New Year 2020 Resolution: Here's how Apple Watch can help you reach fitness goals

On the eve of New Year 2020, many people would have pledged to get fit by embracing healthy lifestyles such as eating balanced food, go for jogging to prepare for a marathon, join the gym to lose weight or gain ripped muscles like the super-hero movie actors. But, we are pretty sure, most of them will be on the verge of quitting their gym membership before the end of January.

Truth be told, it's easy to be said than done. If you don't have proper discipline, it's impossible to sustain such routine for longer. One of the best strategies is to enjoy it and also do different exercises every day so that there is freshness. Or else, the process becomes too mundane and makes you lose interest.

It will be beneficial to have a buddy who can challenge you and motivate each other. But, again, with changing dynamics (day/night shifts) of the working conditions in the urban landscape, it's hard to maintain this as well. But, there is a solution to that-- a smartwatch.

Over the past several years, I have reviewed many fitness bands and the Apple Watch comes at the top of my recommendation list.

Actually, from the Watch Series 3, Apple has greatly improved the features and incorporated potential life-saving sensors. It is currently the best in the industry and even the high profile fitness experts in Bengaluru, DH interacted too, also swear by it.

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If you recently bought an Apple Watch and having trouble understanding the workout features, we will help you familiarise yourself with simple steps and also list some of the top fitness and wellness apps you should try.

"The New Year is a great time to kickstart or restart your fitness/ wellness journey as it represents a fresh start to many. The first step in this journey is goal setting. Think of a big, long term goal and then break that up into smaller short to medium-term goals that can be achieved in 1 to 3 months. Achieving these smaller goals will give you the right amount of motivation and drive you to keep going! " Swetha Subbiah, Runner & Fitness expert said to DH.

Swetha Subbiah - Fitness Expert (Credit: Apple)

Apple Watch Activity Rings
Apple Watch's Activity Rings is one of the most intelligent fitness trackers in the industry. It has three-colored rings-- move (red), exercise(green) and stand (blue). You can set the number of steps and calories-burn targets for the day. Once set, you are obliged to complete all the three rings.

If you exhibit any sign of slacking, Apple Watch can intuitively notice that there hasn't been any physical movement for about 50 minutes and it will notify you with subtle vibration on the wrist to get up and take a brisk walk. It will make sure you stand or walk for a minute or two for 12 active hours, without which you can't complete the blue circle.

Apple Watch Activity Rings (Credit: Apple)

As the day progresses, the red-coloured move feature tracks every movement such as walking, running, taking steps and exercises to calculate the calories. If it senses there is a lot of calories to burned and time is running out (very close to the 12 am mark), it will subtly let you know that if you walk for a half-hour briskly, you can complete the moving ring on time.

This is what I love about the Apple Watch, the notification never comes off as nagging like a personal fitness coach. It is always subtle and yet successfully makes me motivated to finish the red ring.

With the green-colored Exercise ring, you have to perform some brisk physical work for a minimum of 30 minutes. You can't decrease or increase beyond that limit, but it is enough for normal people to create a half-hour personal time for themselves to do workouts.

Also, if the user reaches any milestones such as completing Activity Rings twice in a single day or regularly complete it for a week straight, Apple Watch gives out badges, which motivates the user to keep the fitness routine going throughout the year.

Apple Watch Workout tracking feature (Credit: Apple)

Apple Watch can track numerous sports activities such as outdoor walk, yoga, indoor walk, outdoor run, outdoor cycling, indoor run (treadmill), indoor cycling, elliptical, rover, stair-stepper, high-intensity interval training, hiking, pool swimming, open water swim, and the user can even add more workouts and it can calculate the calories burnt, which will help you balance what we consume and spend the energy by physical workouts.

Fitness and wellness apps for Apple iPhone and Watch (DH Photo/Rohit KVN)

"Workout app is one favourite feature. Any workout I choose to do, strength, cardio, dance, yoga, playing a sport, can be tracked. During the workout I can keep track of my heart rate and ensure not to push it beyond my max HR. By the end of the workout, I know the calories burnt, I know the effort has gone in, I know my heart rate changes. I get a detailed report on my workout which is very helpful and allows me to monitor my own progress," Shwetambari Shetty, Zumba expert said to DH.

Shwetambari Shetty, Zumba Trainer & Fitness Expert (Credit:Apple)

Also, you can challenge your colleagues, friends or any loved ones to complete or set new move goals. Even if they don't do workouts physically beside you, they can still compete and accomplish goals in their own home or gym, provided they have Apple Watch.

Read more | Apple Watch Series 5 review: Top-notch health companion

Besides the native Activity Rings and Workout apps of Apple Watch, users can make use of third party apps to reach fitness and wellness goals.

WaterMinder app for Apple Watch (App Store screen-shot)

"While thinking about what areas one should look to work on to improve their overall wellness, one should consider exercise, nutrition, sleep, hydration, stress levels, etc. It is always useful to have some way of tracking these wellness parameters and even better if you have something that can keep you motivated. One device that can do both (track and motivate) is the Apple watch. Besides that, the Apple Watch can also be a great way to take that first step- goal setting, as it allows you to customize your individual goals across various wellness parameters," Subbiah adds.

One Drop Diabetes Management for Apple Watch (App Store screen-shot)

My top picks include Nike Run Club, Healthify Me: Weight Loss Plan, Sweat: Kayla Itsines Fitness, Calm, Streaks Workout, One Drop Diabetes Management and WaterMinder, among others.

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