Weighted average

From MB Wiki

The averaging of a series of similar values taking into account the amount of time spent at that average.

Take for instance two activities that tracked heart rate.

Activity 1 - 100 bpm for 100 minutes Activity 2 - 200 bpm for 10 minutes

Weighted Average would take 100 bpm * 100 minutes + 200 bpm * 10 minutes divided by 110 minutes(the total time for both activities).

12000 weighted bpm/110 minutes = 109 bpm weighted average

The weighted average would approximately be 109 bpm.

Simple average would take the heart rate and divide by the number of rows ignoring the time altogether.

100 + 200 / 2 = 150 bpm.

Weighted = 109 bpm

Simple = 150 bpm

This case shows a major descrepency in the values. The weighted average is more appropriate when reviewing workouts since it takes into account the amount of time spent at a particular heart rate.