The Activity Rings on your Apple Watch, a pointless feature or a motivational assistant on your wrist. I’m going to share with you, why I think closing your activity rings every day can help you lead a more balanced, healthy and productive life if you’re someone looking for that motivational kick.
You can do it too, yes, you heard me right. Every single day, no matter what. Sounds easy, right? Well, not so much. Let me tell you why.
If you don’t know what the activity rings are, they are basically three circles that track your movement, exercise and stand goals on your Apple Watch. The idea is to close all three rings every day by meeting the targets that you set for yourself, either the default amount or a user defined amount set to your needs and preferences. For example, my movement goal is to burn 700 calories, my exercise goal is to do at least 30 minutes of brisk activity, and my stand goal is to stand and move for at least one minute in 12 different hours.
The activity rings are an important component of the Apple Watch experience and relate to your health and fitness. They help you track your progress and motivate you to be more active throughout the day. They also provide personalised suggestions and encouragement to close your rings. According to Apple, being active can lead to lower blood pressure, increased energy, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and improved mood and happiness. Some studies have also shown that the Apple Watch can help users lose weight, lower blood sugar levels, and manage chronic conditions.
Some of you may have had your Apple Watch for a while, but never really paid much attention to the activity rings or you chose a Watch face that doesn’t show them at all or maybe even you’ve disabled it in the settings. I mean, I’m in the process of becoming a pretty active person. I’m running regularly, I take the dog out for a walk, I take the stairs instead of the lift at home and at work, mainly because both of those places don’t have a lift.
But I never really thought about the challenge that is to close all three rings every day. For some it’s easy, for others too boring but there are wearers that find it either challenging or motivating to close those activity rings. Over the last 7 weeks, I set myself a challenge, to try and close those rings every day. But, why did I decide to do this challenge? Well, for two reasons. One, I wanted to see if it would make any difference in my health and fitness. And two, I wanted to see if it would make any difference in my mood and motivation.
There will be times when you’re feeling a bit low. Especially with what happened in the World a few years ago. It has almost become easy to slip into a negative state of mind. So doing this will not only be very rewarding, but also give me a sense of accomplishment, while simultaneously helping me to stay motivated and hopefully healthier and it’s also a lot of fun to see how far you can push yourself.
Back in April, I’d decided that on the first day of May, I was going to start this challenge, not with any end date in mind, just to keep going. But on that day, motivation hit me and I suddenly decided that I was going to start on that day, Friday 28th of April. So, I set up my Apple Watch and started the challenge. Let me tell you, it’s not easy at all. If you’ve not done this before, then it can be tougher than you expect, some days are easier than others though. Here are some of the trials and tribulations that I’ve faced along the way so far.
First of all, closing the stand ring is surprisingly difficult. You might think that standing and moving for one minute in 12 different hours is not a big deal, especially if you’re not cheating the ‘system’. But trust me, it is. Especially when you have a busy schedule or when you’re at work all day in a desk job or when you’re just feeling lazy.
There are so many times when I’ve forgotten to stand up or when I’ve ignored the reminder from my watch at ten minutes to the hour or when I just didn’t feel like moving at all. Then I would realise that it was I’d almost run out of hours left in the day to close the ring, so I would then have to force myself to get up and do something around the house or dance like a maniac.
Secondly, closing the exercise ring is also challenging. You might think that doing 30 minutes of brisk activity is not a big deal either. But trust me, it is. Especially when you have other things to do or when you’re not in the mood or when you’re sore from the previous day.
There were so many times when I procrastinated or when I made excuses or when I just wanted to quit. And then I would realise, who I’m actually doing this for, luckily for me, I’ve taken up running first thing in the morning, which means I’ve completed the exercise ring and that allocated 30 minutes usually before 7am. But for those of you interested in doing something like this, sometimes, it’s just hard to find the motivation to work out, especially when you’re tired or stressed.
One of the biggest challenges of completing the activity rings is finding the time to work out. You’ve probably got a full-time job, kids, other commitments, so it’s understandable that it can be hard to fit in a workout. But I’ve found that even if I can only work out for 30 minutes a day, it makes a big difference. I’ve found that setting small goals can help. For example, I might set a goal to walk for 30 minutes a day, or to do 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups every day. Anything active counts.
Thirdly, closing the movement ring is also tricky. You might think that burning 700 active calories is not a big deal either. But trust me, it is. Especially when you have a slow metabolism or when you eat too much or when you don’t move enough. There are so many times when I underestimated or overestimated how many calories I burned or when I indulged in some junk food or when I skipped a workout. Then I would realise that it was almost midnight again and I still had 100 or 200 calories left to close the ring. So I would have to force myself to do some high-intensity interval training or some cardio or some cycling. It was sweaty and stressful, particularly at those moments where I am doing it late into the night.
So, as you can see, this challenge is not a walk in the park. But have I given up? No. Did I cheat? No. Did I succeed? So far, Yes.
So far, it’s felt amazing! It’s felt rewarding! It’s felt empowering! Not only have I improved my physical health and fitness, but also my mental health and happiness. By taking part in this challenge, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of. I’ve learned that I can be more:
- Disciplined and consistent with my habits.
- Flexible and creative with my workouts.
- Mindful and grateful for my body and my abilities.
- Confident and proud of my achievements.
Guess what? You can do it too! If you have an Apple Watch or any other fitness tracker, I challenge you to close your activity rings every day, start off for a week, make it two weeks, make it a month and then just keep going.
If you don’t have one, I challenge you to set your own goals and track them manually. Trust me, it will be worth it. You will see the difference in yourself and in your life. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start your challenge today.
Let’s inspire each other and motivate each other to be the best versions of ourselves. It’s not always easy, but it’s definitely worth it. If you’re looking for a way to stay motivated and healthy, I highly recommend giving this challenge a try.
If you want to see the video version of this article, check out the YouTube link below: https://youtu.be/M2d4zSgqftM