Use the Workout app on the Apple Watch while exercising

Everything about the Workout app on the Apple Watch

With the Apple Watch you can record workouts, so that you can see afterwards which workouts you have done. You can easily start a workout, monitor your performance while exercising and analyze the recorded data afterwards. The Workout app on the Apple Watch is therefore ideally suited as your digital sports buddy.

• Start workout
• Workout while exercising
• Pause or stop
• Block screen
• After
• Customize your workout
• Challenges on the Apple Watch
• View workout on iPhone
• More tips for the Workout app

Start workout

As soon as you want to start exercising and record your performance, start a workout on the Apple Watch. This can be done in several ways: usually you will start the workout manually by tapping the screen or by telling Siri that you want to start a specific workout (“Start workout outside walking”). You can choose from many sports:

If you forget to start a workout, the Apple Watch can automatically recognize workouts and remind you that you are in a workout. This happens after about ten minutes of intensive exercise. You will then receive a notification whether you want to record the workout. If you forget to stop the workout, you will also receive a reminder after a while. This only works for certain sports such as running, walking and outdoor cycling.

Another way to start a workout is via Fitness+. When you start watching a training video, the Apple Watch will automatically start a workout.

Start workout in the Workout app

You can also start a workout manually, of course. Before you work up a sweat, it is wise to choose the right workout:

1. Open the Workout app on your Apple Watch. This can be recognized by the light green icon with a running man.
2. Scroll to the sport you want.
3. Have you found the workout you want? Then you can do two things: tap the workout to start immediately or tap the three dots to set a specific goal, for example Time or Distance.
4. Choose Open if you don’t want to set a goal, but just want to measure your performance.
5. The text Ready will appear to prepare you and you will see the Apple Watch countdown to 3-2-1.
6. You can now start exercising.

If you have opted for an Open, you can exercise for as long as you want and you will not receive any warnings when you are halfway through (because you have not set a goal).

If your sport is not listed, scroll down and choose Add workout. You can also indicate afterwards which type of sport it was by choosing the workout type ‘Other’.

How your effort is measured depends on the type of workout. For example, the distance traveled is measured for some workouts (running, cycling) and not for others (yoga, dancing).

Workout app while exercising

While exercising you will see the most important data, so you know how you are performing. This way you can usually see the elapsed time, distance traveled and current heart rate. While running you also see the pace, your heart rate zone and other information. You can turn the Digital Crown to see more information.

Not satisfied with the display while exercising? If you always want to have certain measurements visible, you can adjust the display of workout data on the Apple Watch. You will then get exactly the workout view that you find most useful.

If you have a watch with built-in GPS (from the Apple Watch Series 2), you can record detailed measurements without taking your iPhone with you. From the Apple Watch Series 3 you can also register altitude differences during exercise, because it contains a built-in barometer.

Pause and stop workout app

Is your lace loose and you don’t want to ruin your personal record? Or are you completely done with sports? Then you can pause or stop the workout. You do this by swiping to the side and choosing Pause or Stop. Once the workout has stopped, you will receive an overview of your performance with additional stats.

You can also pause by pressing the Digital Crown and the side button at the same time. Pausing the workout works the same as taking a screenshot on the Apple Watch. Press Resume or take another screenshot to resume training.

If you swipe the other way on the workout screen, the music playback screen will appear.

Workout app after exercise

Sooner or later your bike ride or run will come to an end. Swipe sideways and choose Stop to end the workout. After this, you will immediately see the results on your screen. You can scroll through the data by using your finger or the Digital Crown.

All your workout data is stored in the Activity app on your Apple Watch, the Fitness app on the iPhone and the Health app on the iPhone, provided you have given permission for this.

Block workout screen while exercising

Do you play a sport where you sweat, get wet or touch the screen easily? You can then also block the screen of the Apple Watch while exercising, so that you do not accidentally tap functions on the screen. Locking the screen happens automatically while doing a swimming workout, but for other activities you will have to activate it manually. That is how it works:

1. Start the Workout as usual.
2. Swipe sideways on the screen and tap the Lock button (identified by the blue-green drop).
3. Continue exercising.
4. If you want to operate the screen, you must first unlock the screen. This can be done in two ways: in watchOS 9 and newer, press and hold the Digital Crown. In previous watchOS versions, you turn the Digital Crown.
5. You will hear a number of beeps and any moisture will be vibrated from the speaker.

Customize your workout

Since watchOS 9 you can put together a tailor-made workout, for example an interval training with alternating running and walking. This is also ideal if you want to do a HIIT training, where intensive effort is alternated with recovery. Creating a custom workout is easy to do on the Apple Watch. To do this, tap the three dots when starting the workout to create your own workout. You can give the workout a name of your choice, so that you can easily start it again at a later time.

View workouts on iPhone

After exercising you can view all workouts on the iPhone. You must be in the Condition app for this. You can delete any incorrectly recorded workouts from the workout history with a swipe.

Tap on one of the workouts and you will see all the further details such as distance traveled, average heart rate and heart rate progression. You can also see the pace, amount of calories and more. During outdoor workouts you will see a map of the route taken.

Challenges on the Apple Watch

To motivate you, Apple has come up with several challenges. You can participate in the personal challenge that is different every month. Or you can challenge others to exercise as much as possible for a week.

• Earn medals with workouts on the Apple Watch
• Compete in Apple Watch Challenges
• This is how the personal challenges work on the Apple Watch
• Race against yourself: this is how you improve a personal record with the Apple Watch
• Competitions in the Activity app: this is how you challenge friends on the Apple Watch

Apple has created a video explaining how to start a challenge with friends:

More tips about the Workout app

We have even more tips to get the most out of the Workout app on your Apple Watch:

• Have Siri read out your workout performance on your Apple Watch
• This is how the workout reminders work on the Apple Watch
• This way you can combine multiple Apple Watch workouts
• This way you can split an Apple Watch workout into segments and lap times
• Apple Watch does not measure your sports activities properly? Calibrating helps
• This way you can manually add an Apple Watch workout