One of the valuable, and lesser-known health features of Apple Watch is cardio
fitness. The measurement is based on your VO2 max which Apple Watch can
estimate when recording three specific workouts. Follow along for a look at how
to use cardio fitness on Apple Watch and iPhone including why itâs important,
how to set it up, and how to measure/view cardio fitness levels.
Cardio fitness background
Whether youâve just recently gotten an Apple Watch or have had one for a
while and havenât used cardio fitness, itâs a valuable measurement to
understand and use. Hereâs how Apple describes it:
âCardio fitness is a measurement of your VO2 max, which is the maximum amount
of oxygen your body can consume during exercise. Your cardio fitness level is a
strong indicator of your overall physical health and a predictor of your
long-term health.â
The reason itâs an accurate indicator of overall health is that cardio
fitness is based on measuring the âbodyâs ability to take in, circulate,
and use oxygen.â While thereâs a correlation between low cardio fitness
levels and future health issues, youâve got the power to raise your levels
with consistent and more intense aerobic exercise
Two more valuable ways to track heart health are heart rate variability (HRV)
and the Withings âVascular Ageâ feature on its latest Body Cardio smart
scale.
Setup (Apple Watch Series 3 or later required)
⢠If you havenât set it up before, open the Health app on your iPhone
⢠Tap Summary and swipe down near the bottom and look for Cardio Fitness
(under âGet More From Healthâ â you can also look under Browse > Heart >
Cardio Fitness)
⢠Choose the blue Set Up button
⢠Follow the prompts like confirming your health details (must be at least 20
years old)
⢠You can choose to turn Low Cardio Fitness Notifications
⢠Now youâll see cardio fitness show up under the Heart section in the
Health app
How to measure cardio fitness with Apple Watch
⢠You wonât see cardio fitness data for every workout recorded with Apple
Watch, hereâs what Apple says:
⦠Apple Watch can record an estimated VO 2 between 14 and 60 mL/kg/min when
you do a brisk hike, walk, or run outdoors with persistent heart rate
measurement.
It can estimate your VO 2 max if you start one of those workouts in the
Workouts app
⦠VO 2 max is validated for users 20 and older. Most people can improve their
VO 2 max with more intense and more frequent cardiovascular exercise. Certain
conditions or medications that limit your heart rate may cause an
overestimation of your VO 2 max. You can indicate youâre taking certain
medications in the Health Details.
⦠It can take at least 24 hours of wearing your Apple Watch, followed by
several workouts and passive measurements with your Apple Watch before you
receive an initial estimate
⦠You can read more specifics about the feature in the cardio fitness section
of the Health app.
Cardio fitness levels will show up even for outdoor walk/hike/run workouts that
youâve previously done. You can tap the timeframe icons at the top of cardio
fitness to see daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly data).
Apple notes that cycling is another great aerobic exercise to improve cardio
fitness, but for now, cycling workouts on Apple Watch will not record cardio
fitness measurements.
⢠Look at your cardio fitness levels any time by heading to the Health app on
iPhone
⢠Tap Browse > Heart > Cardio Fitness
⢠Tap the blue âShow All Cardio Fitness Levelsâ to see all your available
data
⢠Now you can see the months youâve been in the low, below average, above
average, and high categories
⢠If you happen to have another device that measures VO 2 max (or have gotten
it professionally measured) you can tap âAdd Dataâ in the top right corner
to manually add measurements
⢠You can read more about why cardio fitness is important and how to increase
it in the Health app â but the simplest and biggest factors are increasing
your intensity and frequency of aerobic exercise
Michael Potuck.
9to5Mac.
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