This new Apple Watch feature has transformed my workouts, but not in the way I thought it would

September 22, 2024

With the advent of the latest Apple Watch operating system, watchOS 11, there’s one new feature I’ve been eagerly anticipating, the new Training Load metric.

For years, the best Apple Watches have been all about getting you on your feet, out of your house, into the gym, and really doing as much exercise as humanly possible. With watchOS 11, Apple has finally introduced some key metrics and features to help you do less, including incorporating rest days into your training goals and the aforementioned Training Load metric.

Apple says Training Load can help users make informed decisions about their training, measuring the effort of their workouts and providing 28-day reports to help them understand the impact of exercise on their bodies.

Training Load is a well-established metric used by performance athletes to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their training, especially in the run-up to events. Crucially, Training Load is vital in preventing injury. With that in mind, you’d expect the general impact of monitoring your own training load to result in doing less, not more. Your Training Load goes up, your Apple Watch tells you to back off in order to recover more effectively. Simple, right?

However, after just a few days using the public version of watchOS 11, I’m happy to report Training Load has already transformed the way I work out, but not at all in the way I expected.

You’re only cheating yourself

Apple Watch training load — (Image credit: Future)

I use my Apple Watch Ultra 2 predominantly to track strength training workouts, which I do roughly six times a week. If you use watchOS 11 to track a cardio-based workout like a run or a bike ride, it will automatically record the “effort” applied in your workout, giving you the readings needed to track your training load.

However, Apple’s fancy algorithm doesn’t apply to strength training (yet), so when you do a strength workout, you have to enter your effort manually, rating your workout on a perceived effort scale, from 1 to 10.

After just one session, I realized that my days of coasting workouts were over. For Training Load to work and provide the best possible recommendations for me, I have to give accurate results. If I overestimate my effort and mark every workout as a 10 out of 10, I’m going to get a false set of data that’s going to tell me to back off when I shouldn’t. My training and progress is going to stall, and I’m going to make less gains as a result.

However, if I give an accurate reading for a workout, and I’m not trying my hardest each session, in 28 days I’m going to get a Training Load readout that shows I’m wasting my time and hard-earned money in the gym making no progress at all.

The silent motivation I didn’t know I needed

Apple watchOS 11 training load — (Image credit: Apple)

All of a sudden then, the simple Apple Watch feature I thought would help me take it easy has become a massive source of motivation. Mindful that every workout counts, I’m now focused more than ever on walking the tightrope between applying maximum effort in the gym, and not overdoing it. I’m hyper-conscious of my performance and find myself concentrating on every rep, set, rest, and exercise. It’s not that I wasn’t necessarily doing those things already, but I’m more focused and motivated than ever thanks to a tool I thought was going to tell me to put my feet up.

Using a Training Load metric as inspiration to try even harder in the gym might sound counterintuitive, but I’m confident that the tech will ensure I don’t overdo it in the long run. But whether the goal is maximizing results or taking it easy, the only way the training load will help is if I’m honest about my effort. It seems my days wasting time at the gym are over.