# Apple Watch, workouts and exercise calories

By Ryan Bulcher, CalTrak developer. Updated November 3, 2026.

Source: https://caltrak.app/features/apple-watch-and-exercise

CalTrak brings in your Apple Watch workouts through Apple Health, lets you log exercise yourself, and can add the extra calories you burn to that day's budget. On Android the same thing works through Health Connect.

## What does exercise look like in the app?

Workouts show up in an Exercise section on the Log tab, right alongside your meals and water.

If you turn on "Scale Macros with Exercise", your macro targets grow on active days too. You'll see something like "+59g from activity" under Carbs.

Tap a workout from Apple Health to see its details, like steps, distance and the route map when there is one.

  Activity adds to your budget and macros.

## Can I log exercise myself?

Yes. Pick one of 11 activities like Walking, Swimming, Cardio, HIIT, Running, Cycling or Weightlifting, or type your own name.

Choose Light, Moderate or Vigorous and how long you went, and CalTrak estimates the calories from your weight. You can always type the calories in directly.

  Activities, intensity and duration.

## Why is there a Golf Mode?

Apple Watch tends to overestimate calories during golf. Golf Mode lets you say whether you rode in a cart or walked, and CalTrak adjusts the estimate.

Golf is one of the places a watch gets it most wrong, especially when you ride in a cart most of the round.

  Cart or walked.

## What is the Calorie Burn Bonus?

Most calorie targets already assume you move a normal amount. If an app then adds every calorie your watch measures, you end up counting exercise twice.

The Calorie Burn Bonus only counts what you burn beyond your target burn. It shows up when CalTrak sees an Apple Watch and you have a target burn set. The extra goes into that day's budget, and a detail screen shows your active, resting, projected and target burn along with the bonus.

If you'd rather keep exercise out of your budget entirely, turn off "Include Exercise in Budget" in Settings.

## Can I see my activity over time?

Yes. The History tab has an Activity chart for 7, 30 or 90 days with calories burned, minutes and how many days you were active.

  Activity in History.

## What gets written to Apple Health?

CalTrak writes your food (calories, carbs, protein and fat, plus saturated fat and fiber when known), weight, waist and body fat. It doesn't write water or workouts you logged by hand. There's also a "Repair" button that removes what CalTrak wrote and adds the last 30 days back. More in the [Apple Health guide](https://caltrak.app/guides/apple-health-calorie-tracking).

You can also log exercise with Siri using the "Log Exercise" action.

## Questions people ask

**Does CalTrak work with Apple Watch?**

Yes, through Apple Health. Workouts and activity from your Apple Watch come into CalTrak and can add to your daily budget.

**Does CalTrak count my exercise calories twice?**

No. The Calorie Burn Bonus only adds what you burn beyond your target burn, so normal activity isn't counted again.

**Why does my Apple Watch show so many calories for golf?**

Apple Watch tends to overestimate golf. CalTrak's Golf Mode lets you choose Cart or Walked to correct it.

**Does this work on Android?**

Yes. On Android, CalTrak reads your activity from Health Connect and writes your food, weight and body fat there.

## Get CalTrak

CalTrak is free on iPhone and Android. No account, no ads, no subscription, and AI logging is free. Your food log stays on your phone.

4.9-star App Store rating from 99 ratings; 4,000+ downloads across the App Store and Google Play.

- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6764352979
- Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ryanbulcher.caltrak
- Support: support@caltrak.app