How do you use Apple Watch at the gym?

[Ghost31]

I just joined a new gym and about the only thing I can set workouts for on my Apple watch watch seems to be indoor walk for when I'm on the treadmill. But today I just set it for "other" for my hour long workout. Is this... Ok? Or will I be getting all kinds of pointless inaccurate numbers? What do you guys do?

 

[BlueMoon63]

I just joined a new gym and about the only thing I can set workouts for on my Apple watch watch seems to be indoor walk for when I'm on the treadmill. But today I just set it for "other" for my hour long workout. Is this... Ok? Or will I be getting all kinds of pointless inaccurate numbers? What do you guys do?

That's what I use for all my gym sessions unless all I was doing was cardio on a treadmill or elliptical. Weightlifting is "other" for me and with OS3 I save the workout based on what I do "chest" or "back" etc.

Nothing is really perfect for weightlifting. Other is fine as it is measuring your heart rate and your stats for calories. Don't over obsessed. Typical weight lifting workouts burn about 500-700 per hours with rest periods. HIIT weightlifting is another animal. Just don't obsessed if your warmup with the treadmill for 10 minutes thinking you need an indoor walk workout and then a new other workout.

When we obsess, we tend to put off. Not saying you... I've been there.

 

[Ghost31]

Not totally sure how accurate that was. I was only at the gym for an hour doing cardio and it says I burned 747 calories. That seems a bit excessive

 

[BarracksSi]

I use "Other" most of the time anyway.

I used to try to remember labeling all of my Garmin-recorded workouts on Garmin Connect, but I never really sat down and tried to analyze them later -- time spent in each HR zone, speed on gradients, performance vs. weather, or whatever. I just didn't care. I'm not gunning for shaving minutes off my triathlon times (maybe because I don't do triathlons), I didn't spend another grand on a power meter for my bike, I'm not trying to "meet my macros".

Obsess if you want, but don't get upset if you don't end up with a medal around your neck (and I'm not talking about so-called "participant medals" that you get for just showing up).

 

[BlueMoon63]

Not totally sure how accurate that was. I was only at the gym for an hour doing cardio and it says I burned 747 calories. That seems a bit excessive

Depends on what you set the for the workout and how hard you worked. Can't even be 100% certain of the accuracy of the Apple algorithms. I think it does better than some have stated as I have been tested at the hospital for O2 testing and the Apple Watch was close to the lab results.

I think other is just a generic guess because it is only your heart rate and stats you programmed. Close enough for me though. I can see now that during my chest and tricep workouts with the same routine that my calories have gone up each week as I increase the weight and intensity. I also don't sit during breaks. I get back on the treadmill to keep my heart rate up.

I've said it before though... if you are a serious athlete, you probably need another device other than or in addition to the Apple Watch. Something dedicated for fitness.

I just love that I can run or swim or lift weights and shower with the AW and then switch the band and it looks right and fits under a suit and long sleeve shirt.

 

[Ghost31]

Depends on what you set the for the workout and how hard you worked. Can't even be 100% certain of the accuracy of the Apple algorithms. I think it does better than some have stated as I have been tested at the hospital for O2 testing and the Apple Watch was close to the lab results.

I think other is just a generic guess because it is only your heart rate and stats you programmed. Close enough for me though. I can see now that during my chest and tricep workouts with the same routine that my calories have gone up each week as I increase the weight and intensity. I also don't sit during breaks. I get back on the treadmill to keep my heart rate up.

I've said it before though... if you are a serious athlete, you probably need another device other than or in addition to the Apple Watch. Something dedicated for fitness.

I just love that I can run or swim or lift weights and shower with the AW and then switch the band and it looks right and fits under a suit and long sleeve shirt.

I was on the treadmill doing an interval between running and walking for 35 minutes, then for the other 25 or so I was on the elliptical and bike machines. I was sweating like a mother ****er with my heart rate getting up to 180.

