How to Add a Workout to Apple Watch

Add an exercise to your Apple Watch even after you've finished a workout

by
Dave Johnson
Dave Johnson
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Dave Johnson has been writing about tech since 1990. He's the author of over 2 dozen books and his writing has appeared in Wired, PCWorld, Business Insider, and many other publications.
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Dave Johnson
Updated on April 07, 2021
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Ryan Perian
Lifewire Technology Review Board Member
Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.
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Article reviewed on May 22, 2021
Ryan Perian

What to Know

  • Open the Health app on your phone and tap Browse > search for "workout" > Workouts > Add Data. 
  •  Tap Activity Type > select the activity > Calories > optionally input calories burned > select date and time > Add. 
  • There's no way to add a workout on the Apple Watch itself, so you'll need to pull out your iPhone and add the activity via the Health app.

This article explains how to add a workout to your Apple Watch's activity log using your iPhone's Health app.

How to Add a Workout Activity to Apple Watch

You may need to do this if you weren't wearing your watch while you exercised, or your watch failed to add the workout on its own automatically. Here's how.

  1. Start the Health app on your phone. 

  2. At the bottom of the screen, tap Browse. 

  3. In the search box at the top of the screen, type "workout."

  4. In the search results, tap Workouts. 

  5. At the top right of the screen, tap Add Data. 

  6. Tap Activity Type and then choose the kind of activity you want to add from the menu at the bottom of the screen. 

  7. Next, tap Calories and enter your estimated calories that you burned, or you can leave this blank. 

  8. In the Starts and Ends rows, select the date and time for your workout. 

  9. When you're done, tap Add at the top of the screen. 

    Manually adding a workout to the iOS Health app.

The workout is now added to your Apple Watch's workout history. 

How to Add an Exercise to the Apple Watch While You're Exercising

Sometimes your Apple Watch doesn't automatically recognize a workout you're doing. If you get more than 3 or 4 minutes into an activity and discover that the watch hasn't started to track it automatically, you can add the workout yourself.

  1. Press the digital crown on your Apple Watch.

  2. Find Workout and tap it.

  3. Scroll through the list of workouts until you find the one that matches the exercise you are doing, then tap it.

  4. After a brief countdown, the workout will start.

  5. You can end the workout in the usual way. When it's over, swipe the Workout app to the right and then tap End.

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