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When it comes to lifting weights, smartwatches will never beat a simple Notes app

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Smartwatches are amazing for HIIT and endurance exercise, but I’ve never found one good for lifting weights in the gym.
I love smartwatches. I basically review them for a living. They can do so much, especially outdoors. Every step you take, every move you make, every breath you take, they’ll be tracking you – and the best smartwatches and best running watches do so very accurately, presenting the data in a satisfying way that helps you improve your health.
They’re great for logging swimming, cycling, running, and endurance exercise of all kinds, as their gyroscopes, GPS satellite connections, and motion sensors are able to track steps, strokes, and cycling power. Heart-rate sensors and LEDs are able to read your pulse and monitor the calories you expend. But if you’re not looking to do endurance exercise, or thinking about expending calories, they suddenly use a lot of their usefulness. 
Before I got back into running seriously, I was in the gym a lot, attempting to hit a few long-time fitness goals of mine. Among those goals were a 70kgs bench press (achieved), a 140kgs deadlift (not achieved) and a set of 10 strict overhand pull-ups (achieved, barely). I tested a lot of smartwatches in that time, and none of them was any better at recording my progress than the Notes app on my phone, or the small pocketbook and pencil I would occasionally carry. 
As anachronistic as it seems for a fitness tech journalist, a little notebook and pencil or a simple Notes app is the best thing you can use if you’re serious about lifting weights and gaining muscle.

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