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Another valuable health feature has been added to the iPhone and Apple Watch with iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2: Cardio Fitness. Measurement is based on your VO2 max that Apple Watch can estimate when recording certain workouts. Follow to see how to use Cardio Fitness on iPhone and Apple Watch, including why it matters, how to set it up, and how to measure / view Cardio Fitness levels.
Here’s how Apple describes Cardio Fitness levels:
With iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2, Apple Watch users can see their cardiovascular fitness level in the Health app on the iPhone and receive a notification on Apple Watch if it is in the low range. Cutting-edge technology released in watchOS 7 enables Apple Watch to easily measure low cardiovascular fitness, and today cardiovascular fitness notifications allow users to be more active for dramatic long-term health benefits.
Cardiorespiratory fitness, measured by VO2 max, is the maximum amount of oxygen that the body can use during exercise and can be increased through physical activity. Apple Watch already calculates average and higher levels of VO2 max during vigorous walks, runs, or walks outdoors, which many runners and other athletes monitor to improve performance.
Essentially, Cardio Fitness is a metric that gives an indication of overall health and can also predict long-term health. While there is a correlation between low Cardio Fitness levels and future health problems, it has the power to raise your levels with consistent aerobic exercise 🙂.
How to use Cardio Fitness on iPhone and Apple Watch
Setting it up
- Make sure you have updated to iOS 14.3 and watchOS 7.2 on your iPhone and Apple Watch
- When you open the Health app for the first time after the update, you should see some new splash screens about the new ECG and Cardio Fitness features
- If you don’t see it automatically, you can tap Glance > Heart
- Look for the blue Prepare button below Cardio Fitness Levels
- Follow the prompts, how to confirm your health details
- You can choose to turn on low fitness notifications on your Apple Watch
- You will now see that Cardio Fitness is displayed in the Heart section of the Health app.
This is what the setup process looks like:
How to measure cardiovascular fitness with Apple Watch
- You won’t see the Cardio Fitness level data points for every workout logged with Apple Watch, here’s what Apple says:
- Apple Watch can record an estimated VO2 between 14 and 60 mL / kg / min when you take a brisk walk, walk, or run outdoors with persistent heart rate measurement. Can estimate your VO2 max if you start one of those workouts in the Workouts app
- VO2 max is validated for users over the age of 20. Most people can improve their VO2 max with more intense and more frequent cardiovascular exercise. Certain conditions or medications that limit your heart rate can cause your VO2 to be overestimated2 max. You can indicate that you are taking certain medications in the Health Details.
- You can read more details about Cardio Fitness in the Cardio Fitness section of the Health app.
Something important to note: This means that you will not actually see the Cardio Fitness data measured with Apple Fitness + workouts (unless Apple expands on what types of workouts record VO2 max).
Interestingly enough, Cardio Fitness levels will show up even for outdoor walk / hike / run workouts you did before iOS 14.3. You can tap the time period icons at the top of Cardio Fitness to view daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly data (see more on this below).
Apple notes that cycling is another great aerobic exercise to improve Cardio Fitness, but for now, it doesn’t seem like tracking cycling workouts on Apple Watch is recording Cardio Fitness data for now.
How to view Cardio Fitness levels on iPhone
- You can check your Cardio Fitness levels at any time by going to the Health app
- Touch Explore> Heart> Cardio Fitness
- Tap the blue “Show all cardiovascular fitness levels” to see all available data.
- You can now see the months you have been in the Low, Below Average, Above Average, and High categories
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