First Workout with the Watch

[iwayne]

So i had my first workout with the watch about an hour ago.

The workout app is cool but lifting weights with it needs an improvement. It's fine that there is an "other" but apple needs to let you after the fact create some sort of sub-naming so at least for your own purpose you know what that "other" workout was. I'm sure it will come in an update, but it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

The HR tracking is as expected not extremely accurate. I did my weight workout with it and it was ok but I could tell it was slightly off at times. In the end the average HR was probably pretty close to the real thing. In the workout recap there should be an option to see your max HR, without having to go over to the Health app.

I used a Wahoo Tickr X for my cardio and synced it to the apple watch and it pulled my HR from there and it was the perfect marriage to be able to get accurate data. Example of inaccurate reading was when my spin workout ended the Tickr said my HR was 114bpm, once I took off the Tickr the Apple watch immediately started reading and told me my HR was 50, SMH.

Overall I really like the activity/workout app, it's a good first effort by Apple. Also anyone know how to get the watch to remind you to "stand" every hour, it's very easy to forget.

On another note after my workout my battery is at 41% Its been off the charger 10hrs & 4mins. Not bad

 

[Trent0341]

I had a few minor glitches with the HR reading low as you described but only for a brief second before flashing up to an accurate level. It read as high as 198 today which is right at the threshold for my MHR.

One thing I've noticed is that during my workout if I push the watch up so its just above the bony part of my wrist it appears to be more consistent. Overall I've been impressed with the HRM. Sorry to hear you're having issues.

 

[8CoreWhore]

Not that OP was wearing it wrong, but I'll take a moment to remind people that to get a good reading the band has to be tight enough to not move around, but not so tight that it constricts blood flow.

Also, experiment with the location of the Watch on your arm, for some, a bit higher will work better.

I don't really see much usefulness of HRMs while lifting weights.

Wrist worn devices have some lag at times, and lifting weights is short periods of high intensity, followed by very low intensity.

But for running, walking, cycling - activities that have a steady consistency, HRMs are useful for telling you your rate, and you can use that to pick it up or slow down to stay within a certain zone. Or to target two different zones for intervals.

As for all activities, one thing that is useful is checking your heart rate regularly and getting to know what it is at a certain effort... If it suddenly is higher it could be you haven't recovered adequately and you may consider a rest day or an easy day.

This is especially true upon waking - if it's normally in the low 60s, for instance, at waking - then one morning it's 80, you know you need more rest.

People have even noticed that right before getting sick - the immune system is weakened by over training and inadequate recovery.

 

[greytmom]

Wayne, I didn't have to ask my watch to remind me to stand... It just did it on its own.

8Core, that makes total sense. I'm going to start using HR to see if it correlates to my low energy, can barely lift my head days. (I have some health issues).

 

[iwayne]

Yea, i'm definitely going to experiment with wrist placement as I've had a couple wrist worn HR trackers and they are extremely finicky with reading as they need to be on a meatier part of the forearm to read blood flow.

I don't always use a HR monitor when I lift but I'm a pretty muscular guy and I've used it in the past to add motivation to do certain tougher exercises that really get the heart rate going.

Yea my watch only reminded me to stand once. So far I have 10/12 hours of the day. Seems to be a bit delayed though in it's reporting as I made it a point to stand the last hour and 12mins later after the hour it still hasn't registered that I stood during that hour.

The next experiment I'm gonna do is to wear/protect the watch under a very wide wristband while playing softball. (that's why i got apple care lol)

 

[atheros07]

Had my first weightlifting workout with it too today and agree with what you said. It was ok--- the cuff of my gloves kept on hitting the digital crown though when doing barbell curls. Think it'll be better for cardio workouts.

 

[gwynne]

First Workout with the Watch

8core, can you explain more fully why you think HRM isn't useful for lifting? I'm a ... Let's say intermediate lifter, but not very well conditioned. (Older female.) After deadlifts sets today my HR was WAY up there. No so much heaviness, I guess, just the big compound lift combined with a lot of sedentary years. Watching the heart rate spike come back down between sets seemed useful, or at least interesting. Am I doing it wrong?

 

[iwayne]

To be fair, if you really are a lifter/bodybuilder and analytical about it you definitely will see the benefits of tracking your heart rate during a workout.

 

[Somnospeed]

Did my first workout with it today. Unless I was playing with it, couldn't even tell it was on and I wear lifting gloves. I found the heartrate monitor to be accurate and found that changing my music with the watch is wayyy better than clicking the headphones.

I'm very happy with how the watch fits in my workout.

 

[Chiguy12]

Or this

 

[ob81]

8core, can you explain more fully why you think HRM isn't useful for lifting? I'm a ... Let's say intermediate lifter, but not very well conditioned. (Older female.) After deadlifts sets today my HR was WAY up there. No so much heaviness, I guess, just the big compound lift combined with a lot of sedentary years. Watching the heart rate spike come back down between sets seemed useful, or at least interesting. Am I doing it wrong?

Just to chime in; The thing about all heart rate monitors is that they are counting beats per MINUTE. I stress minute because people expect HRMs to give them their HR instantly, when, if a HRM gives you one instantly, it is guessing based on a small sample of a minute. When you are using machines to exercise, like ellipticals and treadmills with HRMs, it takes them a while to read your HR as well. Probably around a minute.

Knowing this, if you are doing sprint intervals of 20 secs, your HR will be all over the place, because guess what, it is. It peaks and lowers all within less than a minute. As for the comments on weight lifting, it is not a cardio-focused exercise, so trying to keep up with your HR is pointless, and will never really be accurate due to the quick raising and lowing of HR.