The Activity Rings on the Apple Watch is in our opinion the most useful feature of the Apple Watch. There are so many reasons why, and I’m here to cover them all.
What are the different rings?
1: Move Goal
The red circle is the Move Ring. It tracks your burnt calories throughout the day, like when you’re taking the stairs or walking your dog. To close your move ring you need to hit your personal calorie burn goal which you can change, however each week your Apple Watch automatically recommends a new Move goal specifically tailored to your previous activity, so it’s easy to stay motivated which is an important part in living a healthy life.
2: Exercise Goal
The green circle is the Exercise Ring. It tracks your brisk activity like taking a run, doing a workout, or simply moving at a fast pace and once you’ve done 30 minutes of said activities, you’ve completed your exercise ring. It may not seem like much, but 30 minutes of brisk activity every day helps minimize the chances of a stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and weight gain. Additionally this helps improve your overall quality of sleep, help your mood and reduce your stress levels.
3: Stand Goal
The third goal of the activity rings is the Stand Goal. To complete this ring, you need to stand up and move around for at least 1 minute during 12 different hours of your day. Even standing up for just one minute every hour can go a long way towards being healthier. By sitting less for long periods, you can have lower blood pressure, an increase in energy, and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
How your Apple Watch keeps you motivated
To make sure you don’t skimp on your goals, Apple Watch will send you personalized alerts throughout the day to remind you to complete your rings. If you’ve been sitting for a while, Apple Watch gives you a gentle nudge to get up. Make sure Stand Reminders are turned on in the Apple Watch app on your iPhone. If you want to keep a constant check of your activity levels, you can see your activity rings in watch faces.
When you’re wearing an Apple Watch, it feels like you have a little personal trainer on your wrist that’s always helping you improve. It keeps track of how you’re progressing toward your daily goals, and gives you a nudge to close your rings at the end of each day.
Extra features
Not only do you get the activity rings on your Apple Watch but you also get numerous other practical features including but not limited to:
Awards
When you hit personal bests in workouts or reach significant milestones, your Apple Watch will present you with cool little awards that are collected in the trophy case in the Activity App. Special Awards can be earned if you participate in events at special times of the year, like Heart Month or Earth Day.
Competitions
You can compete in competitions with you friends or family members to see who earns the most points based off of your activity rings that you close. Your Apple Watch will tell you if you have some catching up to do to be in the lead.
Wheelchair users
Apple specifically optimized the activity rings for wheelchair users with great attention to detail. For example the Stand ring becomes the Roll ring. and during the day, your Apple Watch counts pushes and identifies different stroke types to make sure you get awarded the right amount of Move and Exercise.
In conclusion, the activity rings are great: not just for getting you off the couch, but for really leading you to a healthier lifestyle. The activity rings help many people achieve their physical goals and become more self-aware of their fitness. This is truly the greatest feature of the Apple Watch.
How do the Activity Rings help you get healthier everyday?