Hello, I recently had a fit bit. My experience wasn’t too good because it’s not that accessible. I am trying to decide whether to get an Apple Watch and I would use it for fitness purposes. I would like to hear from others who use the watch for fitness purposes and how accessible and what activities they use it for. Thank you.
Comments
Apple Watch and Fitness tracking
Greetings.
I have been using a series 3 watch for about a year. Amongst other uses, I track fitness with it.
The watch encourages me to fill three rings daily. They are moving, exercising, and standing. I get notifications about my progress during the day. Not too many so as to be intrusive or nagging. It will let me know if I am behind on my usual routine, or suggest a quick walk to close a ring. I feel that it is about the right amount of encouragement. I get weekly summaries, and there are special challenges from time to time.
I also have a pedometer on the watch that gives me a daily step count. I also find this quite useful.
The fitness information is automatically sent to the My Fitness Pal app I have on my phone. I can log exercise on the watch, and it shows up in my daily diary. It generally works seamlessly, and reliably.
All of the fitness features are fully accessible with Voice Over. On my main watch face, I see the rings, and a percentage of completion. On another watch face, I can track the actual number of calories burned, minutes of exercise, and hours in which I have been standing. On this face, I can also track my current and historical heart rate. I don't always look at the details, but it is nice to know they are there when and if I want to see them.
Overall, I find the watch to be a useful part of my personal fitness plan. It helps me meet my goals, and it is neither frustrating nor difficult to use. I am glad I have it and I would replace it if it got lost or damaged.
Highly Recommend the Apple Watch
I have been using the Apple Watch since it was released. At first I just wanted the device to aid in my fitness journey. but after such a long time now, I find that I would be totally lost without it. Sure, you can do more things with the watch than I personally do, however, I have found that it has assisted me much more than I first thought. There are three apps that I would like to recommend you add to your watch, should you decide to get one.
1. Pedometer++ by Cross Forward Consulting. I have this app located as one of the complications on my main watch face. Although I use the built-in activity app to close my rings during the day, this app is the one that I use to see my miles and steps throughout the day.
2. Clicker by The IconFactory. I really like this simple but powerful tool. I use this app to count my workouts. My goal is to workout six days per week. Each day I workout, I get to add one to the clicker. So far, I have worked out 961 days, six days per week, as of the time of this writing. Numbers are a powerful motivater for me. The whole streaks thing really does work and the Clicker app is most effective.
3. Intervals Pro by FourthFrame Technologies. I have tried many interval timer apps and this one wins hands down. It is the most versatile and completely voiceover accessible. Many of my workouts include the HIIT (high intensity interval training) style activities. The Intervals timer works very well on the watch, once you have created your workout plan. You can label the timer for each style of workout you are going to do. When you have the intervals set up, just start the timer and workout while following the ding notifications on your watch. I have timers created for running, using my TRX straps, and also using my Total Gym. Each timer is different because the intervals for each piece of equipment is different. Being able to label the timer helps a lot.
As you can see, I wholeheartedly recommend the Apple Watch. Honestly, even if fitness wasn't your focus, I still think the watch has many functions beyond working out. There are many articles that you can read that talks about other uses even beyond fitness.
HTH