5 Easy Ways To Make Your Apple Watch More Wrist & Fitness Friendly

Let’s face it. Your Apple Watch (or whatever wearable you have) and an extended wrist were not a match made in heaven. With any sort of preventative wrist support, this problem is only magnified.

Whether it’s pushups, yoga, bench press, or preventing a fall on the field, wrist extension can cause a variety of issues with your Apple Watch. 

And no, we’re not just talking about possible watch damage…

You may be able to relate (and laugh a little) about all the times your Apple Watch has activated Siri, turned down your music, accidentally called the police, or you’ve gone through a whole workout just to realize that your workout was ended or not tracked properly.

Simply put, the Apple Watch buttons and a bent back wrist aren’t BFFs.

For serious weightlifters, cross trainers, or people with wrist injuries, any wrist wrap or support today makes the above actions happen even more regularly as the watch is slid up the forearm and only has barely enough notches that the watch is often pressed against the fabric of the support.

So here are a few tips to better use your Apple Watch, despite your wrists to get better workouts:

 

1. Stop Your Apple Watch From Launching the 'Now Playing' App

2. Get More Accurate Fitness Data From Your Apple Watch

3. Quickly Lock & Unlock Your Apple Watch During Workouts

4. Optimize Your Apple Watch Home Screen

5. Use a Protecht Wrap to Protect Your Watch, Wrists, and Workouts

  

Stop Your Apple Watch From Launching the 'Now Playing' App

By default, your Apple Watch will automatically have the ‘Now Playing’ App as the primary app running when music is playing or temporarily paused. 

While exercising with headphones, especially when hands are actively being used, the wrist can brush against the crown of the Apple Watch turning down your music.

Weightlifters, how many times has this happened right before you set a new PR?!

(And it was just about to get to the chorus of Deja Vu!!)

This can be frustrating for many users that sync their energy, reps, and workouts to their music. 

So to turn it off, find your series of Apple Watch below and complete the appropriate steps:

For Apple Watch Series 1-4 (without always-on display):

1. Press the Crown on your Apple Watch to invoke the app launcher.
   
   
2. Launch the Settings app.
   
   
3. Tap General.
   
   
4. Tap Wake Screen.
   
   
5. Toggle off Auto-Launch Audio Apps

 

For Apple Watch Series 5-7 (with always-on display):

You can also do this through the Apple Watch app on your iPhone.

1. Press the Crown on your Apple Watch to invoke the app launcher.
   
   
2. Launch the Settings app.
   
   
3. Tap Display & Brightness.
   
   
4. Toggle off Auto-Launch Audio Apps

Now you’re set to immediately have less interruptions throughout your workout.

Important to note that you'll still see the Apple Watch ‘Now Playing’ icon when you play audio from your watch itself, but the tip below will ensure that if you use downloaded playlists, that your Apple Watch doesn’t get in your way.

In the next section, you will learn how to make sure you are getting the most accurate fitness tracking from your Apple Watch.

  

Get More Accurate Fitness Data From Your Apple Watch

When is the last time you checked your Health settings on your iPhone?

If you don’t remember, it might be time to do so.

Little do you know those 5 pounds you lost or grained (always bulking season), can make a drastic difference in the exercise stats you get from your Apple Watch after each workout.

 

Here are a few more ways to get more accurate calories burned and exercise minutes logged:

1. As just mentioned, it starts with you and your Health App on your iPhone.

Going to the Health App on your iPhone and ensuring that your weight and height have 1) been inputted and 2) are accurate is the easiest 1-2 Step you can do to get calories adjusted to you and your body.
To do this:

• Go to the Health App on your iPhone.
• Click the Browse tab on the bottom. 
• Click Body Measurements
• Enter or check that your information is up to date.

2. Actually use your Watch

While you have your health data up-to-date, not using your Apple Watch regularly is like buying healthy vegetables and never eating them. The valiant effort goes to waste… even if they were organic.

Daily use of your Apple Watch (preferably 15-22 hours, if you sleep with it) will lead to your Apple Watch tailoring your heart rate more accurately and even affect how brisk your brisk walk really is.

Once again, more accurate heart rate, more accurate height and weight all lead to a higher success rate of you hitting your fitness goals and that is.. What. We. Like. To. See!

 

3. Make sure ‘Wrist Detection is Turned On’

Now that your personal health information is accurate and you are wearing your Apple Watch regularly, make sure that ‘Wrist Detection’ is turned on.

This feature is on by default, but if the illuminating light ever annoyed you, you got annoyed of Stand notifications or you handed your Apple Watch to your kid, then it may have been turned off.

Wrist detection allows your Apple Watch to understand that you are moving in some way throughout the day, so if you are wanting to hit your goals, even if it’s just a brisk walk (there’s that word again) to your workplace’s water cooler or more likely your home fridge, you can get credit.

