Active Minutes

Former Member over 5 years ago

Morning,

Recently my active minutes accrual has decreased dramatically even though my daily routine is very regular. Now, either this means that I've suddenly become super-fit and am no longer ever entering an "active" state of exertion, or something has changed within the watch. I was on a treadmill the other day for half an hour, for example, and the treadmill was registering my heartbeat at 125 (which felt about right) while my watch (a Fenix 5s) was stating 75bpm.

All was going fine, now seems a bit random. Any ideas?!

Thanks.

0 olson917 over 5 years ago

Are you referring to Intensity Minutes? If so I have found this feature so inaccurate that it's all but useless. It has been this way since I got the watch almost 2 years ago.

Sometimes I'll get full credit for a casual walk, sometimes I won't get any. Then sometimes I knock out a workout with an Aerobic TE in the 3's or 4's yet no intensity minutes are accrued. Swimming (with HR) and Strength training do not add to the totals, even though I get TE's of over 4 for swimming and over 2 for strength training.

I'm not an elite athlete, just a mid 50's guy trying to track progress, this feature is really the largest disappointment I have with the fenix5 as it seems like such a simple thing.

0 mcalista over 5 years ago

There is a longstanding issue where incorrect HR zones can be imported from Garmin Connect after a firmware update, especially if you use the LTHR method. Incorrect zones can lead to incorrect active minutes. It is worth having a careful look at your HR zones (and correct them on GC rather than the watch, otherwise the incorrect zones will just be re-imported).

Although in this case, the chief suspect would be the low HR measurement of 75bpm. The main user-controllable factors for OHR accuracy are band positioning and placement - the band should be snug, and positioned on the fleshy part of the wrist, well away from the wrist bone. I find I have to have the band 1-2 notches tighter for accurate HR while running, than I do for 24/7 monitoring.