Functional Strength Training on Apple Watch: Apple’s Steps
Functional Strength Training on Apple Watch is one entry on Apple’s list of workout types, and you start it with Apple’s three steps for starting a workout: open the Workout app, turn the Digital Crown to it, and tap the Play button. Neither of the two Apple pages cited at the foot of this article says what the workout type means.
Apple’s workout types page lists Traditional Strength Training as a separate entry on the same list. The steps below are Apple’s own, quoted from its Start a workout page.
What Apple’s pages say Functional Strength Training is
One sentence across the two pages places it. Apple’s Start a workout page describes the Workout app’s range as running from cardio workouts “to strength-based workouts like Functional Strength Training, Core Training, and Kickboxing.”
That sentence is the whole of it. On the article bodies of those two pages, measured on 11 October 2026, the words muscle, coordination, reps, repetition and definition each return zero hits.
Those counts cover the two pages named in the Sources section and nothing wider. Apple may describe the workout type somewhere else, and the Workout app itself may show text these two pages do not carry.
How to start Functional Strength Training on Apple Watch
These three steps are Apple’s, in Apple’s order, from the Start a workout section of its Apple Watch User Guide.
- Apple’s first step reads “Go to the Workout app” and then “on your Apple Watch.”
- Apple’s second step reads “Turn the Digital Crown to the workout you want to do.” If Functional Strength Training is not on the screen yet, the same step continues “To view all workouts, scroll down, then tap” a button, then “at the bottom of the workout list.” Apple’s alt text labels that button the Add button.
- Apple’s third step reads “When you’re ready to start your workout, tap” a button. Apple’s alt text labels that button the Play button.
Apple adds a tip inside that third step: “You can also tap the center of the screen to quickly start your workout. And on Apple Watch Ultra models, you can start a workout with the Action button.”
Apple’s page says “As you use the app and choose workouts, the order of workouts reflects your preferences.”
Where the Add a workout control sits
Apple’s page carries a second control with Add in its name, and it belongs to a workout that is already running. Under the heading “Use the workout controls”, Apple’s steps read “Start a workout.” and then “Swipe right, then do any of the following:” before they list the controls.
One of the controls in that list reads “Add a workout: Tap New, tap a workout type, then tap Quick Start, or select a custom workout.” Apple places that New control inside its list of controls for a running workout, and the Add button in step 2 above is the one at the bottom of the workout list before you start.
The 2022 version of this article told readers to tap a button called Add Workout to find this workout type. Apple’s own label for the button at the bottom of the workout list is the Add button, and Apple’s scroll down route is the one in step 2 above.
Functional Strength Training vs Traditional Strength Training
Apple’s workout types page carries both names, one list entry each, under the heading “Available workout types”. Neither of Apple’s two pages says how the two differ.
Across the article bodies of both pages, Traditional Strength Training appears once, as its list entry, and Functional Strength Training appears twice: as its list entry and in the grouping sentence quoted above. Beyond that sentence, neither page carries anything on the question.
| Question | What Apple’s two pages give |
|---|---|
| Is it a workout type? | Yes, listed by name |
| Is Traditional Strength Training separate? | Yes, a separate list entry |
| What is it? | Grouped as strength based with Core Training and Kickboxing |
| How does it differ from Traditional? | Not stated on either page |
| Our read | Pick it and train. Apple’s two pages give the steps and no definition. |
During the workout, in Apple’s words
Apple’s page says “During your workout, you can pause and resume, mark segments, start a Check-In, and more.”
On what the watch shows while you train, Apple’s page says “See your workout stats: Raise your wrist to see your workout stats, including your goal completion ring, elapsed time, average pace, distance covered, calories burned, and heart rate.” Apple adds “There’s no goal ring if you haven’t set a goal.”
We have written up what Apple Watch Move calories mean, and separately whether the Apple Watch counts steps accurately.
What happens when you tap End
Apple’s page mentions rating your effort in its workout controls list and again under its own heading, and this article quotes both passages. In the workout controls list, Apple’s End step reads “End the workout: Tap End. Turn the Digital Crown to rate your effort and view the workout summary, then tap” a button Apple’s alt text labels the End button, “at the top.”
Under a separate heading, “Rate your effort”, Apple’s page opens with a precondition: “After completing a cardio-focused workout, you can adjust estimated ratings of how hard you exercised. Your heart rate, VO2 max, and personal data like age, height, and weight are factored into each rating.”
The Rate your effort section does not name Functional Strength Training. On the Start a workout page the name appears once, in the grouping sentence quoted above.
If the workout is not tracking at all
A workout that will not record is a different problem from choosing between two workout types. Two neighbouring problems on the same watch are an Apple Watch not tracking sleep and an Apple Watch not getting notifications.
If you are still choosing a watch rather than a workout, our guide to picking the right Apple Watch sizes the models by what you will do with them.
Questions readers ask
What does Functional Strength Training on Apple Watch target?
Neither of the two pages checked here says what it targets. Apple’s Start a workout page names it in one span, “to strength-based workouts like Functional Strength Training, Core Training, and Kickboxing.”
What if the workout I want is not on Apple’s list?
Apple’s workout types page carries a footnote for that case: “You can choose Other when you can’t find a matching workout type.” The list entry it is attached to reads “Other*”.
Do I need a third party app for strength training on Apple Watch?
Neither Apple page mentions one. Searched as two words and as one hyphenated word, third party returns zero hits across the article bodies of both pages.