Reflections on Using an Apple Watch

About a month ago, I got an Apple watch. I wasn’t planning on it, but it was a gift for my 25th work anniversary (I’m still not sure how 25 years went by). I had other gift options, but this one made the most sense.

Since most of the things I’m using it for are fitness-related, I thought I’d share a little about my experience with it, in case you’ve thought about getting one and how it might be useful.

Watch fit

Before getting into how I’m using the watch, I thought I’d mention the size and fit. I have pretty small wrists, and I wasn’t sure if it would feel too large or heavy.

It’s taken a little adjustment, but it feels okay now. I did opt for the smaller size (42 mm case in the series 10), so the larger size might be too much. This one works for me, though.

My other challenge with watches is sometimes the watch band. In the past, I’ve had to create new holes in the band because my wrist is so small. That hasn’t happened with the Apple watch, though it’s a close call. The watch I ordered came with an “exercise band”, which doesn’t have any holes, just Velcro, but if my wrist was any smaller, even that wouldn’t have worked. I also ordered a more traditional watch band, and the last hole just fits my wrist.

Walking speed

One of the main things I’ve noticed about the watch is that it’s gotten me walking faster again.

In the past, I’ve generally walked quickly, but due to knee and ankle issues last year, I had to slow down to recover, and I never quite got back to walking more quickly. But when I got the watch, I noticed that it has “activity rings” that it encourages you to close every day. The rings are for calories burned through activity (not necessarily exercise, just moving around), how often you stand, and if you’ve gotten a certain amount of exercise.

Most of these things are adjustable, but what doesn’t appear to be adjustable is what’s considered “exercise”. Mainly, it has to be something that gets your heart rate up, and I discovered that walking slowly (I think under 3 mph for me) doesn’t qualify as “exercise” according to my watch. Since I want my walks to count as exercise, I’ve been pushing myself to walk faster again, which I consider a good thing.

Handy timer

Also because of various injuries in the past, I still do some physical therapy exercises most days, which includes balancing on one leg for a minute and then switching legs.

Before I got the watch, I was using my phone for the timer, but I like having it on the watch. It’s easier to access and keep an eye on, and I’ve customized my watch face so I can access the timer with one tap. That’s been useful.

To stand or not to stand

I’m still on the fence about the “stand” activity ring. The watch encourages you to stand and move around for 1 minute every hour, for 12 hours of the day (by default, though I think you can change it).

This is something I’m generally good at anyway, particularly since I work from home and the cats often want some attention during the day. But I’ve noticed the watch doesn’t always recognize when I’m standing, so it sometimes nudges me to stand even after I’ve just been up.

So, while I understand the reason behind it – i.e., too much sitting isn’t great for you – it might need a little refinement.

Odds and ends

Here are a few other odds and ends about using the watch that I’ve noticed:

• I can stop and start podcasts from the watch, which I like.

• The watch tracks a lot more health data, including things like heart rate, and it can even perform an ECG test (though I haven’t needed to do that and I don’t know how accurate it is).

• The watch gets confused sometimes. For example, I was stirring something on the stove, and the watch thought I was doing a workout on an elliptical machine.

• I can see weather information right from the watch face.

• It’s handy to be able to see who’s calling or who sent me a text message on the watch.

So far so good

Even though I wasn’t planning on getting an Apple watch, I’ve been enjoying it so far. I know I’m not using all the features I could be, but for what I want to use, it’s good. And maybe one of these days I’ll explore some of the other functions.