Apple Watch and Activity, the keys to understanding it

The Apple Watch was the king of Christmas shopping as we have been able to read in the reports of some analysts with more than 5 million units sold. The new models, the drop in prices compared to the launch of the original model, the wide range of finishes, colors and straps ... It has undoubtedly become the reference for smartwatches and many users who previously used a simple quantifying bracelet now They have decided to use an Apple Watch, which in addition to everything their bracelet did offers many more options. But there is something that puzzles many users and it is the way in which the Apple Watch measures your physical activity. We explain the keys to understand it.

Standing

We start with one of the notifications that most irritate many: Stand up. It is really a recommendation that is already several years old and is supported by a multitude of scientific studies. Walking for about 5 minutes every hour is healthy and prevents metabolic diseases like diabetes. But perhaps the problem lies with Apple's own notification: It is not about standing up but about doing some activity every hour, yes, minimal. The notification also comes before the end of the hour, in order to get the point of that hour. If you get the 12 points for the day you will have filled the ring.

Exercise

It is perhaps the point that creates the most uncertainty. What does Apple consider exercising? The company defines it as any activity that puts a little strain on your body, such as a brisk walk. The Apple Watch also monitors your movements, heart rate and The activity you do must have some impact on your heart rate for Apple to consider it exercise otherwise it will not quantify it. So doing the same activity two people can achieve different results on the Apple Watch, depending on the effort involved for each.

Movement

Finally we come to the ring that qualifies the calories we have spent. As with the previous one, the Apple Watch uses the movement and heart rate sensors to quantify the calories you consume, but only the "Active Calories". Apple speaks of "Energy in activity" to refer to the active calories that are those that are consumed when we carry out a physical activity. There are also the "Basal Calories" or "Energy at rest" which are what we consume for the simple fact of being alive through vital processes such as breathing. The total calories we consume are the result of the sum of these two, but the movement ring only refers to the active ones.

This movement target is the only one that we can modify to our likingEither during the initial configuration of the Apple Watch or at any time using the Force Touch from within the Activity app of the watch. In addition to defining our goal of calories to consume (remember that they are only "active") we can see a weekly summary of our activity.