How to Create Custom Workouts in Apple Fitness (iOS 26)

What's New

Apple's iOS 26 Fitness app makes creating custom workouts easier than ever. Instead of building workouts directly on your Apple Watch, you can now design them on your iPhone and send them to your watch. Much simpler!

If you dont fancy reading this then you can watch out viedo here:

Getting Started

1. Open the Fitness app

2. Tap the Workout tab at the bottom

3. Find either Outdoor Run or Indoor Run (depending on whether you're running outside or on a treadmill)

4. Tap the stopwatch looking button to see all workout options

5. Select Custom

6. Tap the + button to create a new workout

Example 1: Interval Workout (3x10 Minutes at Threshold)

This example shows how to build a structured interval session with warm-up, repeating intervals, and cool-down.

Name Your Workout

• Call it something descriptive like "3 by 10 minute threshold"

Add Warm-Up

• Turn on the warm-up option

• Keep it as "Open" with no target

• This lets you warm up for as long as you need

Create Your Interval

• Tap Add a step

• Name it "Interval"

• Set Goal type to Time

• Set duration to 10 minutes

• Optional: Add a heart rate target if you train with HR zones

Add Recovery

• Tap Add a step again

• Name it "Recovery"

• Set to Time

• Set duration to 1 minute 30 seconds (90 seconds)

Make It Repeat

• Tap Add repeat

• Select both the interval and recovery steps

• Set it to repeat 3 times

Add Cool-Down

• Turn on the cool-down option

• Keep it as "Open" (no set time)

Save It

• Tap the tick button

• Your workout is now saved and ready to use!

Example 2: Run/Walk Long Run (60 Minutes)

Perfect for anyone using a run/walk strategy. This example creates a 60-minute long run with 4 minutes running, 1 minute walking.

Name Your Workout

• Something like "60 minute long run - 4 min run/1 min walk"

Create Run Interval

• Tap Add a step

• Name it "Run"

• Set to Time

• Duration: 4 minutes

Create Walk Recovery

• Tap Add a step

• Name it "Recovery - Walk" (the specific name helps during your run)

• Set to Time

• Duration: 1 minute

Calculate Your Repeats

• Each cycle = 5 minutes (4 min run + 1 min walk)

• For 60 minutes: 60 ÷ 5 = 12 repeats

• Tap Add repeat and select both steps

• Set to repeat 12 times

Save It

• Tap the tick button

Editing Existing Workouts

Need to adjust a workout? Easy!

Let's say you want to extend that 60-minute run to 75 minutes:

• 75 minutes ÷ 5 minutes per cycle = 15 repeats

• Open the workout

• Change the repeat count from 12 to 15

• Tap Update

• Done!

You can change the workout name too, or leave it as is.

Starting Your Workout

Once your workout is saved:

• Tap Start Workout to begin immediately

• Or tap Share to send it to others

• You can also Delete workouts you no longer need

The workout will sync to your Apple Watch automatically, so you can run it from there.

Pro Tips

• Keep warm-ups and cool-downs "Open" - this gives you flexibility to go longer or shorter based on how you feel

• Use descriptive names - especially for recovery steps. "Recovery - Walk" is clearer than just "Recovery" when you're mid-run

• Add heart rate targets if you train with HR zones - this helps keep you in the right intensity

• Edit on the fly - quickly adjust repeat counts to modify workout duration

• The math matters - double-check your repeat calculations to hit your target time exactly