As wearables become central to preventive health strategies, understanding not just how long people move—but how intensely—is crucial. One of the most valuable metrics to emerge from this evolution is the Active Zone Minute (AZM)—a more intelligent way to measure the intensity of movement rather than just the duration.
Unlike traditional step counts or time-based goals, Active Zone Minutes focus on heart rate zones, providing a more meaningful understanding of cardiovascular effort and its impact on overall health. For digital health solutions, wellness apps, and insurers focused on engagement and prevention, AZMs offer a way to deliver more personalized, impactful insights.
Active Zone Minutes is a fitness metric that tracks a user’s time in elevated heart rate zones during exercises. The goal is encouraging users to engage in activities that provide real cardiovascular benefits and visible results.
AZMs are earned based on the heart rate zone a user has during their physical activity:
This system encourages users to increase intensity for maximum impact, helping to prioritize quality over quantity when it comes to physical movement. This approach rewards higher-intensity effort, aligning with the World Health Organization’s recommendations. It is proven that 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week can reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes—metrics that Active Zone Minutes help directly measure.
To understand how AZMs are calculated, it is necessary to know how heart rate zones work:
These zones are personalized based on age and fitness level of each user, which makes AZMs a more personalized metric than step counts or distance alone.
As wearable fitness trackers evolve, so do the metrics used to assess physical activity. Among the most widely referenced are Active Zone Minutes (AZMs), Active Minutes, and Intensity Minutes. Although they may sound similar, each metric captures a different dimension of activity—and understanding these differences is essential for accurately evaluating workout effectiveness and long-term health impact.
Active Zone Minutes are based on heart rate zones and are earned when a person’s heart rate reaches levels that indicate moderate to vigorous intensity, such as during a brisk walk, run, or cycling session. The higher the intensity, the more AZMs are earned, making this a reliable reflection of cardiovascular effort and exercise quality.
Active Minutes, by comparison, track only the duration of continuous movement, with activity counted after 10 uninterrupted minutes—regardless of heart rate or intensity. Activities like light walking or household chores may qualify as Active Minutes but don’t necessarily translate into Active Zone Minutes unless they elevate the heart rate into a target zone.
This difference makes Active Zone Minutes a more accurate and personalized metric for measuring health-improving physical activity. The benefits of Active Zone Minutes align with WHO and CDC guidelines, which emphasize intensity as a core factor in exercise effectiveness—something step counts and general movement can’t fully capture.
Intensity Minutes, Garmin’s metric, takes a similar heart rate–based approach but applies its own logic. It measures activity by distinguishing between moderate and vigorous intensity, awarding double credit for more strenuous movement. To begin earning Intensity Minutes, users must sustain activity for at least ten consecutive minutes. Depending on the type of workout, Garmin uses either heart rate data or pace thresholds to determine effort. This makes Intensity Minutes a valuable metric for users engaged in structured training and for platforms that prioritize exercise quality over quantity.
Platforms incorporating AZMs, such as Fitbit, often establish a default goal of 30 active minutes per day, which adds up to 150 Active Zone Minutes per week—though users can adjust this based on their personal fitness goals. This target is aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, which recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity each week to support long-term health.
These minutes should ideally be spread across the week rather than condensed into a single workout. Research shows that increasing your activity to 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week can offer even more significant health benefits.
Hitting your Active Zone Minutes goal isn’t just about checking a box—it’s tied to real health outcomes. According to the CDC, regular physical activity helps reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers while also improving sleep, mood, joint health, and overall longevity.
Active Zone Minutes offer a more refined vision that facilitates health organisations with measuring and monitoring fitness activity and engagement. With AZMs, companies benefit from:
AZMs help shift the focus from arbitrary step goals to exercise that meaningfully improves endurance, cardiovascular health, and overall well-being.
Adding AZMs to your day doesn’t require a total workout overload. We have found some easy ways users can earn Active Zone Minutes while maintaining their comfort in the lifestyle. Here are easy steps users can take:
These strategies help both users and health platforms reach evidence-based activity goals more efficiently and timely.
Health platforms that track AZMs can deliver far more than passive activity summaries. Several wearable devices and fitness apps support AZM tracking; some of the most popular include:
Learn more about Thryve’s Apple HealthKit and Google’s Health Connect API Integrations.
By integrating this data into user journeys, health platforms can:
This not only improves user satisfaction but also enhances the effectiveness of wellness and prevention programs. Learn more about how to use wearables for heart health.
At Thryve, we make it easy to collect, standardize, and act on fitness data from wearables—including Active Zone Minutes. Our platform powers digital health apps, insurers, and wellness solutions with seamless access to real-time activity and heart rate insights from a wide range of connected devices.
Thryve plays a vital role in making AZMs actionable—transforming scattered wearable data into structured insights that power personalized coaching, preventive care, and intelligent reward systems.
From personalized fitness journeys to large-scale preventive care initiatives, Thryve empowers organizations to go beyond step tracking and build truly meaningful health and fitness experiences around real activity intensity.
As health engagement moves beyond basic tracking, Active Zone Minutes represent a smarter, more health-aligned way to measure physical activity. By focusing on exercise quality through heart rate zones, they enable more effective training, improved outcomes, and deeper motivation.
With Thryve’s infrastructure, organizations can integrate this powerful metric into their digital experiences, delivering more personalized, impactful, and preventive health solutions at scale.
Want to enhance your platform with Active Zone Minutes and real-time wearable insights?
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