The watchOS 9 update hides several features for your Apple Watch that I didn’t even know about that took my training to another level

The Apple Watch has only been with us for eight years and has become an essential part of my exercise routine. From reviewing the original Apple Watch (running a 10,000 run) to testing the latest Apple Watch Ultra climb 1200 meters to the magic mountain of Montserratin Barcelona.

The value of wearing a computer on the wrist when doing sports It doesn’t just give you information about exercise: it also gives you information about yourself. Knowing yourself means finding your limits and training to overcome them. For all these years, the Apple Watch has been just that for me: a device that Beyond Technology, is a help and a reminder to go further. On occasions when I needed that push to get back to my daily sports.

However, it doesn’t matter how many years we have been using the Apple Watch. We always discover something new and Apple continues to improve the operating system with some features that may go unnoticed. While waiting for this small revolution that could be watchOS 10 at WWDC23 (you win!), I would like to give you some tips to get the most out of the latest features of watchOS 9.

Wrist Sci-Fi Features

A few years ago, it was unthinkable that a watch, without the need for additional accessories such as sensors or measuring straps, could give us details on certain parameters of our exercises. With the latest update to watchOS 9, we have this pretty impressive news for its accuracy:

• vertical swing: refers to the vertical displacement of your body with each stride, measured in centimeters. If this oscillation is high, it may indicate that you are using a lot of energy to propel yourself upwards rather than forwards. If it’s low, it could be a sign that you’re not generating enough power with each step.
• Stride length: measures the distance you cover with each step while running, in meters. A longer stride is generally associated with increased speed, but landing with the foot in front of the body may not be the most efficient form. A shorter stride may be easier to maintain, but to increase speed you will need to increase the frequency of your strides.
• Ground contact time (TCS): is the time each foot spends in contact with the ground during each stride, measured in milliseconds. During this time, braking forces can slow you down. Keeping contact time short will help you spend your energy more efficiently, which will improve your speed.
• Power: it’s a measure of running intensity and can give you an idea of ​​how much effort you’re putting in when changing speed or incline. You can view running power as an individual metric or select a power training view to visualize your effort.

You can view and set this information by clicking on the “three dots” located at the top right of a training session. there we press Training Views / Editing Views and we can navigate through the different metrics screens. Each of these metrics can be moved, replaced by another, or added to a new one that does not appear in the initial configuration, by clicking on the “pencil” button at the top right of each metric.

This type of data is interesting to know how we run, for example, and how we evolve by improving the TCS or vertical oscillation. Usually for these measurements external sensors were used, but now we can have everything too simply by putting on the Apple Watch at wrist.

Pay attention to training views

During the exercise, it is important to choose what information to see. Some settings can be reviewed from the Activity app itself a posteriori, but if we want to fix or improve something, it’s better have it on screen while we practice. These training views are fully configurable, and you can choose between predefined screens, as interesting as these:

In the Training app, you can include a progress view of your activity rings during training by selecting “Include”. This function is available for all workouts. To measure altitude during your workout, the Apple Watch Altimeter provides precise measurements that allow you to see your current altitude real time.

Segments and splits help you track your progress during training. Segments let you track different sections of your workout, while partials help you control your pace. Both metrics now have individual training views that can be easily viewed while training using the Digital Crown.

As I said, the power of this is to be able to configure each of these measures that we see on the screen to our liking. For example, I prefer to display the “Power” metric instead of “Cadence”, which is the one that comes by default – to see if I’m at low thrust or need to slow down a bit. Choose your own, but I encourage you to configure these screens and customize them to make your Apple Watch and your workouts more consistent and complete.

Training experiences: going even further

Workout Experiences are a more personal way to experience every workout on Apple Watch, and now are more customizable than ever. To review them, all you have to do is type in the “three dots” at the top right of each workout, where you will be offered some of them depending on your use of the Apple Watch.

For example, to improve your personal performance, you can use the Time Trial function which allows you to compare your times on the same course, and to “compete against yourself”. You can also create a custom workout including work and rest intervals, and add voice and haptic alerts to guide you through your run.

If you want to achieve a specific goal, you can select the target pace workout and choose the target distance and time to complete. In this way you will receive pace alerts while running that will help you achieve your goal. Heart rate zones are also useful for monitoring your training intensity and keeping it within your desired range.

If your workout takes place on a running track, Automatic running track detection uses data from Apple Maps and GPS to provide accurate information on distance, pace and roadmap. Plus, you can receive lap alerts, perform personalized workouts, and score segments with high precision. At the end, you will get an accurate map of your route in the iPhone Fitness app.

My advice: configure Heart Zone alerts

Thanks to this level of personalization, it is possible to activate something very useful in your training with the Apple Watch: in-race warnings. This means that we can set multiple values. Among all, I I recommend Heart Rate Zone Alerts. The way to do it is:

• Training / Running (you can choose any sport) / “pencil” button in Time (For example) / Click on “Alerts” and there select “Heart rate”.

Here you will see the six areas that this measurement is split into, the colors indicate blue (looser) to red (more intense). Ideally, we should be in zone 3 (green in color) for as much of the training as possible. These values ​​are calculated according to our physical condition by the Apple Watch apply the heart rate reserve method. These values ​​are calculated automatically on the first day of each month, based on your exercise on those days.

Once activated, in full formation the Apple Watch It will warn you if you are below or above the recommended zone by means of vibration and voice where Siri will indicate the precise data. This is particularly useful since it is a parameter to be monitored and we will not even have to look at the clock with this warning to know if we should increase or decrease the intensity of our exercise.

Of course, watchOS 9 supports many other settings, such as creating custom workouts, which allows us to better align the sport we practice with our tastes and needs. It never hurts to take care of ourselves and enjoy working out with the Apple Watch, so start closing the rings and giving it your all – “Operation Summer” is already here!

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