The Apple Watch Rings Don’t Work for Endurance Athletes

The Genius of Apple Watch Rings

When the Apple Watch first came out, I was immediately impressed by the Activity rings. They were a simple but genius way to make sure people stayed active, and I still believe they're effective for promoting general fitness. For the average person, closing those rings each day can be a great way to stay on track. After all, staying active is one of the most important factors for maintaining good health.

However, when the Apple Watch first launched, I wasn't very active. I'd try to run or walk whenever I could and felt accomplished when I closed my rings, but my activities were random. I wasn't motivated by walking, and running wasn't my thing. Then, in 2020, I discovered cycling, and everything changed. Suddenly, I found a sport that clicked with me, and I started building a real habit around it.

Discovering the Limits of the Rings with Cycling

At first, my focus was still on closing my rings. Seeing 3-, 5-, or 7-day streaks was a huge motivator. But there were two things I didn't expect: how quickly my body would adapt to cycling, and how much more I wanted to do once I started riding regularly. I initially thought riding 5-10 miles would cover my fitness needs, but I was wrong. What started as a challenge quickly became routine, and soon enough, I was aiming for longer distances.

I remember talking to a neighbor who mentioned a 20-mile bike ride that left him exhausted. At the time, that seemed like a long-term goal for me. But after six months of consistent cycling, I completed that same ride and had energy to spare. What once felt impossible had become attainable.

By the end of 2020, I had logged 1,000 miles without even realizing it. I was riding multiple days a week, with distances like 20 miles on Wednesday, 25 on Friday, and longer rides on the weekend. But something started to shift: as my rides got longer, I began taking rest days more seriously.

That's when I noticed a problem with the Apple Watch rings. While the rings are great for ensuring basic activity levels, they don't account for the demands of endurance sports. The rings encourage daily activity, like a 30-minute walk, which fits the Mayo Clinic's recommendation of 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week. But I was cycling 9-10 hours a week, far exceeding the minimum, yet feeling unproductive on rest days when my rings weren't closing.

Shifting Focus to Long-Term Goals

Eventually, I had to reframe my thinking. Instead of focusing on daily streaks, I shifted my attention to weekly and yearly mileage goals. I realized that for endurance athletes, full rest days are crucial for recovery, and closing my rings every day wasn't necessary. I stopped feeling guilty about taking days off and started focusing on hitting my bigger targets—like 75 miles a week and 4,000 miles a year.

This shift in mindset was a game-changer, and it's part of what inspired me to create Active Goals, an app that helps track weekly, monthly, and yearly performance. It allows me to stay motivated by long-term goals rather than daily streaks, giving me the flexibility to adjust my targets based on my life and schedule.

In the end, the Apple Watch rings are a brilliant tool for promoting basic fitness, but for those of us in endurance sports, they're not the full picture. What really matters is finding what motivates you and setting goals that challenge you without burning out. For me, that means focusing on miles over streaks—and that's how I keep pushing forward.

Apollo Weather for Apple Watch Released

I'm thrilled to introduce Apollo Weather for Apple Watch, an important addition to the existing iOS app designed to keep outdoor enthusiasts and endurance athletes one step ahead of the weather.

Key Features

1. Detailed Forecasts: Users can access both current and 10-day hourly and daily weather forecasts, ensuring they're always informed of changing conditions.

2. Innovative Complications: Apollo Weather brings a fresh perspective to complications with designs that are simple yet intuitive. Their primary goals are:

   • Clear, bold text for easy readability during activities like cycling or running.

   • Colors and icons that instantly relay information about the user's ideal conditions.

3. Focus on Athletes: Apollo isn't just another weather app; it's tailored specifically for endurance athletes, prioritizing data that empowers them to make informed training decisions. Some examples include its unique features, such as the display of ideal ratings and active times.

Availability & Pricing

Apollo Weather for Apple Watch requires a PREMIUM subscription, priced at $9.99 annually. First-time users are welcome to explore the PREMIUM features with a 7-day free trial.

