Apple goes big on fitness as it drops another iWatch hint

2014 is the year that Apple gets fit, and it just published evidence of its intentions.

Apple put up a job advert for a "User Studies Exercise Physiologist" which could very well be tied to a little thing currently known as the iWatch.

There are a number of requirements for the role, including "Good understanding of physiological monitoring equipment, measurement techniques and interpretation of results."

However, the most interesting part comes at the end where Apple says the candidate will also need to apply knowledge to the "design of products and their testing/validation through user studies."

The job posting appears to have vanished but 9to5Mac managed to get a screenshot before it did.

On track

Apple's rumoured plans have been hitting the headlines a lot as of late. It has reportedly hired a sleep expert from Philips Research, and we've heard that the company has a health app called Healthbook in the pipeline for iOS 8.

Apple's ideal candidate for the new job will be carrying out research for "cardiovascular fitness & energy expenditure, including calories burned, metabolic rate, aerobic fitness level measurement/tracking".

The iWatch is still in a state of speculation - there's a chance that this new job could relate to nothing more than the iPhone and its fitness-friendly M7 chip.

But evidence of Apple's wearable plans is mounting up, and with both iOS 8 and the iWatch expected to arrive at some point in 2014, it looks like this is the year that Apple hopes to get us off the sofa and into the gym.

• Does the iWatch even exist, and what do we know about it so far?