You’ve closed your rings. You’ve earned a few badges. You might even have a streak going that you’re terrified to break. But if you are like most Apple Watch users, you are likely only scratching the surface of what that powerful little computer on your wrist can actually do for your fitness routine.
For many of us, the Apple Watch starts as a simple pedometer and calorie tracker. We hit "Outdoor Run" or "High Intensity Interval Training," wait for the countdown, and go. However, hidden within the settings and menus of watchOS are powerful tools that can transform your watch from a passive tracker into an active coaching partner. Whether you are training for your first 5K, trying to optimize your weightlifting sessions, or just want more accurate data during your Sunday hike, mastering these features can change the game.
Let’s dive into the essential hacks that will help you take control of your workouts and get the most out of your Apple Watch.
1. Customize Your Workout Views to See What Matters
By default, the Apple Watch displays a standard set of metrics for every workout—usually distance, calories, heart rate, and duration. While this is fine for beginners, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. A cyclist cares about speed and elevation, while a runner might be focused on cadence and pace. The good news is that you can completely overhaul what you see on your screen.
Imagine you are trying to keep your heart rate low for a "Zone 2" endurance run. You don’t need to see your calorie burn; you need a large, clear view of your current heart rate zone. Or, perhaps you are hiking; you want to see your current elevation and compass heading, not your pace per mile.
Pro Tip: You can edit these views directly on your watch, but it is significantly easier to do it on your iPhone. It gives you a bigger screen to drag and drop metrics into your preferred order.
Here is how to curate your dashboard:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down and tap on Workout.
- Select Workout View.
- Choose the specific activity you want to edit (e.g., Outdoor Run).
- Tap Edit to add new metrics like Vertical Oscillation, Stride Length, or Power, and reorder them so your most important data is at the top.
2. The Power of "Segments" and Precision Timing
Have you ever finished a run where you did a mix of jogging and sprinting, only to look at your final summary and see a mediocre average pace? This happens because the watch averages your warm-up, your sprints, and your cool-down all together. To get better data, you need to use Segments.
Marking a segment is essentially like hitting the "lap" button on an old-school stopwatch. It allows you to isolate specific parts of your workout. If you are running a track workout, you can mark a segment at the start of your sprint and again at the finish. When you review your data later in the Fitness app on your iPhone, you will see the stats for that specific burst of effort, independent of your recovery period.
Using segments is incredibly simple, yet most users don't know the feature exists because there isn't a button on the screen for it:
- Start your workout as usual.
- When you want to mark a new lap or interval, double-tap the screen firmly.
- You will feel a haptic tap and see a summary of that segment appear on the screen.
- If you have an Apple Watch Ultra, you can program the orange Action Button to perform this function physically, which is much easier when your hands are sweaty or you are wearing gloves.
3. Build Custom Workouts for Structured Training
Consistency is key to fitness, but structure is key to progress. If you are tired of trying to mentally time your intervals—checking your wrist every 15 seconds to see if your minute of planking is up—you need to let the Apple Watch do the thinking for you.
The "Custom Workout" feature allows you to program a routine before you even tie your shoes. You can set up a warm-up period based on time or distance, followed by repeating blocks of work and recovery, finished with a cool-down. Once you hit start, the watch guides you. It will buzz your wrist and speak to you (if you have headphones connected) to tell you when to speed up, slow down, or rest.
This is perfect for the popular "Walk/Run" method or for High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) where precise timing is difficult to manage manually.
- Open the Workout app on your Apple Watch.
- Find the activity type (e.g., Outdoor Run) and tap the three dots (...) in the top right corner of the card.
- Scroll down and tap Create Workout.
- Select Custom.
- Here you can add a "Warmup," add "Work" and "Recovery" blocks, and even set "Repeats" so you don't have to program the same interval ten times.
4. Mastering Heart Rate Zones
In recent years, training by "Heart Rate Zones" has moved from elite athlete circles to the mainstream. The concept is simple: different heart rates trigger different physiological adaptations. Lower heart rates build endurance and burn fat; higher heart rates build speed and explosive power.
Your Apple Watch automatically calculates your zones based on your age and health data, though you can manually adjust them if you have metabolic test results. During a workout, you can swipe up on your watch face to see a dedicated Heart Rate Zone screen. This shows you exactly which zone you are in, how long you have been there, and—crucially—how close you are to jumping into the next zone.
Safety Note: If you notice your heart rate is spiking into Zone 5 (your maximum effort) when you feel like you are barely jogging, it might be a sign of fatigue, dehydration, or illness. Listen to your body and the data.
To ensure this feature is set up correctly for you:
- Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
- Go to Workout > Heart Rate Zones.
- Ensure "Manual" is turned off if you want the watch to calculate it for you, or select "Manual" to enter your specific beats-per-minute (BPM) ranges.
5. Battery Hacks for the Long Haul
There is nothing more heartbreaking than your watch dying at mile 20 of a marathon or four hours into a summit hike. While the Apple Watch generally has "all-day" battery life, continuous GPS tracking and heart rate monitoring drain the battery much faster.
If you are planning a long adventure, you don't have to sacrifice tracking. You just need to be smart about power consumption. Apple introduced Low Power Mode across the system, but there are specific settings for workouts that maintain fidelity while saving juice.
When Low Power Mode is enabled, the watch limits background features like the Always-On display and limits cellular connectivity. However, for hiking or walking workouts, you can go a step further by reducing the frequency of GPS and heart rate readings. You won't get a heart rate reading every second, but you will get enough data to track your overall calorie burn and route, significantly extending battery life.
- To turn on Low Power Mode quickly: Swipe up from the bottom of your watch face to open Control Center and tap the battery percentage. Toggle Low Power Mode on.
- For maximum savings on Series 8, 9, SE (2nd Gen), and Ultra models: Go to Settings > Workout on your watch and toggle on Low Power Mode.
By utilizing these features, you stop using the Apple Watch as just a fancy pedometer and start using it as the comprehensive training computer it was designed to be. Experiment with these settings on your next workout, and you might find that hitting your fitness goals becomes just a little bit easier.