Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I didn't anticipate the Motivation Benefit
- Thread starter ufgatorvet
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
dmr727
macrumors G4
I find that it motivates me to do the little things - take stairs instead of the elevator/escalator, or walk to get takeout instead of having something delivered, etc. I'm not obsessive about closing my rings - I have other watches that I wear too - but I find the extra motivation to move is the best part about wearing my Apple watch.
Galley
macrumors 65816
Nice try, but my current streak is 2,358 days. 😉
WaitingForGuacamole
macrumors regular
I do like the goals and the challenges.
While the goals are customizable, the challenges are not, and they quickly ramp up to a frustrating level. Case in point - my August challenge was 27 workouts. Not difficult. September I missed. October was 3,910 exercise minutes. November was 28,000 active calories. I got it by walking 7-9 miles a day, 29 days out of 30. December is 4,380 exercise minutes - that’s 73 exercise hours.
The only way to get them to recalibrate down is to miss challenges. I think a useful thing would be to have more variation - add some mindfulness or breathing challenges. Challenge the wearer to run 50% fewer miles or at a slower pace a couple of days a week. Here’s an actually difficult challenge - no workouts twice a week!
While the goals are customizable, the challenges are not, and they quickly ramp up to a frustrating level. Case in point - my August challenge was 27 workouts. Not difficult. September I missed. October was 3,910 exercise minutes. November was 28,000 active calories. I got it by walking 7-9 miles a day, 29 days out of 30. December is 4,380 exercise minutes - that’s 73 exercise hours.
The only way to get them to recalibrate down is to miss challenges. I think a useful thing would be to have more variation - add some mindfulness or breathing challenges. Challenge the wearer to run 50% fewer miles or at a slower pace a couple of days a week. Here’s an actually difficult challenge - no workouts twice a week!
Well it is a motivational technique, not a controlling technique.
I definitely have an obsession with completing the rings (800 calories, 60 minutes exercise, 12 hours stand) daily. Luckily, it's not an unhealthy obsession because I get all the benefits of exercise!!
HiVolt
macrumors 68020
Yeah I was paying attention to that stuff for the first few months.... then got back to my lazy self lol...
On Saturday I unexpectedly but consciously broke my 611 day streak started last April. All 3 rings, every day, for 611 days. A lot of 200 and 300% of my move goals. Even on “rest days” I still got at least a 30 min outdoor walk in. The watch was a big motivator for all that—helped guide my lifestyle change for the better.
MTD's Mac
macrumors 6502
I'm at a 1,796 day move streak. Third Apple Watch.
The example I always site is, when I come home I can take the elevator or the stairs. Since my watch will give me credit for calories, exercise minutes, and flights climbed, I often choose the stairs to work toward awards, and as a result make the healthier choice more often. I also love the holiday awards and plan family hikes, etc. to earn them, which is much better for us than the default of sitting home watching TV on a day off.
Tim Cook said Apple's greatest contribution to humanity will be in the area of health, and I'm tempted to say that's plausible given what the Watch can do in so many small ways.
The example I always site is, when I come home I can take the elevator or the stairs. Since my watch will give me credit for calories, exercise minutes, and flights climbed, I often choose the stairs to work toward awards, and as a result make the healthier choice more often. I also love the holiday awards and plan family hikes, etc. to earn them, which is much better for us than the default of sitting home watching TV on a day off.
Tim Cook said Apple's greatest contribution to humanity will be in the area of health, and I'm tempted to say that's plausible given what the Watch can do in so many small ways.
I don't think the rings are addictive if you're a gamer. But if you're not a gamer, they kinda expose you to the addictive completionist mentality for the first time.
himanshumodi
macrumors 6502a
Same here. Though it's cycled through high and low levels of motivation, but closing the rings is definitely a catalyst - particularly the workout ring.
Wow...this thread is depressing! Yet another reminder that we as a species seem to be on a path to an unchallenged, full reliance on technology to accomplish even the most basic of tasks that we as a species seem to have carried out perfectly well for millennia before all of this technology came along!
mavis
macrumors 601
Yet another ring-closing, monthly-challenge geek freak.
The idea or excuse for buying my first S3 Watch was to help me exercise a bit more, though I rather doubted it would work. How wrong could I be!
End of this month will complete a 3 year stretch of closing all rings everyday, and only will not be a nearly 4 and a half year stretch, because I had to stop for a month after an operation.
The Watch is so addictive. I somehow resisted updating to the S7 this year, as the S4 is going fine.
Plus it actually has other uses too 🙂
The idea or excuse for buying my first S3 Watch was to help me exercise a bit more, though I rather doubted it would work. How wrong could I be!
End of this month will complete a 3 year stretch of closing all rings everyday, and only will not be a nearly 4 and a half year stretch, because I had to stop for a month after an operation.
The Watch is so addictive. I somehow resisted updating to the S7 this year, as the S4 is going fine.
Plus it actually has other uses too 🙂
ssledoux
macrumors 601
Well, another way of looking at it is people became so addicted to tech they failed to do the simple things needed daily to stay active. Now they're being reminded. ;-p
Whatever works for you, mate. For me it didn't work like that at all. I only got the watch to be able to keep track of my heart rate while running because I realized I might've been doing it all wrong by pushing myself to go as hard as I can, making each run a torture. For me a real motivator is increased cholesterol levels in my recent bloodwork 😅
This is how technology works! Clearly if everyone was “perfectly capable” of staying active without a fitness tracker, people wouldn’t have this sort of success story.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Technology are tools to aid us in daily life. That is what the invention of the wheel did way back when. So did the invention of cutlery. So did the invention of the light bulb. And countless others.
By your logic, would you be depressed if you learned there's a wheel that can help carry things from one location to the next, instead of just carrying, pulling or pushing whatever it is manually? Because before the wheel, that's how things were done before and was carried out perfectly, no?
Would you be depressed about the light bulb? We had use candles to light up for our homes for hundreds of years before it's invention. We became reliant on light bulbs as well.
Technology are tools that allow us to advance medicine, science, engineering, and do things that people from the past can only dream of.
So...what you're saying is...using technology to solve a problem that technology created? Oh yeah...that's 100% gonna end well!! 🤣
Yes...now that you mention it...I see your point...coloured rings and a "reminder" are definitely up there on the same level as the wheel and electricity...FML
Night Spring
macrumors P6
I think the reason Apple Watch is helpful in getting people more active is it gives simple and visible feedback. I always knew that getting a certain amount of exercise per day is good for my health. I just could never motivate myself to keep up a steady exercise routine. Filling up the circles turned out to be just the right type of reminder/reward system I needed. Of course, if you already had a good exercise routine going, then the watch doesn't do anything for you, and probably seems way too simplistic.
MisterSavage
macrumors 603
Thank you for saving me some typing. Oh no, technology is helping some people achieve fitness goals they weren't before.