Apple Launching New Internal Fitness Challenge for Employees, Prize is a Unique Apple Watch Band

[MacRumors]

Starting in February, Apple will be hosting an internal company wide fitness challenge for all of its employees, with a prize that includes a unique fitness-themed Apple Watch band.

The band, as seen in a photo shared by 9to5Mac, appears to be similar to Apple's Woven Nylon bands. It comes in a solid black color but has an accent loop in a dark pink/red shade, lime green, and light blue, the three colors that represent the Activity rings on the Apple Watch.

The red colored ring tracks a person's overall movement and calorie burn throughout the day, and the amount of movement necessary to fill it up will vary based on each person's personal goal. The green ring represents exercise and can be completed with 30 minutes of exercise per day (based on an elevated heart rate), while the blue ring represents how many hours out of the day an Apple Watch user stands up and moves. One minute of standing movement per hour is required to fill the stand ring.

To earn the special Apple Watch band, employees will need to complete the challenge at the "gold" level, earning points by filling their Activity rings for a set number of days.

Apple last year hosted a "Close the Rings" Apple Watch fitness challenge for employees. Rewards for completing that challenge included pins in gold, silver, and bronze, awarded based on performance, along with a T-shirt that included the colorful Activity rings and the phrase "Close The Rings Challenge 1.0."

The prize for the 2017 employee-only "Close the Rings" challenge.​

While this will be the first activity challenge that rewards employees with a unique Apple Watch band, Apple has done employee-only Apple Watch bands in the past. In 2016, for example, Apple provided employees with exclusive rainbow-colored Apple Watch bands at the LGBT Pride festival in San Francisco.

Unique Pride band provided to employees in 2016​

Apple made a similar version available in 2017, so it's always possible these special Apple Watch bands could be released to the public at some point.

The February fitness challenge is internal only and will be limited to employees, but Apple has done many other public fitness challenges. One of the most recent challenges was the "Ring in the New Year" activity challenge that asked Apple Watch owners to close all activity rings for seven days in a row in January to earn a special badge in the Apple Watch app on iPhone.

Article Link: Apple Launching New Internal Fitness Challenge for Employees, Prize is a Unique Apple Watch Band

 

[farewelwilliams]

that's a band i'd probably only wear once or twice a year.

 

[Asarien]

So glad not to work in that place anymore. Such a slap to all their faces.

 

[555gallardo]

Would prefer a "I completed the Internal Fitness Challenge and all I got was this lousy T-shirt" shirt instead

 

[seatton]

I will close my 1,000 day Move ring at the end of this week. Come on Apple, I deserve something too

 

[tentales]

there's a bit of corporate peer pressure for you. (un)fit shaming ?

 

[DeepIn2U]

Would be lovely if Apple allowed registered iCloud account users to “bet” and cheer along Apple executive team members to win this challenge and give a nice prize to those that selected the winner. Even better selecting which executive needs to participate more than any others.

For the latter I choose Schiller and Cue! I doubt their health is as good as it ca. Be.

 

[scrapesleon]

Oh the good ole vanity rewards

 

[pat500000]

Internal fitness hahaha ...come on..put in the reps and set. Rep, rep, rep, rep!

 

[ctdonath]

Pity it's employee-only, not customers.

I "closed the rings" every single day of 2017. Got 52 virtual Perfect Week achievements, but nothing for the year.

 

[cansuds]

apple ******** my friend

 

[Binarymix]

And eBay listings of this band for $1000+ in 3...2...1....

GO!

 

[actcyclist]

I think it's good that a company is encouraging their employees this way; however any workplace is going to have a small number of triathlete types who'd win this every time.
It'd be better if it were a most improved award; but the Apple Watch doesn't really reward improvements like lowering your resting heart rate, or improving your VO2 Max score.
Edit, not that I think a little wanky badge is any encouragement compared to seeing the actual data.

 

[mtneer]

I think it's good that a company is encouraging their employees this way; however any workplace is going to have a small number of triathlete types who'd win this every time.
It'd be better if it were a most improved award; but the Apple Watch doesn't really reward improvements like lowering your resting heart rate, or improving your VO2 Max score.
Edit, not that I think a little wanky badge is any encouragement compared to seeing the actual data.

I agree with your statement totally. They should target it on "most improved" or some other metric like that to reward people who are trying the hardest from whatever baseline they are at.

 

[smorrissey]

Be sure Eddy Cue uses his all the time!! Even better 2 for them (one on each hand) FTW!! Time to lose weight! me too..

 

[Lucamegh]

Good old Apple didn’t care about this ****.

 

[Tech198]

A T-shirt,, a cool watch band.. what more could you ask for.

Reminds me of the 60's Hippies

 

[old-wiz]

While encouraging employees to exercise is a good idea - it shows favoritism to able bodied employees. What do you do if you are in a wheelchair? So the fitness guys will have fancy watchbands and can say to others "You should exercise".

Not to mention do any Apple employees have time for the fitness work? I always heard they were so pressed that they barely had time to go to the bathroom.

 

[mikecorp]

Apple News ! Apple feed ! Oh no this is macrumors! Apple emplys should move faster, and they get ga “ehm” happy watch! “Haya mr T looking good”, and then cartman said what? Something like xxx xxx 5 dollar

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Well that's nice.

 

[ericinboston]

Article title should read:

"Multi multi multi billion dollar company offers $2.86 prize for being the healthiest employee"

 

[neutralguy]

Nobody better wins it. Because whoever wins it, will be out on performance improvement plan. "Sir/ma'am, you have been focusing on fitness, not work "

 

[FreeState]

Article title should read:

"Multi multi multi billion dollar company offers $2.86 prize for being the healthiest employee"

It's likely the cost savings they have from implementing an employee wellness program* offsets all if not most of that cost.

*Both from less cost on insurance and a break from the insurance provider (you get a break on cost if you can show you encourage members to exercise etc.)

 

[Asarien]

A T-shirt,, a cool watch band.. what more could you ask for.

Decent pay and respect.

Most retail employees work harder than anyone in corporate, yet are given garbage schedules and "competitive pay" based on local cost of living, despite raking in billions in profit quarterly. It's why everyone now complains that Apple Retail employees don't know as much as they used to; Apple doesn't care if they come or go, they're cheap and disposable.

 

[coolfactor]

While encouraging employees to exercise is a good idea - it shows favoritism to able bodied employees. What do you do if you are in a wheelchair? So the fitness guys will have fancy watchbands and can say to others "You should exercise".

Not to mention do any Apple employees have time for the fitness work? I always heard they were so pressed that they barely had time to go to the bathroom.

Wheelchair users are included:
https://www.fastcodesign.com/3061283/how-apple-made-the-watch-work-for-wheelchair-users