Off late, there’s been a surge in the number of people paying close attention to their health. Every other person is in some kind of an arc—summer body arc or winter body arc or a post-breakup arc or even a main character arc. I’m not exactly sure what caused it. Maybe it was the realization that the air, water, and even food are already doing enough damage—and it’s probably not the best idea to make things worse. Perhaps the pandemic brought everyone an epiphany about their health. Or maybe people just started finding it fun.
Whatever the reason, it’s happening, and it’s growing. And as people get more serious about their workouts and exercise routines, there’s a lot that tech can do to support those efforts.
Smartwatches, like the Apple Watch, are perfect for tracking workouts and physical activity. They offer a range of features and insights that help users actively monitor their health and improve their overall fitness journey. From measuring heart rate to counting calories burned and more, a smartwatch can track it all. Even keeping tabs on your circadian rhythm has never been easier. But you are an Apple Watch user, it’s likely you already knew this.
What you might not know, however, is that this experience can be pushed even further with a quick calibration. The accuracy of all those activity measurements – it can actually be improved. It’s a simple feature tucked away in your Apple Watch settings, hiding in plain sight.
Why you should calibrate your Apple Watch
Well, because once you calibrate the Apple Watch, it becomes far more tailored to you. It starts to understand your patterns better and, in turn, gives you more precise insights—like a much less powerful version of JARVIS, but JARVIS nonetheless.
This calibration even helps in areas with poor signal, because your watch has learned enough about you to fill in the gaps more accurately. Yes, it sounds a little creepy—maybe even like a privacy trade-off—but realistically, very little data is truly private anymore. So you might as well get some benefit out of it.
This took a dark turn, but anyway, let’s recalibrate (wink, wink)!
How to go about it?
The whole thing’s pretty simple! Just follow these 3 steps
Step 1: Reset your calibration data
Start by clearing out any existing inaccuracies. Open the Watch app on your iPhone, go to Privacy, and tap “Reset Fitness Calibration Data.”
Step 2: Enable the right permissions
Next, make sure your settings are in order. On your iPhone, head to Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services and turn it on. Then scroll down to System Services and enable Motion Calibration & Distance. This ensures your Apple watch and phone stay properly in sync.
Step 3: Go for a walk (or run)
Now for the actual calibration. Head outdoors to a flat area with a good GPS signal. Open the Workout app on your watch and start an Outdoor Walk or Outdoor Run. Maintain your usual pace for about 20 minutes. If you both walk and run regularly, it’s best to do this once for each.
Over time, your watch will become smarter—fine-tuning your stride length and movement patterns with every session. The more you use it, the more accurate it will get.
While letting a watch and a phone learn your movement patterns so well that they can practically read you like a book might sound like something straight out of Black Mirror territory, it’s already very much our reality. The moment you bought a smartwatch, you were halfway there—now you might as well commit to the bit and make the most of it.