Note that the Apple Watch app is compatible with watchOS 10+.

Feature: Ideal Conditions Provide Unique Value to Endurance Athletes

What does perfect weather mean to you? One of the features that make Apollo Weather unique and valuable to endurance athletes is Ideal Ratings. How does it work?

In Apollo, you can define your own conditions to define your ideal workout. You can configure perfect and acceptable parameters for:

• Temperature

• Precipitation

• Wind

• UV Index

Apollo includes a 10-day hourly forecast, and every hour is rated as PERFECT, ACCEPTABLE, or BAD depending on your ideal conditions.

You can then configure your active times to reduce noise and make it easier to find the best days and times to train.

How can you take advantage of Ideal Conditions?

1. The Today screen shows hourly ratings for the current forecast and the next 24 hours.

2. The Daily screen shows a 10-day forecast with a color-coded bar chart that helps you find the best days to train in seconds.

3. Once you find the best days to train, you can zoom in on any day to find the best hours to train during the day.

4. You can always tap on any hour to get a detailed hourly rating for individual data points.

How do I use Ideal Ratings?

Everybody has their own routine for planning their weekly workouts. I'll share with you how I plan my weekly bike rides.

My ideal weekly mileage goal is 100 miles, with a minimum of 75 miles. I don't have a planned schedule for bike rides because, often, work forces me to readjust my priorities. I ride 3 to 4 times per week, and in most cases, I ride both Saturday and Sunday.

• I start with the Daily screen to get a general idea of conditions for the full week.

• If there's rain forecasted for the weekend, I'll try to add an extra ride during the week.

• If weekday mornings are too cold, I'll look for weekend afternoons to schedule my long rides.

• Before rides, I look at the rating for the current hour to decide how to prepare for my ride. That means extra electrolytes or fuel during the summer or additional layers during the winter.

As you can see, my schedule can be defined as chaotic during the week. Balancing full-time work, developing Apollo, and working out is extremely challenging. Apollo helps me reduce weather uncertainty to make sure I can complete my weekly goals.

Apollo Weather Adds Support for Lock Screen Widgets

I'm excited to announce that Apollo Weather finally has support for Lock Screen Widgets. Home screen widgets were released back in March and have been popular among existing users including cyclists and running coaches.

For Lock Screen Widgets, I wanted to build something unique instead of duplicating widgets from Apple's weather app. That's why all widgets in Apollo focus on ideal ratings. Every hourly forecast is rated as Perfect, Acceptable or Bad, depending on ideal conditions set by users.

New widgets include:

1. Ideal Forecast — users can view the current weather and ideal ratings. Plus two customizable data points.

2. Ideal Hourly Forecast — users can view the hourly forecast and ideal ratings. There's a customizable data point for each hour.

3. Data Point Rating — Individual data and rating for Temperature, Feels Like, Wet Bulb, Wind Speed and UV Index.

You can download Apollo Weather from the App Store.

Apollo Weather Adds Support for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature

I'm excited to announce that Apollo is adding support for Wet Bulb Globe Temperature just before the summer kicks into full gear. The measurement is a secret weapon for engaging in outdoor activities in direct sunlight.

What is Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT)?

The WBGT is a quantitative measure of heat stress in direct sunlight, which encompasses factors such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle, and cloud cover (solar radiation). The WBGT is used by military agencies, OSHA, and many nations to manage workload in direct sunlight.

How Can Apollo Users Benefit from WBGT?

Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is a better tool for athletes to keep track of temperature conditions during the summer because of its increased accuracy when measuring conditions in direct sunlight.

Here's how users can use WBGT within the app:

1. Users have the option of choosing “Wet Bulb” as the temperature method in their Ideal Conditions

2. Every hourly forecast now includes WBGT measurements

3. Hourly ratings show Perfect, Acceptable or Bad conditions using WBGT instead of Actual and Feels Like temperatures

You can download Apollo Weather from the App Store.