To check:

• Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. 
• Tap the My Watch tab, then tap Passcode. 
• Wrist Detection should be green to indicate that it is on.

4. Choose the Proper Workout

For years, we were clicking ‘Other’ for our weightlifting workouts. Finally, Apple has created a way for you to track all kinds of workouts so that you can see how you’re moving your body.

To do this, go into your Workout App on your Apple Watch. From here, scroll down to the bottom and click add workout.

Not only does this allow you to tailor the heart rate sensors to the anticipated workout, it also can be a helpful log if you’re trying to diversify your fitness.

 

5. Have your Apple Watch Properly Fitted

From the mouth of Apple themselves, your Apple Watch should be worn an inch above your hand and is only tracking accurately if the Apple Watch sensor is on top of your wrist.

Your Apple Watch should be snug and not too loose or protruding into your skin.

So weightlifters, every time you’re using wrist wraps and you slide your Apple Watch up onto your forearm and you wonder why the heart rate monitor is stalling more than your grandmas 85’ Buick, this is why. One of the biggest reasons why we created Protecht Wraps. Your grandma thanks us.

Now Cross-trainers, instead of using wrist wraps, you probably move your Apple Watch to the underside of your wrist for Kettlebell workouts, same thing applies here. Hence why we created the Protecht Patch. (learn more in the final section)

Pro Tip: As there are tracking limitations and inaccuracies with all fitness/heart rate trackers, the best way we optimize our Apple Watch for tracking is to change the calories burned goal to 20% higher. 
To change this:

• Go to the Activity App (the three rings of glory) on your Apple Watch.
• Scroll down to the bottom
• Select ‘Change Goals’

As to what to change the goal to, see which bucket you fall into below:

• If you’re a daily Apple Watch user this will be an easy way to ensure that you are on-track to hit your actual calories burned goal.

• If you are not a daily Apple Watch user, it is documented that Apple Watch tracking accuracy can deviate up to 43%. So either adjusting the calories burned goal or wearing your Apple Watch more can bring that number down. 

PS. We think you should wear your Apple Watch more. 

  

Quickly Lock & Unlock Your Apple Watch During Workouts

If you’re doing High Intensity or have music downloaded to your Apple Watch, this is for you.

Here are two ways to lock your Apple Watch during a workout, without having to constantly adjust the 'Wrist Detection' feature mentioned above:

1. Have a passcode and set the passcode to have to be inputted prior to every use. This also enables Apple Pay.
2. The method we recommend is sliding up on your home screen of your Apple Watch and clicking the 'Water Drop' icon. While this make a brief sound upon turning your Apple Watch crown to get back to default use, we find it an easier alternative to people that do not have Apple Pay on their Apple Watch and don't want to have a password.

  

Optimize Your Apple Watch Home Screen

These recommendations are based on the Apple Watch screen layout ‘Infograph Modular’, but the tips can be applied to any watch face on your Apple Watch.

• Spotify or Apple Music: Whether on a run or wanting to quickly change a song before a set, having my previous playlists and current songs available on a whim always keeps us motivated to give our all during our workouts.
• Timer: For time sensitive workouts, whether that’s you have a work meeting you want to make sure you don’t forget about, or you time your breaks between sets, having a timer as a one-touch feature is a game changer.
• Workouts: Quickly being able to log a workout can help you get more accurate tracking and keep you accountable to the frequency of your workouts.
• Activity: Guessing 99.9% of you already have Activity on your home screen. If not, we want to meet you as you probably are also the .1% that is immune from hand sanitizer. 

All jokes aside, seeing your rings progress throughout the day is so satisfying and will push you to take that last 10 minute walk to reach your goals.

 

Use a Protecht Wrap to Protect Your Watch, Wrists, and Workouts

Now even after trying to do everything ‘right’, we know that sometimes your wrists and workouts don’t always well… work out.

So if you are a weightlifter like us, a cross-trainer (can’t use the copyrighted term), do yoga, play an intramural sport that doesn’t allow you to wear a watch unless its covered, or are simply coming back from a wrist injury, we created a product to help your Apple Watch be on better terms with your wrist.

Instead of attaching your Apple Watch to another part of your body, our Protecht Wrap is thoughtfully designed to work around your watch and be easily added/removed without ever having to fidget with your Apple Watch.

In this way, your Apple Watch and wrist wraps can now be friends. 

The wrap back design allows you to customize the compression according to your needs.

If you cross train with Kettlebells or need your Apple Watch covered for intramural sports, our Protecht Patch is a custom molded shock absorbing patch that is secure enough to not fall off and adjustable enough to take off when you’re done with your workout.

By using a Protecht Wrap, you can truly get the most out of your workouts because of the reinforced watch window that doesn’t get activated as the wrap keeps your wrist in a neutralized, but comfortable position.