I’ve been using my Apple Watch at the gym for a decade – but it still has one key weakness

by Junna Base November 10, 2024

For almost 10 years, the Apple Watch has been an essential fitness partner in the gym. I use it every day to track my workouts, calories, time and more. It keeps me away from the distractions of my phone while keeping me alert to notifications from friends and family. I can use it to control my music and podcasts, set my quiet time and much more.

But since the advent of the Apple Watch, the lineup has suffered from a critical flaw that has doomed my life as a gym-goer. I’m talking, of course, about accidentally pressing a key with the back of your hand.

The growing size of Apple’s wearable lineup has somewhat exacerbated this problem in recent years. The best Apple Watch in 2024, the Apple Watch Series 10, is the company’s largest flagship model yet, and the massive size of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 doesn’t do it any favors either. Apple Watch users who go to the gym desperately need an answer to this problem, and I may have found a possible solution.

Create the framework

(Image credit: Future)

For the record, I wear my Apple Watch largely as Apple recommends. On my wrist of course, but more specifically on my left wrist, with the side button and Digital Crown on the right where they can be operated with my right hand. I know that the Apple Watch setup process allows you to reverse the orientation of the watch and wear it on the other wrist. But this is the way I prefer to wear my watch, and it’s the way it’s most often seen in Apple’s own marketing and advertising shots.

So what’s the problem? At least once per workout, sometimes more depending on the session, I accidentally press the Digital Crown or Side button (or both at the same time) during the workout. I have fairly normal-sized hands and arms, but I’ve never had a problem with the edge of my Apple Watch pressed against my wrist or the top of my hand.

This is especially problematic with exercises that place strain on the wrist, such as push-ups, bench presses, tricep extensions, dips, squats, or really anything that causes your wrist to bend back toward your elbow.

As Apple has added more functionality to these buttons, frustration has increased over time. I now find myself accidentally pausing my workout recording or the music that’s playing while I’m working out. The latter is distracting and can disrupt your flow and rhythm, while the former is particularly annoying if you don’t know until a few minutes later that your workout is no longer being recorded.

My daily driver is now the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which adds even more danger to the game due to its 86-decibel siren, which I’ve accidentally set off on more than one occasion, much to the confusion of my fellow gym-goers.

The problem is now so bad that I routinely have to adjust my Apple Watch before some exercises, and in my frustration I’ve even angrily removed it altogether.

This isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but it’s the most joyless part of owning an Apple Watch, which I think is otherwise perfect for all of my gym and fitness tracking needs. However, I think I might have found a solution.

A solution near you

Apple Watch Ultra underwater

(Image credit: Apple)

If you’ve ever used the Apple Watch in the shower, bath, or swimming, you know that it has a pretty sophisticated water lock system that’s designed to prevent accidental touchscreen inputs while in water. The water barrier is used at the end of the swim to expel water from your speakers. More importantly, it prevents your Apple Watch from recognizing touchscreen inputs that could interfere with or even stop your workout recording.

It’s impossible to accidentally turn off the water lock, and I really like it as a feature when swimming. So why can’t Apple introduce a back button press feature for workouts? What if watchOS 11 had a feature that could disable button presses by default during certain types of workouts, and that could only be unlocked by touchscreen input or an intentional button press like holding the Digital Crown?

Apple Watch’s buttons are important for Emergency SOS features and can be used to pause exercise tracking or mark sections in a session. So I’m not suggesting a feature that completely prevents their use. But something, anything, that could make it a little harder to accidentally activate these buttons while lifting weights would be an absolute lifesaver and a feature I would never turn off.

A more advanced implementation could even use accelerometer data to detect when an exercise is being performed and disable the buttons during sets but re-enable them while you rest. It’s a niche feature, but one that could also benefit runners or triathletes who worry about their training recording being accidentally interrupted during competitions. The water lock feature that prevents accidental touchscreen incidents is awesome, and I don’t understand why Apple’s physical buttons can’t have a similar feature.

The final piece of the puzzle

I won’t be throwing away my Apple Watch at the gym anytime soon, but I’d like to think the device has a future where accidental button presses at the gym are a thing of the past. I really think it’s the only thing holding the device back from perfection. Until then, I’ll continue to struggle with adjustments and the occasional siren to keep the rest of the gym busy.