One of the valuable and lesser-known health features of the Apple Watch is Cardio Fitness. The measurement is based on your VOtwo max that Apple Watch can estimate when recording certain workouts. Follow along to see how to use Cardio Fitness on Apple Watch and iPhone, including why it’s important, how to set it up, and how to measure/view Cardio Fitness levels.
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Whether you have recently obtained a apple watch or have had one for a while and haven’t used Cardio Fitness before, it’s a valuable metric to understand and use.
This is how Apple describes it:
Apple Watch users can see their cardio fitness level in the Health app on iPhone and get a notification on Apple Watch if it’s in the low range. Innovative technology launched in watchOS 7 enables Apple Watch to easily measure low cardio fitness, and today, cardio fitness notifications allow users to be more active for dramatic long-term health benefits.
Cardiorespiratory fitness, measured by VO2 max, is the maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise and can be increased through physical activity. Apple Watch already calculates average and highest levels of VO2 max. during brisk walks, runs, or walks outdoors, which many runners and other athletes monitor to improve performance.
By measuring the “body’s ability to absorb, circulate, and use oxygen,” Cardio Fitness is a metric that gives a good indication of overall health and can also predict long-term health. While there is a correlation between low levels of Cardio Fitness and future health issues, you have the power to raise your levels with consistent aerobic exercise 🙂.
And another great companion resource for tracking heart health is Withings’ “Vascular Age” feature on its latest Body Cardio smart scale.
How to use Cardio Fitness Apple Watch and iPhone
Setting
- If you haven’t set it up before, open the Health app on your iPhone
- Tap Summary and swipe down near the bottom and find cardiovascular exercise (under “Get more from health”)
- choose blue Set up button
- Follow the prompts such as confirming your health details (users must be at least 20 years old)
- You can choose to turn on Low Cardio Fitness notifications for your Apple Watch
- You will now see Cardio Fitness appear in the Heart section of the Health app
How to measure Cardio Fitness with Apple Watch
- You won’t see Cardio Fitness level data points for each workout logged with Apple Watch, here’s what Apple says:
- Apple Watch can record an estimated VOtwo between 14 and 60 ml/kg/min when you take a brisk walk, walk, or run outside with persistent heart rate measurement. You can estimate your VOtwo max if you start one of those workouts in the Workouts app
- OVtwo max is validated for users over 20 years of age. Most people can improve their VOtwo max with more intense and more frequent cardiovascular exercise. Certain conditions or medications that limit your heart rate can cause your VO to be overestimated.two max. You can indicate that you are taking certain medications in the Health Details.
- You can read more details about Cardio Fitness in the Cardio Fitness section in the Health app.
Interestingly, the Cardio Fitness levels will be displayed even for the outdoor walking/hiking/running workouts you have done previously. You can tap the time frame icons at the top of Cardio Fitness to see daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly data (see more on this below).
Apple notes that cycling is another great aerobic exercise to improve Cardio Fitness, but for now, tracking cycling workouts on Apple Watch doesn’t seem to log Cardio Fitness data.
How to View Cardio Fitness Levels on iPhone
- You can view your Cardio Fitness levels at any time by going to the Health app
- Tap Explore > Heart > Cardio Fitness
- Tap the blue “Show All Cardio Fitness Levels” button to see all your available data
- You can now see the months you’ve been in the Low, Below Average, Above Average, and High categories
- If you have another device that measures VOtwo max (or have it professionally measured), you can tap “Add data” in the upper right corner to add measurements manually
- You can read more about why Cardio Fitness is important and how to increase it in the Health app, but the simplest and most important factor is regular aerobic exercise 😎
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