What is the point of effort in workouts on the AW?

[CharlesShaw]

I don't own a Garmin. I have in the past but don't anymore. And if Apple wants to compete with them from a fitness standpoint they could take some lessons from them.

Got it. I was thrown off by the your present tense Garmin comparison in your original post.

Anyhow, regarding fitness, I'm of the opinion that (aside from my aforementioned non-fitness reasons for wearing the AW) most people would be better served by using the $800 price of an AWU for sessions with a personal trainer or coach. That sort of investment in your future health won't become obsolete the way hardware will. And listen to your body.

 

[DMG35]

Got it. I was thrown off by the your present tense Garmin comparison in your original post.

Anyhow, regarding fitness, I'm of the opinion that (aside from my aforementioned non-fitness reasons for wearing the AW) most people would be better served by using the $800 price of an AWU for sessions with a personal trainer or coach. That sort of investment in your future health won't become obsolete the way hardware will. And listen to your body.

You're completely missing the point. Apple introduced a feature that asks you to put in your effort. It's a useless feature because it doesn't do anything. The reason they did it is because that's what Garmin watches do except Garmin uses the data along with the other health features of the watch to tell you the condition your body is in before training.

Yeah I know to listen to my body. The point is that Apple released a useless feature that they should do something with or just get rid of it. Why track someone's effort if it literally does nothing. It should add value to your workouts and not just be a dumb feature of the watch.

 

[Mackilroy]

Lol, you couldn't be more wrong. I have both the series 10 and the Ultra 2 so I'd say I probably like the Apple Watch. I'm not asking it to tell me what to do, I'm asking it to make use of a feature that it has and does nothing with. And 3rd party apps aren't the answer for everything Apple Watch.

And no, effort doesn't do anything on the Apple Watch.

Apple integrates their features into the watch better than any 3rd party app. Based on what you are saying I doubt you work out or use the effort feature anyway so I'm not sure why you are commenting anyway.

Reread what I wrote. I didn’t say you didn’t like the watch. I said you didn’t like that it doesn’t tell you what to do. I phrased my comment in a very specific way: you’re looking for active guidance, not passive information. The watch providing that effort to you is still doing something, it’s just not the something you’re looking for.

I do work out, nearly every single day. And I also make use of effort feature, it’s nice having a way to compare effort between exercises and also to how I’m feeling afterwards/that day. One of the ways I use it is to give myself a ballpark of how much exertion I should go for in an exercise if I want to achieve a particular result.

A small sample of my exercising:

 

[DMG35]

Reread what I wrote. I didn’t say you didn’t like the watch. I said you didn’t like that it doesn’t tell you what to do. I phrased my comment in a very specific way: you’re looking for active guidance, not passive information. The watch providing that effort to you is still doing something, it’s just not the something you’re looking for.

I do work out, nearly every single day. And I also make use of effort feature, it’s nice having a way to compare effort between exercises and also to how I’m feeling afterwards/that day. One of the ways I use it is to give myself a ballpark of how much exertion I should go for in an exercise if I want to achieve a particular result.

A small sample of my exercising:View attachment 2517401

I’m very happy for you lol. I’m not looking for the watch to tell me what to do. I’m asking for effort to actually be useful which I don’t think is a lot to ask. Breaking news, the Apple Watch isn’t perfect and has a lot of flaws and since Apple designs it around fitness it needs to step up its game. That and the ridiculous overestimating it does for calories burned during a workout.

 

[xDKP]

Fingers crossed iOS 26 will change much of this. Apple collects a TON of data without making it very accessible to the user without 3rd party apps - the Fitness App could do better with HRV data etc. to make the Training Readyness more on point.

 

[Mackilroy]

I’m very happy for you lol. I’m not looking for the watch to tell me what to do. I’m asking for effort to actually be useful which I don’t think is a lot to ask. Breaking news, the Apple Watch isn’t perfect and has a lot of flaws and since Apple designs it around fitness it needs to step up its game. That and the ridiculous overestimating it does for calories burned during a workout.

You’re quick to attack, and then can’t even be abashed when proven wrong. Effort *is* useful, but you’re expecting active instead of passive information. Have I criticized that? No. Could Apple do more with it? Sure. Have I claimed the Watch is perfect? I don’t see that anywhere in my comment. You’re getting very defensive, I suspect because so few people here are affirming your feelings.