The Workout app on your Apple Watch can be pretty dynamic. Not only can it track your metrics (time, distance, calories burned, cadence, etc.) for a wide variety of workouts, meditations, stretches and activities — everything from outdoor runs and cycling to handball sessions and Tai Chi — but also you can modify it to help you hit more specific goals. You can even create more customized workouts.

When you open the Workout app and select a workout, it’s an “Open” workout by default. This means the app keeps a general track of your metrics for as long (or as short) as you choose to exercise. If you’re looking for more specificity in your workouts, you can customize them so that you hit certain goals for burning a specific amount of calories, hitting a certain distance or duration. You can even set a specific pace and your Apple Watch will send you alerts during your workout to let you know if you’re going too slow, too fast or just right.

How to set a specific goal for your workout

1. Open the Workout app on your Apple Watch. 
2. Scroll down to the “workout” of your choice.
3. Select the three dots in the top-right corner of the workout. 
4. Scroll down to the type of goal you want to set: Time, Distance, Pace or Calories.
5. Select the pencil icon in the top-right corner.
6. Set your target metric.
7. Select Done.

From here, your workout with a specific goal will appear alongside your other workouts in your Apple Watch’s Workout app.

Photo by Tucker Bowe

How to create a custom workout

If one specific goal for your workout isn’t enough, you can create a more customized workout complete with warmup and cooldown periods.

1. Open the Workout app on your Apple Watch. 
2. Scroll down to the “workout” of your choice.
3. Select the three dots in the top-right corner of the workout. 
4. Scroll down to the bottom and select “Create Workout.”
5. Select Custom.

From here, you can create a custom workout with a variety of “Work” and “Recovery” intervals. For each of those intervals, you can set a certain distance or time. There are also “Warmup” and “Cooldown” option where you can also add an intervals specifically to help you ease into or out of your workout.

Once these Work and Recovery intervals are added, you can name the workout and choose a custom view for it. Then tap “Create Workout.” Your customized workout will then appear alongside your other workouts in the Workout app. 

Note: These customized workouts aren’t available for all workout types. The most obvious exceptions are Open Water Swim, Pool Swim and Multisport.

Photo by Tucker Bowe

If you’re a more serious athlete looking for an even more customized workout experience on your Apple Watch, we have good news. As of late late last month, your Apple Watch works with TrainingPeaks — a popular training app for endurance athletes. You can pull over your custom workouts from TrainingPeaks and have them live natively in your Apple Watch’s Workout app; no need to run a separate app.  

TrainingPeaks is the first app to natively integrate with the Apple Watch’s Workout app — and it’s super easy to get started. All you have to do is enable the feature in TrainingPeaks’s settings. (To learn more about how to sync the two apps, click here.) 

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