Today, fitness enthusiasts care deeply about wellness and their interest in activities such as cardio is growing more than ever. Fortunately, we have devices like the Apple Watch that specialize in tasks of keeping tabs on your fitness level by setting up Cardio Fitness levels. So, if you are struggling to maintain your earlier athlete-type fitness levels, use the smartwatch as your guide to getting back in shape.
What is Cardio Fitness Level on Apple Watch?
It is a new health metric in Apple Watch that determines your cardio fitness score by monitoring your VO2 max (or maximum oxygen consumption during exercise). The corresponding VO2 max numbers indicate the level of your fitness. Basically, it can be categorized into the following.
- High
- Above average
- Below average
- Low
A good VO2 max score means a satisfactory level of cardiorespiratory health or tolerable aerobic endurance. Your Apple Watch can give you a good cardio score estimate by measuring how hard your heart is working even during normal activities like an outdoor walk, run, or hike. So, there’s no need as such to break a sweat to get your cardio fitness score.
How do you set up cardio on Apple Watch?
- Launch the Health app on your phone and go to the Browse tab.
- Tap Heart > Cardio Fitness.
- Tap Set Up > Next.
- Confirm your details and tap the Next button
- Follow the onscreen prompts.
- Tap Turn on Notifications to receive a notification if your Apple Watch detects that your fitness level is low
- Hit the Done button.
Please note that you must be at least 20 years old to turn on notifications.
Launch the Health app on your iPhone. Tap the Browse icon at the bottom of the Health app screen.
Under Health Categories, tap the Heart tab to expand it.
Scroll down to the Get More Health section and tap the Set Up button as shown in the image above.
Tap the Next button.
Confirm your Health details. Any changes you make here will be saved to your Health Details in Settings.
Tap Next.
Read the factors that can lower your fitness and continue tapping the Next button until the Turn on Notifications button is visible to you.
Hereafter, you’ll start seeing your health metrics in the Health app. Also, you’ll receive a notification when your Cardio Fitness is low and additional notifications if it continues to remain low.
How does Apple watch measure cardio fitness?
Apple Watch can estimate levels of your VO2 max using the built-in heart and motion sensors. Its range is between 14-60 mL/kg/min since that is the range validated for users aged 20 and above. Apart from this, other factors that are taken into account include,
- Age
- Sex
- Weight
- Height
- Medications that may affect your heart rate
Most people can improve their VO2 max through incremental workouts i.e., increasing the intensity and frequency of their cardiovascular exercise if it is found to be below average during passive measurements (walking, hiking).
Hope that makes sense!
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