The Health app on your iPhone is the place where all your health data comes together, including how much you exercise. No matter how active you are, recording your activity with Health is easier than you think.
Health app: a lot of insight into your activities
The Health app probably isn’t an app you open often. Do you want to exercise more or are you looking for good motivation, then click on this standard iOS app. There are four ways in which the app gives you insight into how active you actually are. In this article we will highlight them all.
1. The app records this information automatically
You don’t have to do much to find out more about your activity in a day. By default, your iPhone keeps track of how many steps you take and how many kilometers you travel with them. This data is collected for each day in the Health app. In the ‘Today’ tab you can find per day whether you were clearly lazy on the couch or if you had just finished an intensive day of shopping.
To measure this data, the app uses various sensors in your iPhone, which is why it is important that you carry your iPhone with you as much as possible. That way you get the most accurate data on the number of steps and walking and running distance traveled.
2. This is how the Apple Watch works with the Health app
If your iPhone is still on the table when you walk outside, the app logically does not count any steps. Unless you have an Apple Watch. This smart watch keeps track of your movement even without an iPhone and works closely with the Health app. The nice thing about an Apple Watch is that you receive a lot more information about how much you move in a day.
In addition to the above data, you will find how many minutes you have trained, how many hours in a day you have stood and how many calories you have burned. The number of stairs you have walked and the number of minutes that you have measured a workout on the Apple Watch can also be found in the app.
If you are looking for motivation to exercise more, check out these data after a full day. You will be amazed at how much you do, but you will also gain more insight into how you make sure you exercise enough. You don’t need to do anything to get your Apple Watch’s activity into Health. This data is automatically synchronized.
3. These sports apps work with Health
However, the Apple Watch isn’t the only way to collect more activity data in Health. Numerous sports apps offer the possibility to sync with Health, so that the workouts you record there are also automatically added to this app. Especially for runners or walkers, it is nice to record the route with a third-party app.
By then synchronizing this with Health, a nice overview of all your sporting sessions and performances is automatically drawn. In the ‘Data’ tab you can see how active you have been on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis. Some popular apps that work with Health are Strava, Runkeeper, Nike Run Club, Freeletics and Pocket Yoga.
Also interesting: the 5 best running apps for the iPhone and Apple Watch
4. Manually log activity in the app
Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to have an Apple Watch or other app to still record your workouts in the app. It is possible to enter these manually for various activities. It may take a little more effort, but is a great solution. For example, you can record the number of kilometers of descents during your winter sport, or the disabled can enter their distance wheelchair or number of pushing movements.
Cycling enthusiasts and swimmers can also fill in their distance traveled or the number of swimming strokes in no time. You do this by opening the app and tapping the ‘Activity’ menu in the ‘Data’ tab. Scroll all the way down to ‘No recorded data’, select your activity and press the plus icon at the top right. Can you prove to your friends that you really put your best foot forward?
Read more articles in our monthly theme Exercise
- Explanation: This is how the built-in pedometer on your iPhone works (18-3)
- Do you want to take a look around the block? These are the 5 best running apps for your iPhone (7-1)
- These are the 4 best apps to count your steps (6/17/2020)
- Tip: Calibrate your Apple Watch and get better sports results (1/19/2020)
- The 5 Best Free Calorie Counter Apps for iOS (1/9/2020)