My Apple Watch-powered fitness journey: Here’s how hardware and software help me get in shape

Apple has long made a play for being a health company as much as a technology company, thanks to the popularity of the Apple Watch. That’s why the company has medical experts on staff and that’s why Apple made a big deal about the launch of sleep detection along with the unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 10. I thought about that. , it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that Apple will be at the center of my new life.

And Mike Wuerthele and I are going to bring you all along for the ride.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to share something about the book here at AppleInsiderwhich explains the ways that Apple and other smart health technology companies will help me manage my health. It’s not just hardware, either. There will be a healthy (see what I did there?) rollout of apps and services thrown in, so I’ll be diving into them as well.

The same goes for my progress. I’ll share how my health is (hopefully, the early signs are good) improving and I’ll discuss why I think that might be the case. I will discuss which tools have worked, and which have fallen by the wayside. We will learn together, and hopefully, by the end of this series, we will all have a better understanding of the options available to people like me.

You already know Mike, he’s been here for years, and he’s already talked about some of his Apple Watch journey. But, who is he?

When I said I didn’t take care of myself, I wasn’t kidding. Of course, I have no doubt that there are people far worse than me and I know that the issues I deal with are probably a combination of genetics and my own laziness and lack of interest.

As for the issues I hope to cover, many of us are probably familiar with them. I need to lose weight. It’s probably pretty good, actually. Now I weigh 250 kg and about 5ft. 9 is too much. I wish I could say it’s all muscle but it’s not so much. It needs to go.

A negative influence of weight is blood pressure, commonly known as high blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been very high, which is not helped by the other medications I take.

I expect that improving my overall health will lower my blood pressure in ways that tablets cannot. I don’t want a stroke or a heart attack, so the numbers need to shrink.

Those are the two main issues I’m working on fixing, but there are others that I hope will improve as a result. I’m told that exercise can help with mood swings, fatigue, and concentration, among other things.

I’m also hoping that the symptoms of my newly diagnosed sleep apnea will subside, and I certainly don’t want to be on CPAP for the next 40 years.

We will find out in the coming weeks.

Now that we know what needs to be done, the real question is how will I achieve it?

Well, the base of it all will be the Apple Watch Series 10. It’s the 46mm model, not that it really matters, and I’ll be using it to monitor exercise, my heart rate, and my general condition. a performance across multiple genres. metrics.

I will be using different tools which I will go into in a future post. But I expect the Apple Watch to be important to my efforts because I’m a math geek. I love graphics, and the Apple Watch makes those available in abundance.

Because I’m in the UK, I can get one more light than the US because my new Apple Watch still has a blood oxygen monitor.

Apple Watch Series 10 fitness tracking will be key to my efforts.

Other devices I will be using include the Aktiia blood pressure monitor, a functional Fitbit device that measures my blood pressure throughout the day. Like I said, I love data. I’ll be adding the Withings BPM Connect blood pressure monitor and the company’s Body Comp smart scale to the mix as well.

That’s the hardware, but what am I actually going to do do? I’m not going to join gyms or take up any marathons, that’s not my style.

But we recently got a dog which means walkies are needed. I think half an hour being pulled by a sweet puppy is a good start – and it’s more than my previously controlled life. I will be doing that almost every day, a big improvement on my previous activities.

The first impressions are good, and I will expand on that in the future as my journey continues.

My next update is just around the corner and that’s where I’ll go into more detail about the software I’ll be using as I venture into the world of fitness. All the tools in the world are good as long as you have the software to understand what those sensors are telling you, so I’ve pulled out a few tools that I think will be helpful while I’m using them. new features provided by watchOS 11. If you’re a developer of a device that you think could help here, get in touch – I’d love to take your stuff to use and hopefully add it to the collection I went to the equipment.

And with that, I’m off to take the dog for a walk. You have to fill those rings, right?