2 Hidden Apple Watch Features I'm Using to Get Into Peak Shape

After cruising by on the same good enough fitness routine for too long, I finally feel motivated to step it up a notch and get back into pre-baby shape. For the past six years, I've been relying on the Apple Watch to keep me honest about how much or how little I work out, push me to go on a late night walk to close my move rings, and send alerts when my "fitness levels" are on a downward trend. (I just birthed a human, Apple Watch -- relax!)

On the surface, it may seem like I'm doing everything right. But the truth is I've just been going through the motions to meet a quota, and I can feel a difference in both my body and mental state from when I was in peak shape and working toward a fitness goal. 

Apple continues to bring health features to its Apple Watch line, most recently with the addition of sleep apnea tracking announced at last week's Glowtime event, a feature that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday and will be available on the Apple Watch Series 9, 10 and Ultra 2. Many consumers don't realize how many health features the Apple Watch truly has; fortunately, a few tweaks to your watch settings can help you get more out of your workouts and set meaningful goals.

For me, getting to the next level will mean pushing myself to my limits. To achieve this, I plan to focus on two Apple Watch features: cardio fitness and heart rate zones. 

Monitor your cardio fitness score

The term "in shape" is too vague and subjective to be a real goal for me. I'm not suggesting a full-blown mood board here, but I do believe that setting clear goals can increase your chances of success. These are my goals: I want to get stronger so I can carry my baby without hurting my back. I want to increase my endurance so I can run longer distances again and sign up for a 10K or half marathon in 2025. And lastly, I want to tone and increase muscle mass so I can finally get rid of that last bit of stubborn post-baby fat that continues to linger.

You can track your cardio fitness score in the Fitness app on your iPhone.

Screenshot: Vanessa Hand Orellana

With my goals established, the next step was to figure out how I wanted to measure progress. I needed something tangible that I could use to measure my fitness levels alongside any subtle physical changes I may be noticing on the outside. Because muscle mass is more dense than fat, the scale wasn't going to cut it. That's where the Apple Watch comes in.   

Like many other fitness wearables on the market, the Apple Watch has a built-in sensor that continuously measures your heart rate from your wrist. It then uses this data, along with your motion data over time, to calculate your VO2 max, which according to the American Heart Association is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise. Apple calls this your cardio fitness score and it can be found within the Health app on your iPhone.

Your score is then categorized into one of four categories: high, above average, below average or low. My current score is 41, just enough to place me into the "high" category, but not by much. My goal is to get closer to 50, which is where I was at before my third pregnancy.

Because the Apple Watch isn't a hospital grade device, I'm using these numbers only to track progress and not for any sort of medical purpose.

Enable heart rate zone visibility  

Instead of overhauling my current routine, which I can barely keep up with as it is, I'm just going to build on what I'm already doing by increasing the duration and intensity of each exercise. My routine consists of two Pilates sessions (strength training) and three brisk walks per week (cardio). Cardio is more efficient at burning calories and building endurance, while strength training burns fat and builds muscle.

One way to measure how hard you're working during exercise is by looking at your heart rate (beats per minute). To make the most out of this data, you would then have to figure out your target heart rate for each activity based on your maximum heart rate (to calculate it, take your current age and subtract it from 220). In my 10 years of covering fitness wearables, I've written countless articles about target heart rate and I still have to look up how to calculate it sometimes. 

Luckily, the Apple Watch does the math for you. It translates your live heart rate data into five zones so you can take action when it counts and not after the workout is over. According to the Cleveland Clinic, in zones 1-3 your body is mostly burning fat, while in zones 4 and 5 it's burning carbs and protein.

To enable heart rate zone visibility on your Apple Watch:

Go to the Workout app on your watch. Tap the "..." option in the bottom-right corner of the screen. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and tap Preferences. Tap the Workout Views box at the top. You'll see several view options you can add. Scroll down to Heart Rate Zones, then turn on Include.

To see what heart rate zone you're in while working out, turn on the view in the settings of the Workout app.

Nick Wolny/CNET

After dissecting my last 10 workouts in the Fitness app on my iPhone, I realized I was cruising in zone 1 for my entire Pilates sessions and barely making it to zone 3 during what should've been my cardio (brisk walks). 

The author has the heart rate zone view enabled on her Apple Watch, which lets her track exercise intensity mid-workout.

Vanessa Hand Orellana

Getting to the next level will require working out in a higher zone than the one I'm used to for both types of exercise. I'll have to turn my walks into jogs and sprinkle in a few sprints or hills to reach zone 4 and tack on another 10 minutes to my usual 30-minute Pilates sessions so I can do a few more reps of each move.

With the release of WatchOS 11 on Sept. 16th, the Apple Watch also gets a new feature called Training Load that lets you see how your workout ranks in terms of intensity as it compares to the last 28 days, and charts it in a graph for you to visualize. It won't do it automatically for strength training exercise like Pilates, but you can enter manually and still see the results on the graph. It also can't be viewed live during a workout like the heart rate zone information above, but it would serve as a great supplement to the cardio fitness score and as a way to track progress over time.

Armed with the right tools and metrics, I'm feeling confident I can start moving the needle and achieve my goals. Because I'm not looking for a quick fix, I don't feel the need to set up a specific time frame to achieve success, but rather plan to celebrate the wins as they come and check in after a few months. 

Regardless of where you are in your fitness journey, it's important to check in with your physician before making any major changes to your routine.

Vanessa Hand Orellana