Embrace Fitness with Apple Watch: Global Close Your Rings Day
Apple continues to revolutionize the way we approach fitness and health with its popular wearable device, the Apple Watch. This April 24, the company is encouraging users worldwide to participate in Global Close Your Rings Day. This initiative invites Apple Watch users to complete their Activity rings, aiming to promote a more active lifestyle while offering a special limited-edition award for their efforts.
The Apple Watch, celebrated as the world’s most popular watch, serves as an indispensable fitness and health partner for millions globally. It motivates users daily by providing insights into workouts, training, and other activities. The device’s advanced sensor technology gives users valuable information about various health aspects, including sleep patterns, heart health, and even menstrual health.
Over the last decade, the Activity rings feature on the Apple Watch has presented users with a straightforward, engaging, and customizable way to remain active every day. To emphasize the benefits of regular physical activity, Apple has designated April 24 as Global Close Your Rings Day. On this day, Apple Watch users are encouraged to close their rings, which represent their Move, Exercise, and Stand goals, to earn a unique limited-edition award. Additionally, participants will receive animated stickers for Messages, adding a fun and social element to the challenge.
Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams, expressed the impact of the Apple Watch, saying, "Apple Watch has transformed how individuals perceive, track, and engage with their fitness and health. A decade ago, we introduced Activity rings, and since then, Apple Watch has evolved to offer a comprehensive set of features designed to empower every user. We receive feedback almost daily about how the Apple Watch has positively influenced lives, from encouraging more movement to altering health trajectories."
April 24: Global Close Your Rings Day – A Call to Action
On Global Close Your Rings Day, Apple encourages users to engage in activities they enjoy, challenge themselves, or try something new. They are also urged to share their experiences using the hashtag #CloseYourRings. Users who successfully close all three Activity rings will not only earn a limited-edition award but will also receive ten animated stickers and an animated badge for Messages.
To further celebrate this global day of activity, Apple Store locations worldwide will offer a special pin inspired by the award, available starting April 24 while supplies last.
New Insights from Apple Watch Activity and Health Research
The relationship between fitness and health is undeniable, and Apple is committed to exploring this connection. A recent analysis from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, which includes data from over 140,000 participants, highlighted positive correlations between closing Activity rings and improvements in sleep quality, heart health, and mental wellbeing. These findings were consistent across genders and age groups.
Individuals who frequently closed their Activity rings were found to be 48% less likely to experience poor sleep quality, defined as waking frequently during the night. They were also 73% less likely to have elevated resting heart rates, a key indicator of cardiovascular fitness. Additionally, these individuals reported 57% less perceived stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale-4 (PSS-4), a brief questionnaire that assesses stress perception.
The Apple Heart and Movement Study is a collaborative effort with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association, involving over 200,000 participants across the United States who have consented to share their data.
Understanding Activity and Health on Apple Watch
The Activity app is a beloved feature of the Apple Watch, encouraging users to meet personalized daily goals for active calories burned, minutes of brisk activity, and hours standing. The app offers flexibility, allowing users to customize goals to fit their lifestyle and even pause them for rest days.
Beyond Activity rings, the Apple Watch provides a wealth of motivating and actionable insights that bridge the gap between users and their fitness and health data. Users can:
- Track a variety of workouts with validated heart rate and calorie algorithms via the Workout app, with advanced metrics for activities like running, cycling, and swimming.
- Stay motivated with Activity challenges and sharing features, monitor progress with weekly summaries and trends, and track key fitness metrics such as training load and cardio fitness.
- Monitor sleep, heart health, menstrual cycles, medication management, environmental noise levels, and more.
All fitness and health features on the Apple Watch are grounded in scientific research and adhere to strict accuracy standards. A validation summary published recently details the methodologies and technologies Apple uses to measure heart rate, estimate calories burned, and provide related fitness and heart health data. Apple employs machine learning models developed from extensive studies involving thousands of participants from diverse backgrounds.
Privacy and Data Security
Apple prioritizes user privacy, ensuring that all fitness and health features center around transparency and control over personal data. When an iPhone or iPad is secured with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, all health data in the Health app, excluding the Medical ID, is encrypted. Health data synced to iCloud is encrypted both in transit and on Apple servers. With the latest versions of watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS supporting two-factor authentication and passcode protection, users’ health and activity data are stored securely and remain unreadable by Apple.
For more details on Apple’s research initiatives, visit the Apple Research app page.
In conclusion, Global Close Your Rings Day on April 24 is a fantastic opportunity for Apple Watch users to engage with their fitness goals, earn rewards, and contribute to a healthier lifestyle. Whether it’s trying a new workout, sharing achievements with friends, or simply enjoying the satisfaction of closing those rings, Apple continues to inspire and support users on their journey to better health and wellbeing.
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