Introduction

So with Christmas right behind us, you, or a friend or loved one may have received a new Apple Watch.  In this article, we will dive into some of the first things to do, in this guide to setting up your new Apple Watch for fitness and health tracking.

If you’re looking to get more active and improve your fitness habits, an Apple Watch can be a valuable tool. The Apple Watch has a built-in fitness tracker that measures your daily activity levels, including your steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. It also has a Workout app that allows you to track a variety of different workouts, such as running, cycling, and swimming.

In addition to tracking your workouts and daily activity, the Apple Watch can also help you stay motivated and on track with your fitness goals. You can set up reminders to stand up and move around every hour, or receive notifications when you reach a certain number of steps or when you’ve been inactive for too long. The Apple Watch is also compatible with a wide range of fitness apps and accessories, such as heart rate monitors and smart scales, which can provide even more detailed fitness data and personalized workout recommendations.

Overall, the Apple Watch is a versatile and convenient tool for tracking your fitness progress and improving your fitness habits. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just looking to get more active, the Apple Watch can help you reach your goals.

Top 5 Things to Setup and Configure

1. Set up your fitness goals: The first step to using your Apple Watch to track fitness is to set up your fitness goals. You can do this by going to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and selecting “My Watch” > “Activity.” From here, you can set your daily movement, exercise, and stand goals. You can also set up weekly activity and exercise goals, as well as set up activity competitions with friends.  The defaults are generally ok, but you may want to tweak them a bit if you are slightly more active than average.
2. Track your workouts: The Apple Watch has a built-in Workout app that allows you to track a variety of different workouts, including running, cycling, swimming, and more. To track a workout, open the Workout app on your Apple Watch and select the type of workout you want to do. The Apple Watch will track your progress and provide you with updates as you go.
3. Use the fitness tracker: In addition to tracking workouts, the Apple Watch also has a built-in fitness tracker that can measure your daily activity levels, including your steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. You can view this data by opening the Activity app on your Apple Watch or by checking the fitness tracking widget on your iPhone. This is a phenomenal tool for group fitness tracking, as you can share your results with a group of people. We use this at ESL to have monthly competitions for steps, move and exercise goals.
4. Set reminders and notifications: The Apple Watch can help you stay motivated and on track with your fitness goals by sending you reminders and notifications throughout the day. For example, you can set reminders to stand up and move around every hour, or receive notifications when you reach a certain number of steps or when you’ve been inactive for too long. You can customize these reminders and notifications by going to the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and selecting “My Watch” > “Notifications.”
5. Connect with fitness apps and accessories: The Apple Watch is compatible with a wide range of fitness apps and accessories, such as heart rate monitors and smart scales. By connecting your Apple Watch to these apps and accessories, you can track even more detailed fitness data and get personalized workout recommendations.  One of our favorite fitness apps is called “Pedometer++” and it’s freely available from the App Store.  Is complications and widgets are perfect on both the iPhone as well as Apple Watch, and it syncs perfectly with the Apple Health app, as well as My Fitness Pal.

Wrap Up

While this isn’t an exhaustive list of everything your new Apple Watch can do, its a great starter guide By following these tips, you can use your Apple Watch to track your fitness progress, set and achieve your fitness goals, and improve your overall fitness habits. Good luck!