Apple Watch watchOS 15

[skipcooney]

The recent software update for the Apple Watch is supposed to offer improved calorie tracking for exercise on an E bike. Has anyone figured out how to use the new feature?

 

[fooferdoggie]

I can't find anything. but I have found the watch way different from from my garmin. my morning ride is about 200 to 250 calories but apple gets it at 350 calories. now apple uses the standard valuations. but my gamin and my bosch that also has a power meter are usually pretty close to each other.

 

[skipcooney]

I can't find anything. but I have found the watch way different from from my garmin. my morning ride is about 200 to 250 calories but apple gets it at 350 calories. now apple uses the standard valuations. but my gamin and my bosch that also has a power meter are usually pretty close to each other.

I don’t understand what you mean when you say that Apple uses the standard valuations. Did you see a change in how your watch tracks calories after the resent watchOS update?

 

[fooferdoggie]

a few months ago I looked up a calorie counter for cycling and they all agreed with apples calculations. but apples calculations are a lot higher then my garmin and my bosch. I did a test yesterday and it is 100 calories more then garmin so about the same as usual.. it looks like the e bike thing is just automatic. so maybe when your not working hard and riding a bike it changes to e bike mode? average heart rate was higher then my polar chest hrm. most of the time apple is a lot lower.

watchOS 8 has more accurate tracking for e-bikes​

Apple announced some important cycling tracking updates for e-bike users too, with watchOS 8 possessing an updated algorithm to more accurately measure active calories. The Apple Watch will be able to better evaluate GPS and heart rate to better determine when users are riding with pedal-assist versus leg power alone.

 

[skipcooney]

Thank you for clarifying. it would be interesting if someone could test this by tracking calories for an e-bike ride using watchOS 7 and comparing with the same ride using watchOS 8.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Thank you for clarifying. it would be interesting if someone could test this by tracking calories for an e-bike ride using watchOS 7 and comparing with the same ride using watchOS 8.

I don't think there is much difference. but I have not recorded a ride in awhile using my watch. it is better now that it pauses. but in winter it would be a pain because you still have to touch the screen to start and my arms are covered. but myself I only have 30% battery left or less usually each day if I reordered rides the watch would be dead.

 

[skipcooney]

I looked back at my Fitness app records and compared two rides that were almost the same. Both rides were on my e-bike using the lowest level of pedal assist through most of the ride. The first ride was recorded using watchOS 7 and the app reported that I was burning approximately 31 active cal per mile. The second ride was recorded using watchOS 8 and the app reported I was burning about 21 cal per mile. This suggest that something under the hood has changed in how calories are counted for outdoor cycling. To prove this theory, it would be interesting to take the same ride on a mechanical bike. That ride should show a calorie burning rate of approximately 31 cal per mile.

 

[RunForTheHills]

Since everyone's body is different and some people are more efficient than others when it comes to work and burning calories, these formulas are only rough guidelines based on body weight. I have a friend that eats like a horse and never gains weight and never exercises. I put on weight fast if I stop exercising. I don't count calories when I am trying to lose weight. I just exercise and change my diet to a low fat and low sugar diet. I can lose 5-10lbs a month like that.

 

[skipcooney]

I have more data to share from my single-subject experiment. Today I took my human-powered road bike out for the same route, tracking caloric effort with my Apple Watch running watchOS 8. It took more effort as demonstrated by the average heart rate of 107 BPM for today’s ride compared with 92 BPM for the same ride on my e-bike. My watch said I was burning 34 active cal per mile today, much more than the 21 cal per mile reported for the same ride on my e-bike. I conclude that the Apple Watch running watchOS 8 is making some under the hood adjustment for the reduced effort of riding an e-bike.
I wonder how the calorie tracking will respond if I increase the level of assist on my e-bike. I assume the average heart rate will decrease, so will the reported caloric effort also decrease?

 

[fooferdoggie]

myself I need an idea of how many calories I need to replace. my wacky body can only handle protein and veggies a few times a week. if I dont eat enough I run out of energy and I don't lose weight. so I need to eat enough to have the energy I need and not run out of fuel. like our Sunday tandem ride showed I burned 1200 to 1500 calories. two dishes at a local Chinese place of veggies and meat was not enough to fill the hole I made. riding 230 miles a week and riding every day even with a 10 or so average heart rate can burn a lot of calories. 500 to 700 a day usually.