The Fitness App I Forgot I Had

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I had been experimenting with the Actifit fitness app until I realised I had been wearing a fitness app for four years! The Actifit app had been using my wearable device to collect data for its own use! The one I'll be describing is the Workout app that you can find on an Apple watch.

I was aware of its existence because if I was out for a walk, I sometimes got this notification:

You can choose "Record Outdoor Walk" or if you scroll down:

• "Mute for Today" or
• "Dismiss"

If you are not exercising, I recommend "Mute for Today"; otherwise, the app will keep "nagging" you if you choose "Dismiss".

The automatic activity detection can be helpful, but I have found it inaccurate because it often misses the first 5-10 minutes of my exercise.

The app I previously used records your activity from when you put your watch on in the morning. The Workout app will also do this for you.

This can be useful if you have a goal of 7000 steps a day, but I want to measure my activity when I go out for a walk.

The following is a description of how to do this...

Recording the walk

Open the Workout app...

Choose your activity from:

• Outdoor walk
• Outdoor run
• Outdoor cycle ride
• Indoor walk
• Indoor run
• Indoor cycle ride
• Elliptical
• Rowing machine
• Stair-stepper
• High-intensity interval training
• Hiking
• Yoga
• Functional strength training
• Dance
• Cooldown
• Core training
• Pilates
• Tai Chi
• Pool swim
• Open water swim

I chose "Outdoor Walk"...

Your selection is acknowledged, and...

...followed by a three-second countdown.

• During your activity, the app will track:
• The duration of your activity
• Your active Kcal
• Your heart rate
• The average time taken to walk one kilometre

You can pause the tracking by swiping right and clicking "Pause".

The tracking is restarted by clicking "Resume"...

When you have finished your activity, swipe right and click "End".

You will then be shown a summary that will list:

• Total time
• Total distance
• Average pace
• Active Kcal
• Total Kcal
• Average heart rate

Daily figures

The Workout app also records your activity for the day. It provides a weekly summary and allows you to change your goals for Kilocalories, Exercise Time, and Standing Time. It also records the number of "flights" you have climbed.

The "flights" are not just flights of stairs. I estimate that each "flight" is equivalent to climbing 3m of 10 feet.