How to connect Apple Watch to a Planet Fitness treadmill

By

Running in Sync
Available in certain gyms and equipment.
Image: Apple/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Connect Apple Watch to treadmills at Planet Fitness, and other exercise equipment, for more accurate health data inside the Fitness and Health apps on your iPhone. After all, if you’re working out, you want to make sure your Apple Watch gives you credit for it.

Here’s how.

Connect Apple Watch to Planet Fitness treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical, rowing machine and other gym equipment

Table of Contents:

  1. Turn on ‘Detect Gym Equipment’ in Settings
  2. Hold your Apple Watch next to the equipment
  3. Press Start on your gym equipment
  4. Sync the Planet Fitness Workout app with Apple Health

1. Turn on ‘Detect Gym Equipment’ in Settings

Turning on Detect Gym Equipment from Apple Watch
This setting is pretty buried.
Screenshot: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

On your Apple Watch, open Settings > Workout (at the very bottom) and turn on Detect Gym Equipment (halfway down the screen).

You can find these same settings in the Watch app on your iPhone, too.

2. Hold your Apple Watch next to the equipment

Holding Apple Watch next to treadmill
Hold your watch next to this icon on the treadmill.
Photo: Apple

These days, a you can pair your Apple Watch to a lot of gym exercise machines, including:

  • Treadmills
  • Stationary bikes
  • Ellipticals / Cross trainers
  • Rowing machines
  • Stairmasters

All of these exercise machines can be paired with Apple Watch. With the screen facing the gym equipment, hold your Apple Watch next to the contactless reader. It should be marked with an icon or “Connects to Apple Watch.”

If you hear a tap and a beep, the equipment has been paired to your watch.

3. Press Start on your gym equipment

Press Start on your gym equipment and your Apple Watch will automatically start a workout.

Data will be synced to the Fitness app on your iPhone and the Activity app on your Apple Watch. After all, what’s the point of going to the gym if it isn’t helping you close your rings!

4. Sync the Planet Fitness Workout app with Apple Health

Alternatively, you can use the Planet Fitness Workout app to track your activity on their gym equipment. This works even if you don’t have an Apple Watch.

Download the app and you’ll be prompted to share data with Apple Health. If you enable this, after your workout, the data will appear in both places automatically.

If you already have the Planet Fitness Workout app and this doesn’t work, make sure it’s enabled. Open the Apple Health app, tap on the profile icon in the top right and tap Privacy > Apps and Services. Tap on an app and make sure its data is shared.

From here, you can delete app data, too.

Click here to read more about how to add hospital records, like vaccinations, to the Apple Health app too.

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