Apple Watch Keeps Pausing During Workouts? Steps to Fix

10 years ago, if you wanted to know how many steps you have walked, what’s your heartbeat, getting your ECG done, you had to buy 3 different devices. Now? It’s all packed up into a neat looking watch on your wrist.

While “Apple Watches are empowering patients to live healthier” as Apple puts it, some times it runs into error while tracking your health data.

If you regulary work out with your Apple Watch, you must have asked yourself atleast once “why does my Apple Watch keep pausing during my workout?”

You’re not the only one! Thousands of users have reported that their workout apps stopped working out of the blue. Fortunately, the fix is easy. Let’s go over it quickly!

How to Stop Your Apple Watch From Pausing During Workout

Let me give you a little tip about your Apple Watches, most of the errors can be fixed when you update the WatchOS.

If you’re already on the latest version of WatchOS and still facing issues with the workout app, then here are some fixes to try out:

1. Change Watch Placement

If you have tattoos or hairy arms, chances are it is the cause of your Apple Watch stopping during workout. The best solution is to change the position of you wear the watch. You can try wearing the watch a bit upper on your arm or try switching to the arm with no tattoos or less arm hair.

Another method is to wear the watch on the inside of your wrist. If you have a lot of arm hair, shaving your arm is the best way to ensure the app doesn’t stop during workouts.

2. Change Auto-Pause Settings

Your Apple Watch has an in-built setting you probably don’t know about. It automatically pauses workouts when it detects inactivity and resumes monitoring when it senses activity.

This feature has benefits; it detects when you’re taking a break from the workout and pauses tracking. 

The workout app automatically stops tracking and resumes tracking when you start working out again. This leads to proper workout duration, calories burnt, average heart rate tracking, and more. 

When you press the Digital Crown and the side buttons, it pauses the workout tracking. While working out, many people accidentally press these buttons and automatically pause the workout. 

Here’s how to turn off this feature:

Change Workout App Pause Settings on Apple Watch

• Go to the Settings app on your Apple Watch. 
• In Settings, go to Workouts and tap on it. 
• Scroll down the options menu until you find the Auto Pause section. 

• There will be a Toggle right next to Auto Pause. Turn Off Auto Pause.

• Once that’s done, go back to Settings > Workouts and scroll down to Press to Pause and turn it off.

• Once you’ve turned this setting off, you won’t pause your workout anymore when you press the Digital Crown and the side button.
• Restart the watch and see if your watch is working fine.

3. Change Workout Pause Settings from iPhone

• Open the Watch app on your iPhone.
• Go to My Watch section on the bottom left side of the screen.
• Scroll down till you find the Workout feature. Tap on it

• Click on Auto-Pause.

• Turn off the Auto-Pause feature for the Workout app.

• Go back to the previous menu and turn off Press to Pause.

3. Get rid of “Finished Your Workout?” Message on Apple Watch

I can’t be the only one who finds the “Finished your Workout” reminder annoying. More than just being annoying, it can also be the reason why your workout pauses in between.

When you receive the notification, there are 3 different actions you can take:

• End Workout
• Pause
• Dismiss

The first two options are visible on the screen, while the “Dismiss” option isn’t visible until your scroll down and click on it.

Sometimes your Apple Watch pauses during workout because you accidentally tap on the “Pause” button. To resume the exercise tracking, tap on the Resume button.

Also Read: Can you Watch Netflix on Your Apple Watch?

4. Turn Workout Reminders On/Off

Apple automatically shows the start and end workout reminders for walking, running, and other workout activities. 

• When your Apple Watch senses you’re working out, it sends you a “Start Workout” reminder. 
• When your watch senses you’ve stopped working out, it automatically sends you the “End Workout” reminder.

To turn off these automatic notifications, follow these steps:

• Go to Settings on your Apple Watch.
• Tap on Workout and turn off the End Workout Reminder 

You can also change these settings on your iPhone. Here’s what to do – My Watch > Workout > Turn off Start Workout Reminder.

• Turn Off Wrist Detection

If you wear Apple Watch loosely on your wrists, it can cause Apple Watch pausing during workout. 

If Wrist Detection is enabled, ensure the Watch is firmly placed on your wrist during workouts. 

Here’s how to access Wrist Detection in your Watch’s settings:

• Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.
• Go to the Passcode settings in iPhone’s Watch App.
• Scroll down till you see the My Watch tab, and tap on it.
• Go to Passcode settings. 

You can turn off the wrist detection process on the Apple Watch but risk interfering with some crucial functions. 

Some functions that may not work correctly when you turn off Wrist Detection:

• You’ll be asked to enter your passcode to authorize the payment while using Apple Pay on Apple Watch. 
• Some workout activity measurements are unavailable.
• Heart rate tracking and notifications are turned off.
• Apple Watch will no longer automatically locks and unlocks.
• Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 4 won’t place an emergency call after it detects a hard impact fall. 

While it may seem like a good idea to turn off Apple Watch’s Wrist Detection for a seamless workout experience, it has a lot of drawbacks too. 

Make sure you’re wearing Apple Watch tightly on your wrist. Prevent wearing the Watch on a wrist that has tattoos. To keep wrist detection on, you could also wear the Watch on the insides of your wrists.

• Prevent Accidental Taps During Workout

Another reason you could be facing “why does apple watch pause during workout” issue is accidental taps. 

Workouts may pause or shut down when you accidentally click on your Apple Watch screen during a workout. To prevent it from happening anymore, follow these steps:

When using the Workout app on Apple Watch, swipe right and tap the Lock option. It looks like a water droplet icon. 

• When you’re done working out, turn digital crown in one continuous motion to turn the lock off, then slide right again  and tap on End.
• Doing this makes sure there are no unwanted actions on your Apple Watch while you’re working out.

Final Take – Apple Watch Pausing During Workout

Okay, this marks the end of the guide. Hopefully, you’ve managed to find a solution for your constant workout pausing problem. If none of the methods I’ve mentioned above worked for you, visit an Apple Authorized service centre to get your watch fixed.

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