Apple fitness guru reveals the Apple Watch ‘healthy hacks’ everyone should try this Christmas

AN APPLE WATCH could be the perfect way to stay fit over the holidays and beyond.

The Sun sat down with her for an exclusive chat Apple Fitness boss Jay Blahnik to reveal how everyone can get more out of their Apple Watch — even if you’re a total newbie.

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He revealed six simple tips and tricks that even ultra-savvy Apple Watch owners may have overlooked.

So if you’re looking to improve your health and fitness while indulging in the holidays, or you have some big physical goals for 2023, the Apple Watch might be the perfect companion.

“The Apple Watch has always been meant to be our most personal device,” Jay, Apple’s VP of Fitness Technologies, told The sun.

“Plus, from the start, it was designed to help with wellness and fitness.

“We felt that one of the magical things was that the same device that could help you run a marathon could also be a keeper of your health.”

#1 Switch and edit your views

When you start a workout on the Apple Watch, you get a view with some useful stats – like heart rate and workout time.

However, you can actually switch between several different views or edit the ones you already use.

There are many different measurements you can view on your Apple Watch.

You may want to view your heart rate zones to monitor the intensity at which you are exercising.

Or maybe you’d rather show off your pace, power, cadence or height gained.

It’s easy to switch between screens by simply rotating the Digital Crown.

The Pacer experience is a view you can enjoy on the Apple Watch.

Apple fitness guru Jay explained, “That’s when you’re running and you just want to say, ‘I want to be able to run a distance in a certain amount of time.’

“Anywhere you run, you want to be able to run 5K in 30 minutes.

“Set the distance, set the time, and what will happen is you keep up with your goal.

“When you set up Pacer, this is your default view. But you can always flip the Digital Crown and go back to a regular reading view or heart rate view.”

#2 Use the racetrack

Not everyone has the luxury of having someone to race with. So why not race yourself?

Apple is about to introduce Race Route, which lets you do just that.

It’s based on the idea that we often run the same courses – at a park near your house or at the local 5K.

“Every time you complete a run more than twice, Race Route starts remembering it,” explains Jay, a longtime fitness trainer and consultant.

“It will track your best time and your last time.

“So when you come back to that route, you can say, ‘I want to reach or beat my best or my last time,’ and it will compare you to the actual route you’ve walked and where you need to be.”

The system is smart enough to know when you’re not following the exact same route.

So it will automatically “collect” identical routes for pacing and split off modified routes where you’ve added a detour or extra distance at the end. Practically!

#3 Pay attention to heart rate zones

It’s now possible to see your heart rate zones while exercising on Apple Watch with watchOS 9.

“You can now even switch to a view that focuses on heart rate zones,” Jay explained.

“We automatically calculate your heart rate zones based on your age.

“And we calculate them over time, but you can also adjust them if you want to add more nuance — beyond what comes out of an age-based equation.”

You’ll see heart rate zones in five segments detailing the intensity of your workout.

They go from easy to progressively harder, allowing you to make your workouts more challenging and efficient.

But you’ll only see them if you’ve entered your date of birth into the Health app, so don’t forget that.

#4 Use custom workouts

You can customize workouts on Apple Watch, set goals for segments, and choose how often you want to be “tapped.”

This could be something like setting the watch to “tap” you after a five-minute warm-up, then repetitions of a kilometer run with three-minute breaks in between.

You’ll feel a haptic “buzz” on your wrist, notifying you when it’s time to turn it on.

Of course, you don’t have to use these custom workout segments just for running.

“I actually used it for strength training,” Jay told The Sun.

“Because I train early in the gym, I sometimes sit on my sets a lot longer than I should – and it takes me a lot longer than necessary.

“What I do now is I do 30 seconds for one set, 30 seconds rest, on the third I give myself 45 seconds to get to the next machine.

“And it literally knocks on me and makes me pacing.

“I use it for all kinds of workouts — including running.”

#5 Dive deep into your metrics

Apple has gone to considerable lengths to ensure you have the most detailed metrics possible.

With running in particular, there’s extremely detailed information to dive into – giving you a better idea of ​​how you’re progressing.

It does this by using extremely complicated algorithms to figure out exactly how you’re running.

“If you look at the body while running, there are a lot of interesting points: vertical oscillation, contact time, stride length,” Jay told The Sun.

“To get these additional measurements, you typically need to attach a device to your waist or a dongle to your shoe. We wanted to make that possible without these accessories.

“The wrist really can be a great proxy.

“Part of what you need to decipher is: how does an arm indicate what’s going on with your feet? Can something like ground contact time be accurately measured?

“We wouldn’t have made it if we didn’t get it right.”

You can view these readings at any time on the Apple Watch and in the fitness app on your iPhone.

It’s even possible to scrub along your route on iPhone and see exactly how you’re doing at any point during the run. Watch your heart rate zone turn red as the elevation graph skyrockets, painting a perfect picture of that brutal fight up a big hill.

#6 Try Fitness+

Last but not least is Fitness+.

It’s a massive compendium of thousands of video and audio workouts ranging from dance classes and Pilates to HIIT and yoga.

Fitness+ is available for iPhone owners, but it’s much better if you have an Apple Watch.

You can view personalized on-screen metrics detailing your performance, including heart rate, calories burned, and how hard you’re exercising with the Burn Bar.

It normally costs £9.99/$9.99 a month, but you get three months free with any iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad or Apple TV purchase. New subscribers can also get a month free without buying another Apple device.

There are many highly qualified personalized trainers with decades of experience to guide you through the exercises.

And you can do everything from home, which is convenient.

We spoke to one of the trainers, Bakari Williams, who said Fitness+ is a great way to incorporate a quick workout.

“One thing I like to remind myself and others – especially at this time of year when we’re short on time or energy – is that some are better than none,” Bakari told The Sun.

“Especially when it comes to movement. Yes, it can be difficult to find 60 minutes in a day to get into your exercise or workout.

“But you can do 10 minutes a day, and if you do that throughout the week, that’s over an hour of exercise and activity.

“Every movement counts. Our workouts last from just five minutes to 45 minutes.

“Maybe you normally do a 30 minute cycle, but this time of year you might decide to do the 10 minute cycle today because that suits you and it suits you and your family and your lifestyle.

“All activities count, and some are better than none.”

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