There are numerous reasons to get a smartwatch. You could only want a watch that displays notifications as they arrive. Some smartwatches are designed to serve as health monitors, such as the Apple Watch, which can track not only your heart rate but also detect falls and even perform an ECG.
You’ll almost certainly want your new wristwatch to double as a fitness tracker, and the Apple Watch Series 7 excels in this regard. We discussed why the Apple Watch Series 7 is a terrific smartwatch in our review, and now I’d like to focus a little more on the whole fitness experience.
For the most part, I’ll be discussing Apple Fitness+, Apple’s almost-year-old fitness service that costs $9.99 per month or $29.95 per month if purchased through Apple One Premier. I like the latter choice because it includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, and 2TB of iCloud+ storage, as well as services I don’t use like News+ and Arcade. With the added bonus of being able to share these services with my family, the $30 price tag is perfectly justified.
iCloud is available on Windows, Music is available on Android, and TV+ is available on a variety of smart TVs and set-top boxes, but Fitness+ is one of the few services that requires a significant commitment in the Apple ecosystem. You’ll need not only an iPhone but also an Apple Watch, the oldest of which can be a Series 3.
Apple Watch Series 7: Basic Fitness Tracking
The 3-ring system
The Apple Watch tracks your daily activity using a ring system. Three rings are present. The inside ring is your stand ring, which keeps track of how many minutes you stand for in a day.
The stand ring is the simplest to close, and its sole purpose is to ensure that you don’t spend your entire day sitting stationary in a chair. If you don’t stand up, your Apple Watch will remind you 10 minutes before the hour ends. The stand ring is set to 12 hours by default, and I haven’t adjusted it in all my years with the Apple Watch.
Your workout ring is the middle ring. This is a tally of how many minutes you spend active each day. It could happen during a recorded workout or while you’re out and about. My timer is set to 45 minutes, while it is set to a lower value by default.
Finally, the moving ring, which measures active calories burned, is on the outside. While my default is 850, the default is far lower. The idea behind active calories is to figure out how many calories you burn in a day while you’re active, rather than how many calories you burn overall.
Activity tracking
You can track your exercise with the Workout app when you’re doing it. Everything you’ll need is already installed. If you want to go for a walk outside, you should go for an outdoor walk. Indoor walking is the way to go if you’re on a treadmill. A running workout is the same way. Elliptical, cycling, stair-stepping, and other exercises are also available. There’s even a Pool Swim option, however, this one requires an Apple Watch Series 2 or later (as I said, most of this stuff works on almost all Apple Watch models).
There’s also an opportunity to add workouts towards the bottom. That’s where you’ll find a long, alphabetized list of various activities, ranging from badminton to yoga. If you do something that is deemed a fitness activity, you can keep track of it on Apple Watch.
Awards
Yes, Apple makes exercise fun by rewarding you with milestones, and there are plenty to choose from. For starters, you’ll gain an achievement if you close all three of your rings every day, and there are weekly awards for that as well. Others let you close your move rings twice, three times, or even four times. I’ve never reached the 400 percent mark, and if you do, it’s time to up your daily targets.
You’ll receive an award every time you establish a new record in a specific workout category, so there’s always something to aim for. Apple offers limited edition challenges, which is a lot of fun. The goal, for example, was to conduct a 20-minute yoga workout on Yoga Day, which was June 21 this year. I completed my in Apple Fitness+, however, keep in mind that Fitness+ is only for guidance. You may do a yoga session using any lesson and then monitor it with the Workout app.
Sharing
If your accomplishments aren’t enough to encourage you, perhaps sharing your activity with others will. You can share your activity with anyone who has an Apple Watch, and you can track the progress of each other’s rings. You’ll also get notified when one of your friends receives an award, and you’ll be able to leave a motivational remark on it.
You can also organize friendly competitions between pals. This isn’t anything I’ve ever been interested in. To be honest, most of my friends don’t buy an Apple Watch to track their exercise. As a result, the majority of my requests to disclose activity data are simply disregarded.
Apple Watch Series 7: Apple Fitness+
For a long time, I’ve been following Apple’s events. I recognize all of the important participants, beginning with Apple CEO Tim Cook’s introductory “Good morning” and explanation that the company has new goods to show off and that we’ll “enjoy it.” I’m all too familiar with the typical Apple all-stars. From Craig Federeghi’s dad jokes to Phil Schiller’s unforgettable statements about how the iPhone is “so pro” and, of course, “Can’t innovate anymore, my ass,” there’s something for everyone.
