Have you ever forgotten to wear your Apple Watch during exercise? Or realized mid-workout that you forgot to start activity tracking? Don‘t worry! In this guide, I‘ll show you how to manually add workouts to your Apple Watch through the iPhone‘s Health app, preserving exercise data integrity.
Whether you‘re a fitness buff meticulously tracking calorie burn or a weekend warrior trying to close those Activity Rings, accurate workout data is invaluable. By enabling retrospective workout additions in a few taps, Apple Watch enhances reliability like no other wearable.
We‘ll cover:
- Getting set up with workout tracking on Apple Watch
- Steps to add forgotten workouts via the Health app
- Importance of comprehensive fitness data
- Customizing workout tracking to your needs
- Integrating third-party apps like Strava and Nike Run Club
- Troubleshooting tips
Let‘s get started!
An Overview of Tracking Workouts Using Your Apple Watch
The vibrant green Workout app on the Apple Watch home screen is your gateway to fitness tracking. Here‘s a quick overview of functions before we dive into retroactive workout additions:
Starting workout: Launch Workout app > Select type like Run, Walk or HIIT > Tap to initiate tracking
Setting goals: Tap 3 dots before starting > Set Time, Distance or Calorie goals
Mid-workout changes: Scroll down and tap pencil icon during workout > Change Duration, Distance or Pace
Pausing & ending: Swipe right and tap pause button to stop tracking > Tap end button to finish
Now that you know the basics, let‘s see how we can backfill missing sessions using the Apple Health app.
Step-by-Step Guide To Add Forgotten Workouts
Follow these steps when you‘ve missed recording data from a workout on your Apple Watch:
Step 1: Open The Health App on Your iPhone
The Health app on your iPhone ties together data from Apple Watch, iPhone and third parties. Visit the tab below to get started:
App Used: Health
Navigation: Open Health App > Scroll down to browse tabs
Tab Location: Tap on "Workouts" tab
You‘ll find details of workouts completed while wearing Apple Watch here. Now let‘s add a missing entry!
Step 2: Tap the "+" Button to Manually Add Workout
This tab shows your activity log. To enter a workout, hit the "+" button:
Locate Button: Top right corner
Icon: "+" sign inside a circle
Tapping this pulls up the menu to add data manually.
Step 3: Enter Workout Details Like Type, Duration, Calories & Distance
Select workout type matching your activity, like Walk, Run, HIIT or Yoga. Enter relevant stats manually:
Types: Walk, Run, Swim, Yoga, Tennis, Cycling
Metrics: Duration, Calories Burned, Distance, Average Heart Rate
Tip: Refer apps like Apple Watch or Activity to accurately gauge workout length and calorie burn rate.
For example, here‘s the approximate burn rate for common activities:
| Workout Type | Avg. Calories burned per minute |
|---|---|
| Running | 13 |
| Walking | 5 |
| Cycling (vigorous) | 10.8 |
| Swimming | 9.8 |
Step 4: Hit ‘Save‘ After Entering The Data
This adds workout entry to Health app. It will reflect in the Apple Watch Activity rings and workout history.
Button location: Top right
Hitting save preserves workout data for long-term fitness analysis. Don‘t worry about editing it later!
Why Complete Workout Data Matters
Wondering why it‘s worth the effort to backfill workouts? Here are some benefits of comprehensive fitness data:
No gaps in history: Adding missing workouts preserves continuity allowing long-term progress monitoring.
Accurate activity metrics: Retrospective entries ensure your Apple Watch Activity rings and workout history reflect true levels.
Calibrated calorie tracking: Manual workout additions lead to precise calorie burn tracking, essential for weight and diet management.
Personalized goal setting: Complete data allows creating and monitoring progress towards realistic, customized workout targets based on your levels.
As you can see, taking 5 minutes to add forgotten workouts via Health app hugely boosts Apple Watch‘s effectiveness as a fitness platform.
Customizing Workouts to Your Needs
The latest WatchOS 9 takes personalization further by allowing you to tweak workout types. You can either edit preset types or even create brand new custom activities.
Here‘s what you can customize:
- Name of workout
- What metrics to track (heart rate, pace, distance etc.)
- What stats to display mid-workout (activity time, pace, heart rate etc.)
- Set alerts for every X minutes, distance, calories etc.
To access, open Workout app on your watch, select type, tap the "…" button and play around!
Integrating With Third-Party Apps
The open Health app architecture also allows syncing workout data with popular third-party platforms:
Strava: Hook Strava and Health app to aggregate cycling and running data automatically.
Nike Run Club: Connects for sharing run details across Apple Watch and the NRC ecosystem.
Others: MapMyRun, MyFitnessPal, Sleep Cycle and more.
Connecting these apps enriches workout data analysis possibilities even further!
Troubleshooting Tips
Facing issues adding workouts via Health or Activity app? Try these fixes:
- Ensure Apple Watch and iPhone are paired and background activity refresh enabled in Settings.
- Check permissions for Health app, revoke access and re-enable.
- Force quit Health app and restart your iPhone as a quick fix.
- Unpair + Repair Apple Watch if Health data completely stopped syncing.
This should solve most manual workout entry problems. Reach out to Apple support for further assistance.
So that‘s a wrap! Follow this easy 5-step process to add forgotten workouts and ensure your Apple Watch fitness data remains comprehensive and accurate. Let me know if you have any other questions!
