Why (and How) to Wear Your Apple Watch on Your Ankle

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Credit: Beth Skwarecki

The Apple Watch—and other smartwatches—are designed to be worn on your wrist. But why not wear it elsewhere? I’ve worn an Apple Watch on my ankle to keep it out of the way during kettlebell workouts, and that’s also a common placement for people who walk while they work, or who have a job or hobby that isn’t compatible with constant watch-wearing. So how do you do this, why might you do this, and is the data really just as accurate? Here’s what you need to know. 

How to wear your Apple Watch on your ankle

Let’s get the “how” out of the way first. If you have small feet (and ankles), you can just slip your regular wristband onto your ankle. I find that with a sport loop (the velcro band) I can fully loosen it, and just barely manage to slide it over my foot. 

What’s easier, though, is detaching one end of the wristband from the watch. Wrap it around your ankle, and then fasten the band. You still need a bit of length on the band to be able to close the velcro, but this works for me (and is a lot easier than taking my shoe off). 

All that said, there is an even simpler way: Buy yourself an extra-long strap that can easily fit your ankle. (You can also wear it on your bicep, if you prefer.) 

Why people wear their Apple Watch on their ankle

There are two types of people in this world: those who hear about ankle straps and go “why?” (or “doesn’t that look like an ankle monitor?” which, no, it doesn’t) and those who go “of course,” because they either do it themselves or immediately see the utility. These are some of the most common reasons: 

To count steps while your hands aren’t moving, for example if you walk on a treadmill while you work or get in most of your steps while pushing a stroller or cart.

To keep your watch out of the way during activities like boxing (where you might wear wraps or gloves) or kettlebell workouts (where the weight often rests against your wrist).

To comply with rules about not wearing watches at work—for example, surgeons or factory workers who need to keep their wrists unadorned.

Sure, you could solve some of these problems with a different device like a Whoop, but why pay the subscription fees when you could just get an ankle strap for the smartwatch you already have? For sports, I’d argue it’s best to use a chest strap to monitor your heart rate, but I’m not the smartwatch police. You do what you like. 

How well does the Apple Watch count steps when worn on your ankle? 

To answer this question, I did some tests. I walked on a treadmill for three minutes per test, at 3.0 miles per hour (a normal walking pace). I had an Apple Watch Series 10 on either my left wrist or left ankle, and for comparison a Garmin Forerunner 265S on my right, paired to a chest strap. 

I counted steps the old fashioned way (“one, two, three…”) and learned that I typically take 105-110 steps per minute at this pace. Here’s what I got from my devices: 

Walking normally, hands swinging at my sides: 320 steps on Apple Watch, 322 on Garmin

Walking with my hands resting on the treadmill handlebar in front of me: 318 steps on Apple Watch, 0(!) on Garmin

Apple Watch on the inside of my ankle: 326 steps on Apple Watch, 326 on Garmin (note: this position on my ankle was pretty uncomfortable.)

Apple Watch on the outside of my ankle: 315 steps on Apple Watch, 308 on Garmin

The Apple Watch got nearly the same step count for all of the tests, wrist and ankle, which surprised me. I was equally surprised that the Garmin counted none for the test where my hands were resting on the handlebar. 

While this is the result I got with a nice new Series 10 Apple Watch, it’s possible that older models and other brands of watch may not pick up steps as well while your hands aren’t moving, or that it may depend on exactly what you’re doing—typing versus just resting, for example. 

How accurate is the Apple Watch for heart rate when worn on your ankle? 

For heart rate, the story was a bit different. It seems to be hard for the sensor to get a good contact with skin when worn on a body part as lumpy and mobile as an ankle. I’ve noticed this anecdotally—it was an issue during those kettlebell workouts I did before I got a chest strap—so I thought I’d test it here as well. 

And I did, indeed, find that the ankle-mounted watch didn’t capture an accurate heart rate. My tests were too short to be very conclusive, but on my wrist, my heart rate from the watch varied in a normal-looking pattern, more or less keeping pace with the chest strap. On the ankle, I tended to get a flat reading, seemingly without any consistent relationship with the chest strap. I wouldn’t recommend relying on the heart rate data from an ankle-worn Apple Watch, although to be honest anyone who cares about accuracy should just get a chest strap already. A $25 Coospo will do the job just fine.