If you’re someone who is always up for a challenge, closing the Apple Watch activity rings is one of the most satisfying things there can be. But there are times when my watch dies during a run or at the gym, in which case my activity rings are not completed by the end of the day, despite my working out.
In such a case, I still want my workouts to be recorded in order to keep track and maintain accountability. It can also be if you want to cheat your activity rings. Whatever the reason, no judgment. But here are some ways you can cheat your Apple Watch. But first,
What are the Apple Watch Activity Rings?
The three rings (red, green, and blue) that you see on the Apple Watch Activity app and on the Fitness app on your iPhone are the activity rings. Each ring measures specific activity depending on the goals you set for yourself.
Move Ring
The outermost ring on the circle represented by a red colour is the Move ring. This ring shows the amount of active calories I have burned each day. Because it focuses on ‘active calories’, this helps me stay active throughout the day and not just for a dedicated hour at the gym.
Exercise Ring
The center ring, green in colour, indicating the minutes of exercise in comparison to the exercise goal I have set, is the Exercise ring. Starting a workout on the Workout app helps contribute to this ring.
Stand Ring
The Stand ring is the innermost ring in the circle, represented by a blue colour. It depicts how much I have gotten up for at least a minute in each hour of my stand goal. If I haven’t moved in an hour from my desk and moved about during my day, the watch also sends me a ‘Time to Stand’ reminder in the last 10 minutes of the hour.
The Stand ring is by far the easiest ring for me to close, even when I spend most of my time at the office.
How to Cheat the Activity Rings on Apple Watch
Method 1: Add Data to the Health app
You can manually add and remove workout data right in your Health app on the iPhone in order to log your workouts that could not be recorded otherwise.
- Open the Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap Browse > Activity.
- Scroll down and tap Workouts > Add Data.
- Enter your workout details, such as the type of activity, your calories, and distance from your treadmill if you were on one. If not, you can skip this part.
- Tap Add, and this will be added to your Fitness app on your iPhone as well under ‘Sessions’.
Method 2: Change your Activity Ring Goals
Another way to close your activity rings is to change your daily goal. Just keep in mind that this goal doesn’t reset daily by itself, so you will have to change it back the next day if you want your original goal back.
- On your Apple Watch, open the Activity app.
- Scroll to the ring you want to change the goal of and tap the -+ button at the bottom right corner.
- Tap Change for Today or Change Daily Goal.
- Adjust your goals, starting with your Move goal.
- Tap Set and repeat for your Exercise and Stand goals.
- Tap Done.
Method 3: Start a Workout
If you want to cheat your Move and Exercise ring, just start a workout on your Workout app, even if you’re just sitting around, and all your calories burned will be logged as active calories.
The only issue with this is that if you have auto-pause enabled, your Workout app will keep asking you if you’re still doing the workout or taking a break. This is when it senses inactivity. This could work if you choose a workout such as Yoga or Pilates, which doesn’t require running around like in a Running workout. Or just take advantage of ‘Other’ when you scroll to the bottom of the workout list.
Wrap Up
While there are ways to keep yourself accountable by logging in workouts when your Apple Watch couldn’t record them directly, is it really necessary to cheat your rings? Either way, now that you know you can fake a workout on your Apple Watch, the question to ask yourself is- are you only cheating the system, or are you cheating yourself?
