The Apple Watch’s fitness features have been getting consistently more impressive in recent years, between new running metrics, the recent addition of Training Load, and integrations with third-party apps such as TrainingPeaks. And yet, despite these advanced tools at my fingertips and as someone who tests the best Apple Watches as part of my job, I’m still lacking in the running department.
After a long day of work, as a man in his mid-thirties with a very active six-year-old, the last thing I feel I want to do is get my shorts and underlayer on and head out the door, and that’s even with some lovely running routes nearby.
Tracking my workouts is great, but how can I outsource my motivation to my Apple Watch? As it happens, Apple’s new AI Workout Buddy might be the answer.
Workout Buddy could became my favorite new watchOS feature in years
I should stress that I have no such issues getting to the gym, . My hesitance to run (which takes a lot less work and time than lifting weights) feels very much like a problem of my own making, so it’s gratifying that Apple may have a solution for me and could make me feel less like I’m the only “reluctant runner” out there.
As revealed at WWDC 25 this week, watchOS 26 will offer Workout Buddy, a “first-of-its-kind fitness experience with Apple Intelligence that incorporates a user’s workout data and their fitness history to generate personalized, motivational insights during their session, based on data like heart rate, pace, distance, Activity rings, personal fitness milestones, and more.”
It’s that word “motivational” that piqued my interest, and while I’m wary of the use of AI (especially as a journalist who makes his living using words) a helpful few words of encouragement in my ear when I’m pushing myself out the door for a 5K could make all the difference.
I recently completed my first 10k running event following some heart health issues in recent years, and having an AI assistant tap into my heart rate data and advise me how much further I could push myself every now and again could have stopped the fearful questions I was asking myself, such as “am I going too fast?” or “am I pushing too hard?”
Matching my style of running
When I do get out for a run, I try to avoid looking at my Apple Watch Ultra. I often don’t want to know what my pace is like, because I try to be more intentional with exercise. Namely, keeping my mind on the whole ‘moving my legs’ part of the workout rather than keeping an eye on my pace.
Looking at my pace and seeing it slower than anticipated is a bit of a morale-buster, while checking the distance run and seeing I’m less than halfway around my circuit has a tendency to have a negative impact on my pace, as if I’m willing it to be over.
If I can tweak what the AI offers as encouragement, then I feel I’ll be having my proverbial cake and eating it, pushing me further without laying on too thick how far I’ve fallen since my prime a decade ago. Think less “here are your splits”, and more “keep going, you’re doing great!”.
I’ve tried AI coaching apps like Zing in the past, and as promising as they are, they can often feel overly complex when you just want to track some exercises or your step count. Having something like Workout Buddy running natively on my devices that I can call upon when I need it, and minimise when I don’t, really does feel like the best of both worlds. Roll on September!
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