Horsham-based female personal trainer, Becky, welcomes an update from Apple which offers users the chance to track rest days, as well as activity. But she’s found a few glitches when using her watch’s pause rings feature…
Apple finally listened. September’s grand annual software update included the function that many of us have longed for: iOS now allows users the option to “pause rings” (not as filthy as it sounds), meaning that you can take a rest day from your move, exercise and stand goals, whilst maintaining your ongoing streak. As I had championed this feature, I was quick to experiment with it… and soon learned some uncomfortable truths about myself and my relationship with my device…
Turning off Apple Rings
Apple has always loved terminology that induces a slight wince – show me your age and tell me that you remember the backlash about the original naming of the iPad – and the activity rings are no exception. The concept is criticised on several levels, and has gone through a few evolutions (the Stand goal is highly ableist, and now does have a function suitable for wheelchair users), but the idea of rest days is a brand new thing for Apple.
My approach to my Apple Watch
I’ve posted about my tech choices before, and the short story is this: when I first got into fitness, I tracked my workouts manually via an app using my phone. It was as simple as telling the app after the fact that I’d participated in an activity. I was also running back then, and used the app to track those workouts live. This was 2017, and the tech wasn’t quite the same – watches were less affordable (and I was on a low income) and I didn’t feel that I needed one.
Then I realised that the tracking wasn’t doing me any favours mentally, so I stopped. When I qualified as a PT in 2021, I decided that I needed a watch, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on the time when with clients without using my phone (because that’s rude in this context). I thought about getting a non-smart watch, and in the ended decided that “fuck it”, I’d just take the “easier” route of getting an Apple Watch, but not be wedded to it.
Because I don’t wear mine 24/7, I thought I’d succeeded in that mission. Until I turned my rings off…
First time turning Rings off
The first thing I’ll say is that this setting isn’t easy enough to find. The most straightforward way to do it is to tap the top left corner of your watch when viewing the rings, then scroll to the bottom of that menu, where you’ll see a “pause rings” option, and be given a few choices for the duration of the pause.
I did this for a day in early October, and immediately found myself unnerved at not being prompted to stand regularly. It also felt strange to not “know” how much I was doing, and that’s when I gave myself a mental slap. When did I stop paying attention to this myself, and assign this responsibility to my watch instead?!
Shocked at what I’d learned, and feeling uncomfortable, I allowed my watch to track me again the following day (as I was going to train), and then bit a serious bullet.
Holidaying without Rings
One of the promises I made myself a while ago was that I wouldn’t wear my watch on nights out and other such occasions. Because, to me, when I’m supposed to be relaxing and having fun, I shouldn’t be feeling the pressure to track fitness metrics. It’s something I’m comfortable with, whereas wearing my watch but not having it track me creates a different feeling.
When I was away for a week in October, I exercised some willpower and turned the rings off for the duration of my trip, telling my watch I’d like them reactivated when I returned (I planned to train once I was home). And, funnily enough, I did then relax more easily.
Ongoing impacts
I’m still working on reminding myself to take responsibility for monitoring my activity and making positive choices without the prompt of tech. And something else that I found interesting is how my device has responded to being sidelined.
Apple Fitness provides dopamine hits in the form of digital stickers, one of which is a monthly activity target. The topic of them varies month to month, and I’d long ago realised that these were calculated based on an individual’s usage. What I found interesting was that my monthly target having had my rings turned off for about half of the previous month, was to close all three rings on 15 days during the month.
This is a goal I’ve never been handed before, and one which is very achievable for me… if I’m actually engaging with my watch.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: our devices are designed to train us to use them, rather than to be useful to us. User, beware.