Before we dive in, keep in mind that I’m writing this as an Apple Watch fan, not a medical expert. Please speak with your doctor about any concerns or questions concerning your heart and any fitness data your Apple Watch records.
We’ve all heard that an apple a day keeps the doctor away! While that might not be completely true, your Apple (Watch) can help you see the effects of your workouts on your heart by tracking your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and alerting you to potential issues. In order to maximize your fitness, you need to know how to set up all the features, review your readings, and share them with your doctor or loved ones for peace of mind.
1. Is Apple Watch heart rate tracking accurate?
While there will always be a margin of error, this 2022 study confirms that the Apple Watch is quite accurate and better than competing wearables like FitBit. And you can take a few simple steps to make sure your Apple Watch’s heart rate readings are as accurate as possible.
- First, make sure your Apple Watch band fits snugly around your wrist so the sensors can do their job.
- You should also wear your watch as much as you can so it can get all the readings it needs.
- Finally, make sure that your height, weight, and age are correct in your Health app.
Pro tip:
Your Apple Watch is always tracking your heart rate, but it turns off background readings if you have activated Low Power Mode. If you start a workout during Low Power Mode, it will still be able to track your heart rate but the readings will be less frequent unless you turn Low Power Mode off.
2. Understanding the different heart rate readings.
Most of the information that the Apple Watch gathers about your heart health has to do with your heart rate. The key to determining if your heart is healthy is by monitoring how it changes based on your activity.
3. Nighttime heart rate is important.
Your Health app compares your sleeping heart rate to your resting heart rate as read by your Apple Watch to evaluate the quality of your sleep.
4. Make or break workouts with heart rate tracking
Your heart rate during workouts is also significant, a few beats per minute can be the difference between burning fat and improving your aerobic fitness. Which is why Apple Watch makes it possible to add heart rate zones to your workout.
5. How quickly does your heart calm down?
While it can be tempting to take your watch off after a workout, you should try to keep it on. Another very important heart health factor is understanding how your heart recovers after exertion. Like all the other Apple Watch readings, all you need to know to get all this information is simply keep your watch on.
6. ECG 101
The only feature that won’t be read automatically is the ECG/EKG or electrocardiogram. To do this, you have to set up the ECG app via your Health app , then open it on your watch, and follow the on screen directions on how to get an accurate reading.
7. Sharing your heart rate readings
To view all your readings in one place, just check the Health app (free) to get a better idea of how your heart is doing. But if you aren’t a doctor, the data might not mean much to you. One of my favorite features is being able to easily share all the health data gathered by my Apple Watch with my doctor.
It is also possible to share it with friends and family if you want to compare stats or just give them a peace of mind when they worry about you. Keep in mind that you can select exactly which information is shared and what stays private— and you can stop sharing at any time.
8. Take advantage of emergency life-saving features
Over the years, the Apple Watch has gained a reputation for saving people’s lives. It’s not just an Apple marketing ploy, there are some truly useful features that can help you out in an emergency, like Emergency SOS which is equivalent to calling 911.
While you have to manually set up your Medical ID and emergency contact number(s) in the Health app, the feature can be triggered automatically if you set up Fall detection and Crash detection. Outside of these, your Apple Watch will not automatically call 911 even if your heart rate stops, drops, or becomes irregular. However, you will get a notification.
You can also contact emergency services by pressing and holding the Side button on Apple Watch, then either keep holding in the Side button or slide your finger over Emergency SOS to call them more quickly. In addition to calling 911, your Apple Watch will also alert your emergency contacts that you are in trouble.
If you accidentally make the call, you can cancel it by hanging up, but they might call you back to make sure you are okay—this happened to me accidentally while testing this feature!
If you want to keep reading about health and fitness tracking, check out this article written by Editor in Chief Donna Schill Dugan’s dad Michael Schill who is using his Apple Watch to fight aging and stay healthy at 71!
Do you have any interesting stories about fitness and health tracking with your Apple Watch? Email OntheWatch@iphonelife.com and let me know!
