10 Useful Fitness Tips Every Apple Watch User Should Know.
The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for tracking and monitoring your workouts. We’ve already shown you 10 life hacks for all Apple Watch users , but I want to dive deeper into its fitness features. These little-known settings, apps, and features will help you get more out of your workouts and health data.
Give your Apple Watch rings a rest day.
The Fitness app on Apple Watch, as you know, includes three rings (Move, Exercise, Stand), which you can close based on your activity throughout the day. You can not only adjust your Move and Exercise goals to suit your needs (increasing or decreasing them as needed), but also set different goals for each day.
Initially, your movement, exercise, and standing goals were the same every day, but now you can customize your activity circuit goals, including adding rest days . Go to the Fitness app, tap the Activity Circuits card, and then tap the +/- icon next to each goal. You can create a weekly schedule to set lower goals on certain days. You can also temporarily change your goal for today only—for example, lowering your standing time goal on the day you’re traveling.
Wear your Apple Watch on your wrist (or ankle).
The Apple Watch is designed to be worn on the wrist, but that doesn’t mean it has to be there. If your workouts involve lifting weights or bench pressing with wristbands, consider wearing the watch on your forearm . Or, if you use a standing desk, your steps may not be recorded unless you wear the watch on your ankle . In both cases, you’ll likely need a larger band than the one that came with your watch. Fortunately, you can purchase an extended-length band, like this one .
Change the way apps appear on your Apple Watch for easier tapping during your workout.
This is a small life hack, but it makes navigating your watch while running much easier: press the crown, and you’ll see all your installed apps. By default, they appear as small icons grouped together. You can rearrange them if you like, but regardless of their arrangement, accurately tapping them while running outdoors can be quite challenging. To make things easier, scroll down the screen and tap “List.” This will display your apps in alphabetical order, with the name next to each icon. Now it’s much easier to tap on everything you might need during your workout.
Use Bevel to collect data from your Apple Watch and create a convenient dashboard.
The Apple Watch collects a lot of data, but Apple doesn’t provide a convenient way to view all of this information in one place. The Fitness app stores workout data, and the Health app stores everything else—but the Health app isn’t as user-friendly as I’d like. Third-party apps have stepped in to fill this gap. For example, Bevel provides recovery scores and collects data similarly to Whoop or Oura rings. There are other apps that do the same, like Athlytic, but I recommend Bevel because it has a free plan (and most of its functionality is available on that plan). If you enjoy the experience, explore other apps to see which ones you like best.
Create custom intervals on your Apple Watch.
The Workout app on Apple Watch has evolved significantly from its original format as a simple tracker with “Start” and “Stop” buttons. In the current version of the Fitness app, a small timer icon appears in the corner of each workout type, under the “Workouts” tab. Tap it to view and edit your custom workouts. Program interval training or a workout of a specific duration. The easiest way to do this is on your phone—Apple’s instructions can be found here .
Use your Apple Watch to compete against yourself.
If you often run or bike the same route, try the Race Route feature. Routes are automatically generated after you run the same route twice. On the watch itself, go to the Workout app and select a Run or Bike workout, then tap the timer icon to open options, including Race Routes. You can choose to race against your personal best time on that route or only against your last workout on that route. During the workout, you’ll see whether you’re on pace with your previous workout.
Exercise even without Apple Watch.
One of the best updates in iOS 26 is the ability to track workouts in the Fitness app, even without an Apple Watch. If you left your watch at home but still want to go for a run, you can track your workout directly from your phone. Simply go to the Fitness app, then select Workout and choose the workout type you want. If you choose an outdoor workout, like running, your phone will track your distance and pace using GPS. If you choose an indoor workout, the app will still be able to record data using the timer, but it won’t be able to collect any data. You’ll get information about your workout time, estimated calories burned, and the ability to rate your effort so the workout counts toward your training load. If you have a device that measures heart rate—such as a chest strap or headphones like the Powerbeats Pro 2 —you can connect it directly to your iPhone, without using your watch, and track your workout through the Fitness app, saving your heart rate data.
Connect your Apple Watch to a treadmill
The Apple Watch does a decent job of tracking distance and speed outdoors while running, and your iPhone can do the same. But once you’re indoors on a treadmill, only the treadmill knows how far you’ve run . Apple Watch’s distance estimation isn’t always very accurate. This is true unless you’re using a treadmill that can transmit data directly to your watch. Treadmills in many commercial gyms have this feature thanks to the GymKit system. In your watch’s settings , go to “Workout” and enable “Gym Equipment Detection.” When using a compatible piece of equipment, the console will indicate where to place your watch. You’ll hear a beep, and the data on your watch will sync with the data on the machine.
Install WorkOutDoors on your Apple Watch to get more running data and route information.
We’ve already seen that the default Workout app has plenty of great features for running and other workouts, but many runners and hikers prefer a different option. The WorkOutDoors app for Apple Watch provides Garmin-quality mapping and analytics while you run . It takes some time to master all the features, but it’s an incredibly powerful tool that’s very affordable ($8.99 as a one-time payment).
Charge your Apple Watch battery before bed.
If you use your Apple Watch for sleep tracking, you can’t charge it while you sleep. But don’t worry if it’s almost bedtime and your battery is low—Apple Watch, especially the latest models, is designed to charge quickly for this very reason. The Apple Watch Series 11 requires just five minutes of charging for eight hours of sleep tracking .