Wasn't sure how realistic my calorie burn might have been. It doesn't really matter in the end though. I eat the same range of calories everyday. It's just fun to have an idea of the calories burned with some degree of accuracy ya know?

I will say I was pretty amazed at how accurate the heart rate monitor was on the the Apple Watch. While I was holding onto the machines I had my heart rate tested and it was the same exact number as my watch. Tried a chest strap monitor as well. Same numbers. For my amateurish bodybuilding, Apple Watch will do just fine. I like being able to just focus on one device/ecosystem that syncs with all my crap vs "ok I'm at the gym. Gotta take off my watch and put on my chest strap and then yadda yadda yadda". Just get in the shower room, wipe off my watch, switch my band and done. Then check apple health and fitness pal for all my info. The convenience just can't be beat.

Still trying to decide if I'm gonna have a go to band for the gym and if so, which it'll be between my nylon and sport. The nylon is soooooo comfy

 

[BarracksSi]

If your gym's stationary bikes show watts, you can use your total wattage to get a pretty close idea of how many calories you've expended.

 

[MartyCan]

I use "other" in the gym or any time nothing else specifically works.

 

[44267547]

I use Other for my workouts all the time. It works rather well and now I just find it easier for my go to for most of my cardio. I mainly contribute to more weightlifting, but to my surprise the heart rate monitor is really convenient to use and records most of my data to my needs.

The nylon bands are awesome. They allow your wrist to breathe, unlike the fluoroeastamer bands. I have the black and pearl nylon band.

 

[tdbrown75]

I use mine with the other workout setting, seems to do very well keeping track of my activity/calories burned. Of course that's just treadmill mostly. For more complex movements (boot camp, kickboxing, etc) I pair with a bluetooth heart rate monitor, as the internal heart rate sensor does not work well at all with all that movement.

Tim

 

[BlueMoon63]

I was on the treadmill doing an interval between running and walking for 35 minutes, then for the other 25 or so I was on the elliptical and bike machines. I was sweating like a mother ****er with my heart rate getting up to 180.

Wasn't sure how realistic my calorie burn might have been. It doesn't really matter in the end though. I eat the same range of calories everyday. It's just fun to have an idea of the calories burned with some degree of accuracy ya know?

I will say I was pretty amazed at how accurate the heart rate monitor was on the the Apple Watch. While I was holding onto the machines I had my heart rate tested and it was the same exact number as my watch. Tried a chest strap monitor as well. Same numbers. For my amateurish bodybuilding, Apple Watch will do just fine. I like being able to just focus on one device/ecosystem that syncs with all my crap vs "ok I'm at the gym. Gotta take off my watch and put on my chest strap and then yadda yadda yadda". Just get in the shower room, wipe off my watch, switch my band and done. Then check apple health and fitness pal for all my info. The convenience just can't be beat.

Still trying to decide if I'm gonna have a go to band for the gym and if so, which it'll be between my nylon and sport. The nylon is soooooo comfy

I've finally come around to the fact that reading your heart rate by blood flow will never be perfect. My guess is that watch 2.0 will introduce better sensors or bands that offer more/better.

However, I have had great success with the heart rate monitoring with the current optical sensor. If you are obsessed, it will never be enough. Others have just not had much luck at all and I am not sure why. OS3 has been even better but burns more battery per hour.

I have two apps that track your heart rate during workouts and graph the information. One graphs minute by minute and a weight lifting or cardio session may not have a single miss. The other registers every single point in the data and it looks like a mess with missing points.

I have the the best results running/walking and weightlifting. I have the worst golfing.

 

[risenphoenixkai]

For my weightlifting workouts at the gym, I use "Other" on the Watch, with heart rate monitoring done via a Polar H7 chest strap. I found the Watch's built-in optical heart rate sensor far too inaccurate to rely on during any kind of exercise that heavily involves the arms, including weight lifting. It's not the sensor's fault necessarily, more that this kind of sensor can't get accurate measurements if there's any restriction/constriction of blood flow to the extremities (which is pretty common during heavy weight lifting).

