Get More Accurate Workout Data From Your Apple Watch
If you’re like me, your Apple Watch is essentially glued to your wrist. The walk looks like wasted steps if my Apple Watch isn’t tracking every step. And with many of us relying so heavily on fitness bracelets to keep us informed about our exercise every day, we want this information to be as accurate as possible.
There is no perfect fitness tracker; whether you use an Apple Watch or Fitbit, the numbers you see on the screen will never be accurate. Yet health does not require precise numbers; As long as your calories, exercise distance and pace are accurate enough, you can confidently progress towards your goals.
So how do you make sure your Apple Watch records your exercise data as accurately as possible? Through a combination of settings, personal information, calibration and correct use.
Check your Apple Watch settings
The first thing you need to do is make sure the correct settings are turned on on your iPhone. Without these settings, your watch will not receive the information it needs to accurately track your workouts.
To get started, open your iPhone’s Settings app, then go to Privacy> Location Services . Here, make sure Geolocation Services is enabled; it is a general setting that determines whether applications and services can access your location. After making sure the option is enabled, scroll down and select System Services . Make sure Motion & Distance Calibration is also enabled here.
How to calibrate Apple Watch
With these settings checked, it’s time to calibrate the watch, and there are two ways to do this. You can calibrate your watch without overwriting any previous calibration data, or you can reset your calibration data and then calibrate your watch. Let’s first see how to calibrate the watch as a whole.
You won’t find settings or options for calibrating Apple Watch; instead, you’ll calibrate it just by going for a walk (or running). However, it matters where you go for your walk: you must make sure you are walking on a flat surface with clear skies that will not interfere with the GPS signal, such as on a school trail. You only need to bring your Apple Watch if you don’t have Series 1 or earlier – these older models require an iPhone for GPS.
When you’re done, start your outdoor walk or jogging from the Workout app on your watch. You will need to walk or run for 20 minutes for your Apple Watch to fully calibrate. However, you don’t have to do everything all at once, so feel free to stop a workout and start another later. What’s more important to consider is your pace; you must maintain the same speed for the entire 20 minutes, so if it becomes easier for you to walk during this period of time, we recommend that you do so.
If you tend to train at different speeds, you need to do multiple calibrations at different paces. In case you’re wondering, yes, your Apple Watch is probably calibrating when you’re already walking or running outside. However, if you do not exercise often in a flat, open area or at a steady pace for at least 20 minutes, you may not have the most accurate calibration data on your watch.
How to reset Apple Watch calibration data
As I said, your Apple Watch can be calibrated every time you walk or run in an open area. However, it still works with the data from the previous calibration; If, for some reason, the previous calibration was bad, it could degrade your readings. To properly calibrate your Apple Watch, you need to reset this data.
It’s easy to do if you know where to look. Open the Watch app on your iPhone and go to the Privacy section . Now click on “Reset Fitness Calibration Data”. In the pop-up window, select “Reset Fitness Calibration Data” and your iPhone will erase all previous calibration data from its records. You can now take a 20-minute walk or run to update your Apple Watch tracking capabilities.
How to update your personal information
Your Apple Watch also takes into account your age, gender, height, weight, medication, and whether you are using a wheelchair to track your fitness. To get the most accurate reading, you need to make sure that the data is fully up to date.
Open the Watch app, then go to Health> Health Info . Here you will see the information you entered earlier. If everything passes the test, you’re done. But if you need to make changes, it’s easy to do. Just click “Edit” in the upper right corner and then change any information here.
Make sure you wear your Apple Watch correctly
How you wear your Apple Watch can affect the readings you get after exercise, as well as your overall tracking throughout the day. Make sure the Apple Watch is on your wrist and is snug, but not too tight. This position gives the sensors a better chance of reading your heart rate as well as tracking your steps.
When talking about step tracking, you need to remember where your watch is as you walk. You get Workout Credit for walking without workout included if your Apple Watch arm wobbles while you walk. If this is not the case, say because you are holding a stroller with both hands or holding a cup of coffee, the watch will not be able to properly track or count the exercise. In such cases, be sure to include an outdoor walk so the watch knows what you are doing.