But at Apple’s iPhone 13 and Apple Watch Series 7 launches, I was more taken aback by Sam Sanchez, a Fitness+ treadmill, strength, and core trainer who was on hand to demonstrate the service’s new Pilates routines. After that, Jessica Skye talked about guided meditations, and Bakari Williams talked about new routines to prepare ready for the next snow season.
How Apple Fitness+ works
First of all, here’s what you need for Apple Fitness+:
- iPhone 6s or newer
- Apple Watch Series 3 or newer
You can use Fitness+ on most of your Apple devices once you’ve set it up. You may use Activity applications on both the iPad and the Apple TV, and your Apple Watch will connect to either. If you open the Activity app on your Apple TV, for example, you’ll be given the option of connecting to any Apple Watch in the room, which you confirm on the watch.
Once you’re in, you can choose between a variety of workouts that keeps getting bigger. Here are the types of workouts on Apple Fitness+:
- Meditation
- HIIT
- Yoga
- Core
- Strength
- Pilates
- Dance
- Cycling
- Treadmill
- Rowing
- Mindful Cooldown
After you’ve decided on the type of exercise, there are three more factors to consider. There’s the music, the duration of the workout, and the trainer to consider. All of these things can be filtered, so after you’ve gotten a feel for the service, you’ll be able to quickly find the combination you’re looking for. However, there is a word of caution. Don’t choose a shorter workout because you think it’ll be simpler. Shorter workouts are more intensive since they are designed for folks who want to get a lot done in a short amount of time.
Picking your favorite coaches
I’d like to clarify something. My sole reference of specific Fitness+ coaches will be in the context of how I saw them at the Apple presentation. This is due to a number of factors.
Most importantly, you must locate the coaches who are best suited to your needs. At least two trainers participate in each type of activity. I strongly advise you to try all of them. You’ll discover, like me, that some things motivate you more than others. You’ll discover that you like some of them and that you can’t stand others.
Time to Walk
Despite the fact that Apple Fitness+ is only a year old, the Cupertino Company has been steadily improving its service. Support for Pilates and Guided Meditation is the most recent feature, but Time to Walk was a previous newer inclusion.
Time to Walk’s basic premise is to have a celebrity talk about their life for 20 or 30 minutes before playing a couple of their favorite tunes. If that sounds straightforward, it is. It’s not designed for high-intensity workouts. Time to Walk is solely for the purpose of getting out and walking.
Workouts for pregnant women, older individuals, and more
Apple Fitness+ offers a variety of programs, including the aforementioned ‘Get Ready for Snow Season.’ There are others, such as Meditations for Beginners and Workouts for Beginners, which are also excellent places to start if you’re new. Workouts for Older Adults and Workouts for Pregnancy are also available.
For pregnant women, with the release of the new Apple Watch Series 7, it felt like the ideal time to upgrade her Apple Watch and enroll her in Apple Fitness+. It’s crucial to be active during pregnancy (so I’ve been told), and this helps.
Explore!
One point I’d want to make is that you should definitely go exploring. Sure, when you’re first starting out with Apple Fitness+, you can do whatever you want while listening to your favorite music. But make the most of the other opportunities. Have you ever tried a yoga workout before? So, this is the perfect time to give it a shot. What exactly is a Pilate? There’s just one way to know.
Guided Meditations and Mindful Cooldowns
Mindful Cooldowns and Guided Meditations round out Apple Fitness+. The former is an activity, however, the latter is not, therefore you won’t be able to complete your exercise ring by conducting a meditation.
When you’ve finished working out, conduct a mindful cooldown. The trainer will lead you through some stretches for five or ten minutes, and then there will usually be a quick meditation at the conclusion.
Final Thought
I weighed in at under 200 pounds for the first time since mid-2020 a little more than a week before writing this post (indeed, I think we all gained a bit of weight in 2020). I honestly believe this would not have happened if it hadn’t been for Apple Fitness+. Sure, I had the motivation to go to the gym and run on the treadmill, but I didn’t have the motivation to push myself further than I believed I could.
This is what you get with an iPhone, an Apple Watch, and an Apple Fitness+ subscription. It’s worth every penny to me, especially if you can get a deal on the Apple Watch.
