What Are Active Minutes? How They Are Counted and How to Get More
Active minutes are the minutes you spend moving at moderate or higher intensity – brisk walking, cycling, dancing, running or anything else that gets your heart pumping faster. They matter because health guidelines are built around them: the World Health Organization recommends at least 150–300 minutes of moderate activity per week for adults, which is roughly 20–45 minutes a day.1
Every device brand measures active minutes a little differently, which is why the numbers in different apps do not always match. This guide explains how active minutes are counted, how YuMuuv uses them in challenges, and easy ways to collect more of them.
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What Counts as an Active Minute?
A minute counts as active when your effort is at least moderate – you breathe faster and your heart rate rises, but you can still talk. Typical examples include brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, gardening and team sports. Vigorous activity, such as running or fast cycling, counts too, and some devices give it double credit.
How Different Devices Measure Active Minutes
- Apple Watch: Exercise minutes, shown in the green Activity ring.
- Fitbit: Active Zone Minutes, based on heart rate zones.
- Garmin: Intensity Minutes, with vigorous minutes counting double.
- Google Fit: Move Minutes.
- Other apps: often count the duration of the workouts you record.
Some devices count active minutes automatically from your movement and heart rate, while others only count minutes from workouts you start and stop yourself.
How YuMuuv Counts Exercise Minutes
In YuMuuv challenges, exercise minutes come from your connected device or app:
- Apple Health with an Apple Watch: your Apple Watch exercise minutes, or the total duration of your tracked workouts if that is higher.
- Apple Health without an Apple Watch: the total duration of workouts synced to Apple Health.
- Garmin, Fitbit, Polar and Suunto: minutes from workouts you record on your device.
- Google Fit: your Move Minutes.
- Health Connect (Android): the total duration of workouts synced to Health Connect.
Tip: to make sure your minutes count, start and stop your activity as a workout on your device or app. Background activity, like daily steps, usually does not generate exercise minutes. The full details are in our help article on how YuMuuv calculates exercise minutes.
How Many Active Minutes Do You Need?
Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week – for example, 30 minutes on five days – or 75 minutes of vigorous activity. Since the WHO's 2020 guidelines, every minute counts, so short bursts add up too. For a personal picture that combines active minutes with steps and calories, try our physical activity level calculator.
7 Easy Ways to Collect More Active Minutes
Getting moving after (or before) a long working day is often a battle between your two ears. These ideas make it easier.
1. 1. Make Starting Easy
When you do not feel like exercising, shrink the decision: put on your sneakers and tell yourself you are “just going for a walk”. If you feel like running after ten minutes, great – and if not, you still collected your minutes.
2. 2. Dance
Ever come home from a party and realized you hit your step goal for three days? Bring that into everyday life: a few rounds of a dance game or a dance workout video, and your daily active minutes are done. It is even more fun with family or colleagues.
3. 3. Walk to the Store
Instead of driving, walk to a shop about 20 minutes away and carry your groceries home in a backpack. That is a full day's worth of active minutes, with errands done.
4. 4. Count the “Invisible” Activity
Gardening, chopping wood and shoveling snow are real workouts. Wear your tracker – and record them as a workout – so they count.
5. 5. Take Meetings on the Move
One-to-ones and phone calls work well as walks. Read about the benefits of walk-and-talk meetings.
6. 6. Commute Actively
Cycle or walk all or part of the way to work. Even getting off the bus a stop early adds up – try a car-free commute challenge.
7. 7. Join a Challenge
A shared goal with colleagues or friends is one of the strongest motivators to keep moving on the days you do not feel like it.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why does YuMuuv show fewer minutes than my watch app?
For many devices, YuMuuv counts minutes from recorded workouts, while your watch app may also count background activity. Record your walks and workouts as activities on your device to make sure they count.
2. Does walking count as active minutes?
Brisk walking does. A slow stroll usually does not raise your heart rate enough, but recording the walk as a workout means it will count in many apps.
3. How many active minutes per day is good?
Around 20–45 minutes of moderate activity a day meets the WHO recommendation of 150–300 minutes per week.
Run an Active Minutes Challenge at Work
Active minutes challenges are fair to walkers, cyclists, swimmers and gym-goers alike. Book a demo and we will help you set one up for your team.
