Apple Launching New Internal Activity Challenge for Employees

[Sammy333]

Good idea, even from a company standpoint of healthier employees, less downtime, less healthcare... BUT it would be nice to have the option to change the god awful colors on those rings.

 

[ctdonath]

Closing all rings every day for a year was ... interesting.
Took daily awareness/planning to squeeze in at least a sufficient walk (primary way to complete the day).
Literally was running around parking lots during long trips.
More than once closed rings seconds before midnight.
Had to wander a Walmart during a tropical storm to get in steps.
Did get thru several audiobooks and podcast series (learned lots about history of Haiti, and French Revolution).
After a few months the primary motivator was "done good so far, don't f it up now". A few days into the next year, deliberately skipped a day to break the year-long self-imposed pressure.
Felt great. Took a year to get firmly out of shape again.

 

[44267547]

I don’t even know what it takes to close a ring.

Well for one, you don’t own an Apple Watch, so that makes sense you wouldn’t understand it.😁

And when my watch notifies me that I’ve been sitting too long I just extend my arm straight up over my head and continue working.

For as much as you participate in the fitness thread in the community forum, you think you would have a little bit more mobility or...lack there of, but I guess that means you’re probably close to retirement, am I right Gutty?😁

Later it tells me to ‘breath’.

So...the Apple Watch tells you to ‘breath’? I think you mean breathe. But I’ll let this one slide. FYI, it tells you to breathe between one and five minutes, which is adjustable.

Apparently my days are numbered.

Try some cardio. It would make you feel better, plus..well... it’s good for you.

 

[Gutwrench]

I think you mean breathe. But I’ll let this one slide.

Meh. Good typo catch, sport.

I‘m genuinely content and [marginally] humble so don’t need to try impress people by posting about myself. But I’ll give a couple short answers.

For as much as you participate in the fitness thread in the community forum, you think you would have a little bit more mobility..l

Injuries from the service and my first career along with having competed internationally from age 16 to 34 has taken its toll. So I poke fun at myself.

...but I guess that means you’re probably close to retirement, am I right Gutty?😁

I retired in 1996 at age 37 for about a year and a half and didn’t like it. I now own and operate several businesses. I’m as busy as I choose to be wherever I choose to be. I don’t see that changing.

Well for one, you don’t own an Apple Watch, so that makes sense you wouldn’t understand it.😁

 

[LizKat]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was something Apple did for those who have achieved a large goal like 1000 days completed or 1000 consecutive days in a row. I wouldn't mind being able to buy a pin or t-shirt with the achievement on it.

I can still get roped in by a 20oz coffee mug (out of which I consume soup, usually).

Only slightly off topic lol if we're talking premium-purchasing options for achievements: I was thinking Apple should offer something better than just a chance to ship notifications to friends when you meet your personally defined Reading Goals in the Apple Books app... like maybe a chance to buy a discounted 20oz Apple-logo'd mug that says R e a d along its side or something.

And otherwise sell that mug in the Store anyway: whatever happened to Apple mugs? , I still have one from the 1990s that says Apple + Unix = A/UX.

 

[Yumbo]

I wonder if there is a required calorie goal for this? To avoid cheating if you wanna call it that. I've had a friend who set their calorie goal to 10 so they would always close their move ring.

Won’t count if below the required goal.

 

[mikedis]

If anyone is coming to this thread looking for more insight into the Close Your Rings challenge, I've posted a detailed history of the challenge here, including pictures.

A Detailed Look at Apple's Wellness Challenges

I've tried to compile the most details on this challenge as I could. Hopefully it's helpful to someone else.

Thanks for looking!

 

[dork]

Disabled as in how exactly? FYI, Apple has a wheelchair accessibility feature for the watch if that was applicable to an employee.

One of the rings closes when you stand for a sufficient number of hours every day. Many people are unable to stand, so they won't be closing that one. And as for the other two rings, not all disabilities are physical, not all physically disabled people use wheelchairs, and not all wheelchair users are able to play basketball or race them on a track. Why don't YOU answer your question? Can you imagine the existence of people whose disabilities allow them to work in the computer industry, and whose disabilities would prevent them from participating in this challenge? If not, you need to exercise your imagination more.

Do you seriously believe that 'disabled' people can't work out?

Some can, some cannot. Do you seriously believe otherwise?

I know they have wheel chair as an option when you set up the activity app or maybe it is the watch app.

How is that class of disabled employees going to go about closing their "stand" ring? And in all events, wheel chair users are a tiny subset of the universe of workers with disabilities.

There's no "allowed" to participate - any employee with an Apple Watch can participate.

This challenge is based on the standard Activity app that comes with Apple Watch. If you're not familiar with that app, then you may not appreciate just how adaptable "Activity" is for people of different abilities/physical condition.

The Move and Exercise goals are both based on the user's current physical condition, not a specific amount of calories burned. Only Stand (stand/move around for one minute per hour) is the same for all participants. A person can "stand" in a wheelchair or even reclining in bed - the key to Stand is hourly physical activity, not rising to ones feet.

A person in poor physical condition or having a physical disability is just as capable of closing their rings (and achieving Gold) as an athlete in training for the Olympics. They're rewarded for exceeding their normal levels of activity, whatever their "normal" happens to be.

I appreciate your urge to celebrate the capabilities of disabled people, who cover a vast swath of humanity with an infinite variety of physical and cognitive limitations. I also appreciate that there are features in the watch and in the fitness app to recognize certain kinds of disabilities, and that Apple makes an effort in that regard. But this wellness campaign, like most corporate wellness campaign, offers rewards that many employees will simply be unable to access. All that said, I represent disabled people for a living, and I've been using Apple computers since 1982, and every version of the watch since v.2, and I use the fitness app every single day, so you don't need to patronize me about either set of issues.