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How to change and achieve the activity goals on your Apple Watch
The Apple Watch puts your fitness goals front and center with its activity rings feature. Completing those rings by standing, hitting your calorie burn goal, or enjoying a period of activity every day is part of the fun of owning the wearable. But what if you find the default Apple Watch goals are just too lofty for you? This explainer will detail how you can adjust your Apple Watch move goals to your liking.
QUICK ANSWER
To adjust your Apple Watch move goals, open the Activity app on your Apple Watch. Tap Change Goals and adjust each goal to your liking.
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What are the Apple Watch activity rings?
The Apple Watch features three activity rings, and each ring corresponds with a different goal.
- Move goal (red ring): The number of active calories burned daily. This is a personal goal set by the user. The Apple Watch also recommends a new goal each week.
- Exercise goal (green ring): The amount of exercise or activity completed. By default, a full ring is represented by at least 30 minutes of activity.
- Stand goal (blue ring): This ring tracks the amount of time a user stands during the day. Specifically, you’ll need to stand for at least one minute within 12 different hours daily to complete this ring. Notably, for wheelchair users, this ring becomes the Roll ring.
Changing activity goals on the Apple Watch
It’s pretty easy to tweak activity goals on the Apple Watch. If you find that a recommended goal is too ambitious or feel particularly motivated, you can adjust these goals accordingly.
To change the Move, Exercise, and Stand goals on the Apple Watch
- Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
- Swipe up to the Change Goals option and tap on it.
- The Apple Watch will cycle through the three goals, starting with the Move (calories) goal.
- Tap on the + icon to increase your goals or the – icon to decrease them. When you’re satisfied, tap Next.
- Do the same for Exercise (minutes) and Stand (hours) goals.
- When complete, tap OK to save your goals.
Also read: The best home fitness streaming services
Tips for closing your Apple Watch rings
You might wake up one morning to feel less motivated than the last. That’s okay. It’s completely normal. However, in this instance, you might feel guilty for not closing your Apple Watch rings or meeting your activity goals that day. We have a few tips that’ll help you reach your goals.
Get chores done
Believe it or not, the Apple Watch doesn’t care if you go to the gym or stay at home cleaning your house. If you complete 30 minutes of physical activity, you can easily close your Exercise ring.
Head to your Workout app, select Other as the workout type, set the goal as 30 minutes, and tap Start. Grab that list of household chores, and get moving. After 3o minutes have elapsed, your Exercise ring should be closed. If you don’t have any chores, try gardening or DIY. Notably, this is also an easy way to close your Move goal.
See also: Best home fitness tips, gear, and apps
Share your activity goals with friends
The Apple Watch also lets users share activity goals with friends. This is an easy way to remain accountable and motivated.
To invite a friend, open the Activity app, swipe left, and scroll to the bottom of the screen. Tap Invite a Friend and select a friend. Once your friend accepts your invitation, you’ll be able to see their activity progress.
Take a stand
Are you wondering how to close that Stand ring? Well, it’s as easy as getting up and walking around for a few minutes each hour. The Apple Watch will also remind you if you haven’t moved in a while, so this is arguably the easiest ring to close. If standing up regularly is distracting, perhaps invest in a standing desk to be more productive and
Split your activity
If you find it tough to crack that 30-minute activity goal every day, try breaking that activity up into miniature segments. What works for me and could work for you is enjoying 15 minutes of quick exercise in the morning, and another 15 minutes after work. These exercises could be as simple as jumping jacks, skipping rope, or a short blast on the stationary bike. In the afternoon, you could also try a more intense workout. Not happy with two 15-minute bites? Why not try three 10-minute bursts instead?
Start with manageable goals
Finally, if the Apple Watch’s default goals are too lofty for you, be sure to adjust them to something more manageable. As you grow in your fitness journey and find that the rings are easier to close, adjust your goals accordingly, bit by bit. It’s the small changes and efforts that add up over the course of a month and year.
FAQs
No. Unfortunately, you can adjust your Move, Exercise, and Stand goals, but you can’t switch them out for distance, sleep, or water intake.
No. The Move goal only factors the calories burned during activity; it does not include the base caloric burn.
The Apple Watch wants you to push your heart rate well above its resting rate, so you can’t simply select Other as your workout type and sit on the couch. You’ll need to raise your heart rate during a workout for it to count towards your Exercise minutes. You can also manually add a workout to your Apple Watch.