Apple Watch Leading to Healthy Lifestyle Changes Among Early Adopters

[MacRumors]

Less than four months after the Apple Watch launched, many early adopters are finding that the wrist-worn device has motivated them to make healthy lifestyle changes. From walking and exercising more often to making healthier choices and playing more sports, market research firm Wristly found that many Apple Watch buyers are taking full advantage of the wearable's health and fitness features.

Greater than 75% of survey participants among Wristly's panel of nearly 1000 Apple Watch buyers indicated that they "Strongly Agree" or "Agree" that they have been standing more since receiving the Apple Watch. Similarly, 67% of participants agreed that they walk more, 59% agreed they make better health choices and 57% said they exercise more often with the Apple Watch.

Early adopters are generally satisfied with the Apple Watch's health and fitness features, especially those included stock on the device. An aggregate 89% of survey participants were either "Very Satisfied" or "Satisfied" with the built-in Activity app, while around 80% were satisfied with the heart rate sensor and hourly standup reminders and just over 75% were satisfied with the Workout app.

Jim Dalrymple of The Loop echoed similar sentiments in his Apple Watch review in June, in which he shared his personal story about losing 40 pounds using HealthKit and Apple Watch. After ten months of exercising, weight lifting and healthier eating decisions, Dalrymple lost four pant sizes and two shirt sizes, and the Apple Watch kept him motivated to reach his goals:

Apple Watch furthered my transformation. I can see on my wrist every minute of the day where I'm at for standing, movement, activity, calories and much more.

One minute please, Apple Watch says I need to stand up.

If Apple Watch says stand, I stand. I still don't know why. Maybe I just want to complete those rings every day and feel good about that. Maybe standing every hour really is good for me. I don't know, but I'll indulge this little device on my wrist and stand.

Making healthy lifestyle changes requires consistency, and Wristly found that many early adopters are still wearing the Apple Watch regularly. 86% of survey participants said they are still wearing the Apple Watch on a daily basis, while 12.3% wear it on most days, 1.3% go several days without wearing one and three respondents reported that they no longer wear the Apple Watch.

While the Apple Watch is certainly not the only wearable device motivating people to get in shape, the Move, Exercise and Stand rings, workout summaries, achievement badges, progress updates, personalized feedback and its other health and fitness features appear to have challenged early adopters in ways they did not expect.

Wristly is the largest independent Apple Watch research platform with an opt-in panel of around 1000 Apple Watch buyers. The research firm recently found the Apple Watch to have a 97% customer satisfaction rate, a number that Apple CEO Tim Cook cited during the company's recent third quarter earnings results conference call.

Article Link: Apple Watch Leading to Healthy Lifestyle Changes Among Early Adopters

 

[viperGTS]

In before "people are slaves to their watch" or "wow they only exercise because the watch told them to" posts.

 

[coltman75]

The Apple watch is probably the best fitness tracker, because it gives you live feedback and tries to get you to adjust your habits. Way better than the trackers that just measure data.

 

[bbeagle]

So, in essence, Apple Watch users are healthier, fitter and sexier than those who don't have Apple Watches?

 

[DakotaGuy]

I'm sure the same could be said for that new treadmill or exercise bike that someone received for Christmas one year which now sits in the basement collecting dust and cobwebs.

 

[iBlazed]

Guess I'm in the minority then. The watch definitely hasn't encouraged me to be more active. I still love it for other reasons though.

However, when I am ready to be more active, I'm sure the watch will be helpful.

 

[nagromme]

This seems like a case where "gamification" has actually worked--on a VERY broad audience, not gamers--and to a VERY beneficial result!

It's the biggest reason I wish I wasn't waiting for Apple Watch 2. Waiting will hurt my health!

Yes, you CAN be healthy and exercise without tracking and reminders, and you CAN get an exercise device that does nothing else. But most people won't... I won't. If I got a fitness tracker, it would end up forgotten. (Not to mention it would be less sophisticated, less visual, and with less of an ecosystem of fitness apps.) The Apple Watch has other uses, and the fitness reminders would come with them. I'd actually USE it.

And unlike that forgotten treadmill in your basement, this isn't about the exercise, it's about the motivation! That treadmill is an example of the problem... Apple Watch is one solution. You can't equate the two.

 

[AngerDanger]

Just think of the cheesy slogans Apple could come up with using this information…

 

[fanboi4lyfe]

I find a lot of this to be true. Even though I knew it was a feature and was coming out with the Watch, it is a step above the Fitbit in terms of the live feedback and it makes you more aware of certain lifestyle habits (sitting for hours a day) that can really kill your health.

