my apple watch keeps pausing during workouts

No, it cannot.

It may help to wear your Apple Watch a little further up your arm and/or with the buttons on the other side:

To change the configuration: on your iPhone, in the Watch app, go to: My Watch (tab) > General > Watch Orientation > choose the preferred wrist and side for the buttons.

I just found this solution as I’ve been having the same problem. While it doesn’t fix things, it explains why they’re happening to me.

If you want it to Auto Pause a workout when you stop moving:

1)

Open the Watch app on your paired iPhone and navigate to the My Watch → Workout section.

2)

Slide the Running Auto Pause switch to the ON position.

“When this is on, indoor and outdoor running workouts

will automatically pause when you stop moving and resume when you start moving,” notes Apple.

If you leave this setting OFF, your workout will pause if you press both the Digital Crown and Side Button (like taking a screenshot). Apparently this happens to me when do push ups or other similar movements where my wrist bends and can press the buttons without my knowledge.

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<Link edited by Host as following the procedures at the site may lead to damage to the user’s device>

Wrist tattoos can affect the performance of the sensor on Apple Watch. This can lead your watch to believe that it has been removed from your wrist, causing workouts to be paused.

This can happen even if heart rate readings are being recorded.

Used this advice and it worked. I wore my watch up higher on my arm and the put a wrist/sweat band between the watch and my receiver gloves. Played for a solid 3 hours without it pausing. Kind of an annoying work around but oh well. Not really sure why the lock screen wouldn’t prevent the buttons as well.

I do boxing as well and the the thing that has worked the best for me is that I move the watch from my left wrist to my right wrist because after our boxing rounds, we do a core workout that requires us to be in plank positions a few times and that prevents my hand from pushing against the crown. I also place the watch a little higher up my arm because the glove wraps are looser the further away they are from your hands.

This isn't a perfect solution because last night, I logged in 6 minutes of a workout when I do 60. I wish that Apple would make the "boxing" option in the workout smart enough to know "oh hey all this pressure on me is because I have a wraps and gloves around me. let me continue counting"

I have the Apple Watch 3 and I've had this issue as well. I use the high intensity interval training option 3-4 times a week while I am doing my boxing exercise (I am not physically boxing anyone, just using boxing as a exercise...it is really good and I recommend it to anyone). When I use my wraps, I wrap right my bare wrist in front of my watch and use the excess wrap over the face of the watch. The gloves is very padded and I haven't had any issues with shock absorption. I put the workout on Lock, so the wrap and gloves don't automatically pause the workout. For the last few months, I've been forced to take the gloves off and unwrap my wrist to see if the program paused, which it has done numerous times over the last 3 months. As you can probably tell, this is very annoying and sad since it doesn't calculate my results for 3+ minutes.

After some research, I think I discovered the problem: if the crown and side button are pushed at the same time, then that action will automatically pause your workout, even when the screen is locked. To me, this has to be the reason why my workouts are paused. I just need to discover a new way to wrap my wrist and watch to prevent this. I am also not sure if there is a way to deactivate this option...if there was, then I would do that instead.

Hope this helps.

I have the same issues and I just discovered that this is the case. If you push the Crown and Side Button at the same time, it will automatically pause the workout...even if the screen is locked.

I know this is an old post, but you can go to the Apple Watch app on the phone, go to general, watch orientation, and change so the Digital Crown is on the left side. That will prevent your wrist flexion from pushing the crown and side buttons which may be causing it to pause.

I been having this issue since i got the watch 2 years ago. I have the Apple Watch series 1 and I thought I had a bad copy until I noticed that others were having the same issue.

My workaround has been the Under Armour fleet of apps. They work great, no pausing at all. I have the Apple Health app reading data from my under armour apps and it works great.

I do wish that Apple would fix the issue with the excercise app pausing. It should be a simple fix. I would like to get the new Apple Watch 4 but as I been reading the comments I see that many people have still have the same issue with series 2 and series 3 watches.

Apple please fix this. It’s very frustrating.

I have been having this same problem so I looked it up and ended up here. I've since realized that mine is pausing from accidentally pushing both side buttons together, because I realized why random screenshots are popping up in my photos on my phone.

It would be really nice if there was a way to just totally and completely lock out the watch while working out. Heaven forbid I do some pushups or moves from a plank position, and I really don't like having the buttons on the left so far, and I'm trying it out now.

Is anyone from Apple read these things? Are you guys caring about your user’s experience at all?

This issue has been going on for years, it’s just a simple fix. You’ll turn of pausing workout with pressing both buttons feature when the watch is locked on the workout mode. It’s not about tattoos or loose band. When you’re wearing training gloves almost half of the time you can push both buttons.

Also I don’t want to change sides, because this is my watch. Not some tracking tool that I only use when I workout. Should I switch sides twice everyday just to prevent this weird function?

If anyone wants to pause their workout either they can not lock the watch or use auto stop feature.

Can the feature be turned off? Every time I overhead press it pauses the workout due to the my hand pressing on the Crown and side button.

So basically if you have tattoos you shouldn’t buy this product. I’ve been having the same issue with my watch , I didn’t know this whole time it was because of my tattos...

Hi

With Wrist Detection and Passcode enabled, check that you are unlocking your watch after placing it on your wrist and that you are wearing your watch sufficiently snugly during your workouts.

Tracking can be affected if your watch loses contact with your skin, causing it to believe that it has been removed from your wrist, leading the Workout app to pause.

A loose fitting band can trigger this by allowing your watch to lift from your wrist and/or by allowing clothing (for example, the end of a sleeve) to slip beneath the back of the watch.

Better contact with your wrist may also improve heart rate sensor performance during your workout.

Apple suggests that you consider tightening the watch band before workouts and loosening it again afterwards.

Sensor performance can also be affected by temporary or permanent changes to your skin, such as some wrist tattoos.

Workouts may also be paused or ended early due to accidental interactions with your watch's screen (including by clothing). To help prevent this, you can lock the screen during workouts (see the Workout app article below for instructions).

It can be normal for the Workout app to pause automatically during indoor and outdoor running workouts when you stop moving and to resume again when you start moving. To turn this feature on or off:

On your iPhone, in the Watch app, go to: My Watch (tab) > Workout - turn on / off Running Auto Pause.

More information:

Use the Workout app on your Apple Watch - Apple Support

Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it. - Apple Support

I've been reading about this pausing issue for it feels like forever.

My Series 3 keeps on pausing no matter what workout i start. I've owned a series 1 previously, same there. Under Armour apps like Endomondo or Record are tracking just fine without any pausing issues. I can not understand how tattoos can affect the tracking process of my workout. My heart rate is found by the watch and displayed correctly. Can anybody at apple please explain why a workout should pause on tattooed skin, even if all heart rate data is picked accurately?