How the Apple Watch Can Help Improve Your Workout Experience

Demand for Weightlifting Technology

As fitness enthusiasts begin to integrate technology into their workouts, exercising has become more accessible and convenient than in the past.

Working out throughout the week can feel like a laborious task for many, but this is rapidly changing as we find creative ways to make exercise an effortless process.

Many exercise studies (here and here) point to the fact that resistance training is important to maintaining lean body mass and increasing metabolism. Despite this, resistance training requires the mundane task of keeping records of your workouts to make lasting improvements to your physique.

Innovators observing this unmet need have designed wearable technology that can automate this tracking process without having to use a notebook and pencil while working out in the gym.

For bodybuilders that are serious about making major growths in size and strength, the technology that’s on the market now can dramatically improve your current results.

How the Apple Watch Can Help Improve Your Workout Experience

The Apple Watch on the market now can track everything from calories burned, the amount of steps walked daily, the minutes spent standing, and even your resting heartrate. In spite of all the technology in the smartwatch, there’s currently no way directly track the amount of weights lifted or to record any of this information.

The smartwatch uses accelerometer technology, which tracks your movements when you’re in motion (swinging your arms or legs) to measure accelerating forces.

Accelerometers are great for measuring cardiovascular exercises but do little for resistance training since the sensor cannot detect the weight lifted during a movement. Without sensors detecting the stresses of the muscles during an exercise, the watch become virtually useless for any kind of weightlifting program.

The solution to this has been the in the apps market, as new applications have been designed for various mobile devices to help lifters track their workouts online and look at instructional videos as they exercise.

The best app that I’ve found for this purpose has been Trainerize, as it allows you to keep a written logs backed up to the cloud and allows trainers to customize new workouts for clients online.

Weight detecting sensors may not be available on the market yet, but there is a device that help record your workout routine while keeping track of your form during the exercises.

The GymWatch sensor can make your workout easier by detecting your movements using the same accelerometer technology to correct your biomechanics (technique) and count each individual repetition while you move.

When the full range of motion isn’t used on a repetition, it’s counted as a partial repetition and your workout is recorded as such.

The GymWatch syncs with either the iPhone/iPad using Bluetooth 4.0 technology and comes with a corresponding app that’s used to input all of your information.

So the Apple Watch currently can’t assist as well as these devices with resistance training, but can quite useful to workout with in other ways.

The Future of Apple Weight Training

With the release of the Apple Watch reaching a milestone of 2 years now, the potential for the watch has yet to be developed.

The developers of the watch have done a great job of making the iPhone synonymous with the device by making it easy to read notifications and alerts.

At first this seems annoying, but this comes in handy with the timing rest periods between sets. To get the maxim effect from your workout, you need to time the rest periods for building muscle or burning fat (see How to Use Rest Times for Fat Loss).

The Trainerize app also helps with this by alerting you when your resting period is finished by sending a vibrating notification to the watch:

The watch not only serves as a convenient timing device for working out but can also be used to record and send live video of your exercises with the new CMRA watch band.

The band replaces the original on the Apple Watch to preserve battery life and comes with two cameras: face-front camera for recording video/taking picures and an outward camera for taking photos:

With this kind of technology for the Apple Watch, we may be able to record, send, and share all of our workouts. Trainers will be able to remotely assist clients’ live workouts with better diagnosis and more accurate observations.

Stay tuned for developments of these new devices as they are currently on waitlist for sale in the US/Canada.

The Wrap Up

The Apple Watch changes the landscape of fitness by making data tracking and metrics more manageable. Wearable technology has been improving how we exercise as sensors are becoming more and more prevalent with time. While the Apple Watch currently doesn’t have the features to make it a perfect stand-alone solution for weight lifting inconveniences, it does make a great add-on for reaching your fitness goals.

What else do you want to know?

How to Use Rest Times For Fat Loss

Why You Need To Record Your Workouts

How Workout Suits Can Help You Workout On The Go

How Smart Clothing Can Benefit Active Individuals