1. Keep it close to your skin

It goes without saying that for the Watch’s heart rate sensor to work as advertised, the device needs skin contact. Apple itself explicitly states that the sensors will work “only if you wear Apple Watch on the top of your wrist”. A better fit means better readings. Therefore, if Watch is too loose and doesn’t stay in place, tighten its band. The band should be snug but comfortable, as shown below.

According to Apple, wearing your Apple Watch with the right fit — “not too tight, not too loose, and with room for your skin to breathe” — will keep you comfortable and let the sensors do their jobs.

2. Skin perfusion/environment affect performance

As the Watch’s heart rate sensor is basically a pulse oximeter which monitors the perfusion of blood to the dermis, it’s prone to inaccuracies. That’s because skin perfusion — a measure of how much blood flows through your skin — varies significantly from person to another.

Moreover, skin perfusion can also be impacted by the environment. There’s nothing you can do about making your skin more compatible with the Watch. Similar to the limitations of the Touch ID sensor, the quality of your skin’s blood flow will determine the accuracy of the Watch’s heart rate readouts.

3. Don’t exercise in the cold

Fitness nuts should avoid working out in the cold. As mentioned before, skin perfusion can be also impacted by the environment and exercising in the cold may bring down your skin perfusion levels, therefore reducing the accuracy of the heart rate monitor.

4. Avoid irregular movements

Rhythmic movements, such as running or cycling, give better results compared to irregular movements, like tennis or boxing. Apple advises tightening your Watch band for workouts to reduce any chance of false readings, then loosening it when you’re done.

5. Connect to external heart rate monitors

Not getting any heart rate reading at all? Tough luck. “For a small percentage of users, various factors may make it impossible to get any heart rate reading at all,” says Apple. But worry not, friends, you can still connect your Watch wirelessly to external heart rate monitors such as Bluetooth chest straps and get a precise heart rate reading.

Wrapping up, there’ll always be naysayers and doomsayers coming out of the woodwork to chastise Apple because the Watch isn’t the most accurate heart rate monitor so let me put this bluntly — that’s life in the technology fast lane.

As with any technology, there are limitations to what the Watch can do.

As a health-and-fitness tracker that’s attached to your body all day long, the Apple Watch is a pretty darn impressive piece of engineering, especially for a 1.0 product.