Have you ever wondered how the Apple Watch calculates calories burned? Well, the short answer is pretty easy. Your Apple Watch calculates how many calories you burn based on information such as your height, weight, age, gender, heart rate, and movement throughout the day. Of course, it’s an estimate, but the results are generally regarded as fairly accurate. <\/p>
Now, let’s go over the long answer and other vital information as it relates to the Apple Watch, how it calculates calories burned, and how accurate these calculations are.<\/p>
The Apple Watch is an excellent device for tracking health and fitness goals, and one important aspect of this is how much energy you expend. Continue reading to learn how to view your calories burned on Apple Watch for active and passive metrics, as well as your daily total.<\/p>
Apple Watch tracks your active calories burned, and your Move ring displays your progress in relation to your daily goal. However, the Apple Watch also tracks your total calories burned, which includes active and passive calories.<\/p>
Active calories are those that you burn while moving. Passive calories are the calories your metabolism burns simply by existing, even if you sit on the couch all day. This is referred to as your base metabolic rate.<\/p>
When you first set up your Apple Watch, you must enter your age, gender, weight, and height. Meanwhile, the device, as a fitness tracker, is outfitted with a variety of sensors that actively track your activity and heart rate. Apple uses this data to estimate how many calories you are burning using a series of algorithms.<\/p>
Furthermore, you can specify your activities on your Apple Watch to improve accuracy during workouts. Choosing a relevant type of workout (such as outdoor cycling or swimming, for example) allows your Apple Watch to estimate results using the appropriate sensors and data sources. This results in different calorie calculations for each type of workout.<\/p>
After you understand how the Apple Watch calculates calories burned, the next question is its precision. Simply put, Apple’s measurements are called estimates for a reason. Outside of an extremely controlled environment, determining your caloric burn with 100% accuracy on any fitness tracker would be extremely difficult. However, Apple Watches are powerful tools, and these estimates are widely accepted.<\/p>
If you are dissatisfied with the data displayed by the smartwatch, there are a few things you can try to improve its tracking.<\/p>
Calories are burned in two ways: by your body maintaining itself at rest and by using extra calories during exercise. Apple refers to the extra calories burned during exercise as “active calories.” Total Calories = Active Calories + BMR, or the sum of calories burned at rest and calories burned during exercise.<\/p>