Apple Watch provides around a dozen workouts that can be customized by users. Users like to track workout metrics differently based on the type of workout. Metrics in focus for a swimming workout will be different than what you track during your Yoga hour.
You can easily customize the various Apple Watch metrics by the type of workout.
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Customize Workout Metrics based on your preference and workout type
Here is how you can easily get it done:
- On your iPhone, tap on the ‘Watch’ app to get started
- On the lower-left corner, tap on ‘My Watch’
- Select Workout
- Next, choose Workout view
- Choose ‘Single view’ for picking one particular metric or ‘ Multiple Metric’ for customizing a range of selection
- Next, go to the ‘WORKOUTS’ section and tap on the specific Workout that you want to customize
- Tap on ‘Edit’ at the top right-hand corner of the screen
- This opens up an edit view
- Tap on the ‘-‘ icon and choose to remove if you want to exclude a particular metric
- You can also re-arrange the selected metrics by pressing on the rightmost icon (change the order of the icon) on the row of the metric and then drag and drop in order to create your sequence
- Once you have selected the desired metrics, move on to the ‘DO NOT INCLUDE ‘ section on the same screen
- Here you can add the metrics to your selection by tapping on them and choosing the ‘+’ button
Pro Tip for power savings:
If you are running low on battery during your workout, switch on the save power mode and it will still keep track of your workout metrics.
Here’s how to turn Power Saving Mode on or off:
- On your iPhone, open the Apple Watch app.
- Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Workout.
- Turn Power Saving Mode on or off.
Where is the VO2 Max workout metric on Apple Watch?
Recently, we have seen a number of questions around the VO2 metric. Most questions pertaining to not being able to see the new VO2 metric on Apple Watch.
When you customize your Workout view as explained in the earlier section, you will not find a VO2 metric there in the metric list.
See it on the Health app on your iPhone instead.
- Tap to open Health App on your iPhone
- Tap on Browse at the bottom
- Next, scroll down on Health Categories section and choose ‘Respiratory’
- You will find the VO2 max metric here at the bottom of the screen
- Tap on it, scroll down and choose ‘Add to favorites’ if you want to monitor this on a regular basis
According to the Apple Health app, Apple Watch records your predicted VO2 max only when you do a rigorous Outdoor Walk or Outdoor Run in the Workout app for at least 20 minutes with a persistent heart rate measurement.
It automatically tracks this metric. VO2 max is validated for users 20 and older according to the description.
If the VO2 max is still missing from your Apple device, you should check out the discussion on this topic on the Apple Support page.
What are the acceptable ranges for VO2 max reading?
Once you are able to locate the VO2 max readings on your Health app, you can observe these over a period of time to understand how you are faring.
You see that the VO2 Max readings are a function of age and sex.
Wrap Up
We hope that this article provided you with insights around how you can set up and customize your Workout metrics for your Apple Watch and explore the Apple Health app to set up and evaluate some of the additional metrics such as VO2.
As of this writing, Apple doesn’t provide a reading around SPO2 levels. It is expected that this will be included when Apple releases its detailed sleep tracking feature with watchOS 7 this year.
Please let us know if you have questions or if you would like to share a related comment.
