: How does the fitness flex define "active time" It measures "very active time" in addition to steps, but I have no idea what that means. Assuming it's based on "lots of arm movement, does that mean that it'll pick up jogging,

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So how is weight training not considered active minutes? When I used to log my activities (some training sessions lasting up to 90 minutes at medium-to-high intensity) it counted the time. The latest update is so far from truthful that it shouldn't be considered indicative of physical activity. I sweat buckets when I train so the logic you provide is deeply flawed.

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From the Fitbit help pages:

You earn "Very Active Minutes" when you wear your Fitbit while doing
cardio workouts and high intensity activities like jogging, running,
aerobics, biking, rowing, or anything where you are working up a
sweat.

By default, you are given a starting goal of 30 Very Active Minutes a
day based on the Center for Disease Control's recommendation of 20-30
minutes of daily moderate-to-intense activity. You can always change
your Very Active Minutes goal to meet your personal needs.

Which doesn't tell us much, though I suspect it should be able to pick up forward accelerations.

Other help topic mention your concern regarding cycling:

All Fitbit trackers are optimized for walking, running, and general
household and lifestyle activities. It will not be as accurate for
activities like biking, but will record that your were active if you
wear your tracker during a non-walking or running activity. For
increased accuracy, go to: www.fitbit.com/activities or click
the "log activity" icon from your Dashboard to manually log activities
like cycling. This will allow for a more accurate estimated calorie
burn for workouts like cycling to be included in your daily totals.
Our online database of workouts makes it easy to save and access your
favorite activities.

and:

All Fitbit trackers are optimized for walking, running, and general
household and lifestyle activities. It will not be as accurate for
activities like biking, but will record that your were active if you
wear your tracker during a non-walking or running activity. For
increased accuracy, go to: www.fitbit.com/activities or click
the "log activity" icon from your Dashboard to manually log activities
like cycling. This will allow for a more accurate estimated calorie
burn for workouts like cycling to be included in your daily totals.
Our online database of workouts makes it easy to save and access your
favorite activities.

Here's more information regarding manual logging.

Given that the Fitbit Flex uses a 3-axial accelerometer, I reckon it starts counting Very Active Minutes as soon as it notices a deviation from patterns of known activities such as normal walking, sitting or lying down/sleep. Especially if you fall into a repetitive pattern, it should be able to reliably determine you're doing something.

My advice for cycling: put the wristband around your ankles, they might record awkward data, but it'll surely be very reliable.