However, the activity app is quite a few years behind some of the other data measuring fitness trackers. The fact you cannot input a workout you did without the watch on (swimming or if you forgot the watch) is a big minus. But hopefully that gets fixed over time in software updates. I'm hoping for WatchOS 2 but I haven't seen anything about that yet.

 

[Kaibelf]

I've definitely had this experience. When the watch is tracking your movements all day and showing you in measurable terms just HOW sedentary you are being, it's a real boot in the behind. It got me to start exercising more than I have in many years, and since I got mine I'm already down almost 12 pounds, and as a result have gotten FAR more cognizant of my food choices as well. It's easy to fall "off the wagon" with a fitness program when the journal is in the gym bag or drawer (or that handy app is closed). This one, though, shows me EVERY day where I am, so I have no excuses.

(Posted as I enjoy my lunch of a small sandwich and a soup, instead of the fast food I had been eating in prior months)

 

[coltman75]

I'm sure the same could be said for that new treadmill or exercise bike that someone received for Christmas one year which now sits in the basement collecting dust and cobwebs.

In the earnings call, Tim Cook said that 94% of Apple Watches were worn every single day.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

Pretty sure I've gained weight since I got mine.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

So, in essence, Apple Watch users are healthier, fitter and sexier than those who don't have Apple Watches?

Why yes, I am.

 

[DakotaGuy]

In the earnings call, Tim Cook said that 94% of Apple Watches were worn every single day.

It was a joke about how everyone is really dedicated to fitness when they first start something and then as time goes on they start to forget about it. It had nothing to do with how much it is worn, but more about how it is used as time goes on. That's all.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I'm sure the same could be said for that new treadmill or exercise bike that someone received for Christmas one year which now sits in the basement collecting dust and cobwebs.

The exercise bike only measures your progress (if that). It never tells you to push yourself or do more.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I'm sure the same could be said for that new treadmill or exercise bike that someone received for Christmas one year which now sits in the basement collecting dust and cobwebs.

But the nice thing about the Apple Watch is that you can go to the convenience store and buy potato chips and a coke with it.

 

[kmj2318]

The watch has definitely made me more active. I just plain hate exercising, that's my problem. I would start and stop many times over the years. I would justify skipping a day here and there. Or most often, conveniently forget. Now I exercise every single day. Nothing else has made me do that. Sure I should be able to do it myself but now I am. Having the complication looking back at me every time I look at my watch was enough to change my behavior.

 

[thekeyring]

This is fantastic!

 

[chfilm]

I couldnt agree more, to be honest. It has had a profound impact on my lifestyle, just as I hoped it would have.
The ability to properly track calories, put it in a relationship with exercise and food eaten, plus the gamification with the rings were a breakthrough for me.

Just look at how I started to work out when I got it, and how my weight has been reduced!

 

[billy the fish]

And unlike that forgotten treadmill in your basement, this isn't about the exercise, it's about the motivation! That treadmill is an example of the problem... Apple Watch is one solution. You can't equate the two.

The solution.. Come on.. So all the lard arses need to do is drop 400 bucks, and hey presto.. The weight will come flying off.. Id wager that a treadmill is a better fitness solution than so something you strap on your wrist everyday of the week..

 

[chfilm]

The solution.. Come on.. So all the lard arses need to do is drop 400 bucks, and hey presto.. The weight will come flying off.. Id wager that a treadmill is a better fitness solution than so something you strap on your wrist everyday of the week..

I have to disagree. The thing REALLY motivated me A LOT, and so it does every day. I had a gym membership before, but almost never went. Now i HAVE to go, to close my rings

 

[jimtonic01]

¹ this study has been created by wristly in cooperation with apple.

 

[OT2000]

I can vouch. While I haven't dropped a ton of weight, I'm always trying to close all 3 rings by the end of the day.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

I don't think the Apple Watch will make the slightest difference to the health or fitness of people.

These things will be thrown in the drawer after the honeymoon wears off. It's like joining a gym. At first, you plunge in and try to be good. As time goes on and life sets in, you go less and less, until you realise that your membership isn't worth it, so you cancel it.

I've never seen Jonathan Ive as fat as he is these days. That's ironic as he is the designer of the Apple Watch, a supposed health device. He's not exactly a walking advertisement for it.

 

[Clix Pix]

I had to laugh -- just as I started reading this thread, my watch sent me a progress report! I do tend to sit a lot at the computer and so now when the watch taps me and reminds me to stand up, I do -- I take a little walk and then after a moment or so I get back to whatever it is I was doing. I've worn my watch every day since I bought it -- just love it! One afternoon I was visiting with an elderly friend and telling her about the various features of the watch, and we'd been sitting for a while chatting; my watch tapped me, I laughed and said to her, "time to stand up!" and so we both did! LOL!