're supposed to sweat with no interruptions for TEN minutes before getting credit?

Please fix this.

[elvina]

Fitbit may be reading our posts but they just dont give a **ahem**.  This stupid change makes no sense at all and they have had lots of time to get it sorted, although why they changed it in the first day is beyond me.  

They make all the right noises but when it comes down to it, they couldnt care less for their customers and wont till people stop buying their products and start leaving bad reviews on all the review sites.  When it hits them in the pocket maybe they will listen.

[Rossweisse]

I understand that we're stuck with the tiles as they have been reconfigured. But I want to ask you to please, please, please give us credit for all our active minutes.

The excuse given for the ten-minute minimum is that you're basing this decision on a CDC study. But that study has been pretty well demolished by @edwards1411 in this post and subsequent replies.

Meanwhile, people like me - older, or dealing with injuries, or dealing with illness, dealing with all kinds of things - can't always do ten consecutive minutes. I've found that it doesn't take much to wipe out a lot of effort: pause to stroke a cat, pause to let someone else go by, pause to tie a shoelace, and as far as Fitbit is concerned, you might as well have been lounging on the sofa popping bonbons for all that time.

My employer and its insurance company have now added a program to encourage us to move. This is a good thing. But our movement cannot be self-reported; it's gathered either from our phones (I don't want to drag my phone along with me for every step of every day) or our trackers. This is a bad thing. I must do at least 30 minutes a day...

...and Fitbit is refusing to credit me with most of my activity.

There's a rumor going around that Fitbit is only interested in under-35s, healthy, athletic under-35s. I hope that's not true. I don't see the economic sense in it, but perhaps I don't understand the importance of image. But a lot of people who have put their trust in Fitbit have had the rug pulled out from under us with this change. Please give us the credit we have earned.

Thank you.

@RickyFitbit @MarreFitbit @EdsonFitbit

[Michael]

---

@Rossweisse wrote:

Meanwhile, people like me - older, or dealing with injuries, or dealing with illness, dealing with all kinds of things - can't always do ten consecutive minutes. I've found that it doesn't take much to wipe out a lot of effort: pause to stroke a cat, pause to let someone else go by, pause to tie a shoelace, and as far as Fitbit is concerned, you might as well have been lounging on the sofa popping bonbons for all that time.

---

@Rossweisse Pausing for any of those things doesn't cause any of my Fitbits to fail to give me credit for my minutes. (Fitbit has said that you can fall below the active threshold for a few minutes om a 10 minute block and still get credit.) In fact I have seen as few as 6 minutes reported, so you can have some breaks in your activity for things like waiting at a crosswalk, etc...

[Rossweisse]

That hasn't worked for me, Michael. And for me (I'm living with Stage 4 breast cancer), five minutes is usually the best I can do. I don't get any credit for it. And why shouldn't we get credit for all our active minutes? Why should there be a minimum? Again, the CDC study is not exactly the last or best word on this subject.

If we do the work, we should get the credit.

[Rossweisse]

Why was my post demoted to being a mere reply to someone else's post? I have a separate, legitimate point to make.

At least I know that it was read, but it's pretty insulting. Should we just assume that you're going to stick with the badly done CDC report instead of fairness and common sense in reporting active minutes? This isn't fair.

[Rich_Laue]

It sounds like most above have A misunderstanding of this 10 minute activity and active minutes.

Fact: Active minutes are not recorded in blocks of tenminutes

Fact: Active minutes or only rewarded during a period of ten active minutes.

For example if you walk slow for 10 minutes and only one of those minutes was a fast walk, you will receive credit for that one minute.

[FoxPhile]

Adding my voice to this issue - although since this has been around for over a year, it doesn't seem that there is much response to "community" feedback.

I just got my FitBit.  I'm overweight, out of shape, nearing 60 with cardiac problems.  My doctor encourages me to be active - but in VERY SHORT increments - until I lose weight and build up some stamina.  I walk briskly several times a day - for 5-8 minutes max.  Which means NONE of my activity is recorded.  This is MASSIVELY disheartening and makes me want to take the FitBit and slam it against a wall somewhere.  

I am an individual.  I have individual fitness capabilities and goals.  I need FitBit to allow me the option to program what those goals are and, at least to some extent, how my activities are measured to meet those goals.  If I'm not capable of walking more than 8 minutes at a stretch, I should be able to get credit for those 8 minutes - especially if I do that 6 or 7 times a day.  I don't need FitBit or the CDC or anyone else besides myself and my doctor telling me what "Active" minutes are.  

PS - Rich_Laue - No - I don't think we misunderstand this.  We understand all too well that any amount of activity - regardless of how strenous - that isn't part of a 10 minute minimum doesn't count.  That's the problem.  

[FoxPhile]

"The intention of the change in Active Minutes was to improve the accuracy of the statistic, not to discourage our users."

Well, you failed miserably.  It is terribly discouraging to huff and puff and wear yourself out - for 8 minutes - and find that FitBit will not recognize it as activity.  Makes me want to rip the **ahem** thing off and throw it somewhere.  

I'm finding more and more evidence that FitBit is designed NOT for the average person trying to get away from their sedentary habits, get off the couch and move; NOT for the elderly person who needs to gradually build up their stamina and whose heart rate soars after just a few minutes of moderate activity; NOT for the person with a health condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes who wants a fitness tracker that also helps them track BP or glucose.  In other words - NOT FOR ME!

I'm very disappointed.  I'm only glad I won this contraption - I didn't shell out any money for it.  

[edwards1411]

Excellent response!!!

[guitarwoman]

I find that my Charge will randomly pick up active minutes now and then, and sometimes in increments of less than ten minutes. The activity has to be continuous, but not at least ten minutes. I wonder if the company has quietly reversed itself during one of its app or firmware updates. Or it's a glitch.

Sent from my iPhone by Bonita Majonis

[elvina]

Fitbit basically dont give a **ahem** about anyone that isnt fit and very active, if they did they would not have introduced this crazy change which is just not possible for some people be they elderly, unfit, unwell etc.  Surely these are the people that Fitbit should be targetting and who should be encouraged to set a goal and then gradually increase it.  Some people may only be able to manage a couple of minutes at a time but its a great starting place and they should be encouraged.  Fitbits changes just demoralise and give the less able user the clear message that they dont matter.  Come on Fitbit get it right and see that not everyone can achieve 10 continuous minutes but that every minute counts and should be encouraged.

[edwards1411]

Right on!!!

[SunsetRunner]

Sent from my iPad

[Rich_Laue]

Your logic is making no sense, if you walk more than 5 steps witgout stopping you get credit for the steps you take, so you do get credit for that 5 minute walk to the store. No credit for active minutes,  which could easily be solved by taking a different route. Either way, you get credit for the steps.

Don't forget that your Fitbit is a tool to help get somewhere, ands like any other tool it can be misused.