Posted May 4, 20159 yr The Apple Watch includes new and novel health and fitness features that can help motivate you and keep you on track. Out of the box your Apple Watch can count your calories and steps, track your workouts, and even monitor your heart rate. Whether your goal is losing weight, gaining cardio, monitoring your health for medical reasons, or to live a better life, the Apple Watch and its built-in Activity, Workout, and Health apps can help you do just that. Apple Watch and activity tracking: 5 things you need to know How to set a calorie goal with Activity for Apple Watch How to view activity levels on Apple Watch How to add the Activity app to your Apple Watch's clock face How to view your step count with Apple Watch How to check your heart rate with Apple Watch How to pair an external heart rate monitor to Apple Watch How to track athletic progress and achievements with Apple Watch How to track a workout session with Apple Watch How to pause a workout with Apple Watch How to view goal metrics in Workout for Apple Watch How the Apple Watch tracks activity I's important to understand how the Apple Watch looks at health and fitness. Instead of counting steps or flights of stairs, the Apple Watch tries to get a more complete picture. That includes not only measuring calories burned, but making sure you're moving around on a regular basis and getting in some brisk activity each and every day. Learn how the Apple Watch tracks activity How to set a calorie goal with Activity for Apple Watch Before the Apple Watch can start helping you meet your calorie burning goals, you need to pick a starting goal. This goal includes only active calories and not resting ones. That means the Apple Watch will differentiate between the calories you burn just by being alive and those that you burn going above and beyond — everything from taking a brisk walk to working out at the gym. How to set a calorie goal with Activity for Apple Watch How to view activity levels on your Apple Watch The Activity app on your Apple Watch lets you quickly see your progress any time you'd like. The three areas your Apple Watch tracks — move, stand, and exercise — are each represented by a colored ring in the activity app. The closer you get to completing a specific goal, the closer the ring will get to completing itself. Apple Watch also lets you scroll down in each section to view a little bit more of a data breakdown if you choose. How to view activity levels on Apple Watch How to add your activity levels to your Apple Watch face To really stay up-to-date with your Activity levels, and stay motivated, you can add your circles right to your Apple Watch face. It's done by adding Activity as a custom complication and it makes it incredibly easy to take in your stand, workout, and calorie goal circles at a glance. How to add your activity levels to your Apple Watch face How to view your step count with Apple Watch Your Apple Watch doesn't use step count as an overall gauge of health the way some step trackers do, but it does take it into consideration. If you ever want to see your current step count, you can easily do so right inside the Activity app. How to view your step count with Apple Watch How to check your heart rate with Apple Watch The Apple Watch has a built-in heart rate sensor that makes calorie counts during workouts, and throughout your regular day, even more accurate. By default the Apple Watch will check your heart rate every ten minutes, unless you're in the middle of a workout, and it will monitor it consistently. If you ever have a need to manually check your heart rate, you can do that too! How to check your heart rate with Apple Watch How to pair an external heart rate monitor to Apple Watch If you're heavily training or have a need for more accuracy when monitoring your heart rate, you can pair an external Bluetooth sensor or strap to your Apple Watch as well. Once you pair it, any activity the external monitor picks up will instantly be beamed back to your Apple Watch and recorded the same way the internal sensor would. How to pair an external heart rate monitor to Apple Watch How to track athletic progress and achievements with Apple Watch The Activity app isn't exclusive to your Apple Watch — it's on your iPhone too. Apple automatically adds it when you pair and start using your Apple Watch. With the Activity app on iPhone you can view more detailed summaries of activity and workouts, as well as any achievements you'd unlocked. You can also see other available achievements and what you have to do in order to earn them. How to track athletic progress and achievements with Apple Watch How to track and manage workout sessions with Apple Watch The Workout app that is built in to your Apple Watch lets you track a lot of common workout types from outdoor running and walking to indoor stationary equipment such as an elliptical. Starting a workout is easy. When you're done your workout will automatically be logged in not only the Workout app, but the Activity app and the Health app on your iPhone. How to track a workout session with Apple Watch How to pause a workout with Apple Watch How to view goal metrics in Workout for Apple Watch By default the Workout app on Apple Watch shows a progress ring indicating how close you are to completing your training session. If you would prefer to see goal metrics such as calories burned, heart rate, distance, and other pertinent information, you can. You'll just have to make a few changes inside the Apple Watch app first, and we can show you how. How to view goal metrics in Workout for Apple Watch More help with Apple Watch? Want even more help with your Apple Watch? Be sure to check out all the helpful links below. If you have a specific question, feel free to drop a question in our forums, no registration required, or shoot us an email. Apple Watch Apple Watch help Apple Watch apps Apple Watch buyers guide Apple Watch FAQ Apple Watch news hub Apple Watch discussion Continue reading...
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.