I don't know what algorithm the software is using to determine calories burnt during "Other" workouts, but I'm not particularly fussy about this aspect of it. I use the Watch mostly to keep track of my heart rate and the amount of time I spend in rest intervals.

 

[caligurl]

I use other for almost everything....

 

[BSben]

If you pair 2 Apple Watches with your phone do their readings get combined in a day (say if you use one watch at the gym, and another one at work)?
Back on topic, I use Other usually.

 

[MartyCan]

If you pair 2 Apple Watches with your phone do their readings get combined in a day (say if you use one watch at the gym, and another one at work)?
Back on topic, I use Other usually.

The activity rings usually sync across the watches within a minute or two after you change wathces. I think mine have only missed on a rare occasion.

 

[Julien]

One of the Stair Stepper is actually a Stair Climber.

 

[BSben]

The activity rings usually sync across the watches within a minute or two after you change wathces. I think mine have only missed on a rare occasion.

Thanks for your reply, I will probably get a second one then for the gym.

 

[jdmagoo1]

I tested the accuracy of my wife's Apple Watch HR monitor whilst she was giving birth, the ECG machine and the Apple Watch were within a beat of each other. The watch would tick over to that of the machine just when it's beats changed to a new one. From what I observed there was around 1-2second delay on the Apple Watch but I was surprised how accurate it was.

 

[MartyCan]

I tested the accuracy of my wife's Apple Watch HR monitor whilst she was giving birth, the ECG machine and the Apple Watch were within a beat of each other. The watch would tick over to that of the machine just when it's beats changed to a new one. From what I observed there was around 1-2second delay on the Apple Watch but I was surprised how accurate it was.

Hold on a sec. Your wife was giving birth and you were running a test on the Watch HR monitor?

People tell me I have a problem! LMAO

 

[jdmagoo1]

Hold on a sec. Your wife was giving birth and you were running a test on the Watch HR monitor?

People tell me I have a problem! LMAO

Hahaha - well it was a 30 hour labor so I had plenty of time to test things out! When the little fella finally decided to pop out I even recorded that as an activity. The doctor was more intrigued about the watch than the delivery, she said once finished here she was going to the Apple Store on the way home to buy one. My wife was too tired to belt me.

 

[MartyCan]

Hahaha - well it was a 30 hour labor so I had plenty of time to test things out! When the little fella finally decided to pop out I even recorded that as an activity. The doctor was more intrigued about the watch than the delivery, she said once finished here she was going to the Apple Store on the way home to buy one. My wife was too tired to belt me.

LOL !!

 

[parseckadet]

Still trying to decide if I'm gonna have a go to band for the gym and if so, which it'll be between my nylon and sport. The nylon is soooooo comfy

The nylon bands are awesome. They allow your wrist to breathe, unlike the fluoroeastamer bands. I have the black and pearl nylon band.

Aren't you guys worried that the nylon bands will get nasty after awhile?

 

[44267547]

Aren't you guys worried that the nylon bands will get nasty after awhile?

Not at all. Do you happen to own one? They easily Wash up, being their all nylon, almost similar to the material a seat belt uses. They are very strong and durable as well. To my biggest surprise, they are very lightweight.

I also use the Flueroastamer Bands more than I do the nylon one's, being I own more of those. But the nylon bands win hands down for comfort.

 

[BarracksSi]

Aren't you guys worried that the nylon bands will get nasty after awhile?

Wash with soap and water.

What, you never washed off your regular watches, either?

 

[parseckadet]

Not at all. Do you happen to own one? They easily Wash up, being their all nylon, almost similar to the material a seat belt uses. They are very strong and durable as well. To my biggest surprise, they are very lightweight.

I also use the Flueroastamer Bands more than I do the nylon one's, being I own more of those. But the nylon bands win hands down for comfort.

I don't, I've held off because of this concern. I just seems to me like it would hold on to the salt from the sweat and start to look bad after awhile. I've also had nylon bands in the past that were itchy, though I trust that Apple's would be better and probably avoid that.