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Comment by saagarjha | Hacker News Reader

I was getting a ton of exercise with the Watch, broke it, and stopped exercising because I wasn't being reminded to.

Why is the Apple Watch the catalyst for this versus any HR monitor or fitness tracker?

Just going to make a few assumptions. Apple has a gamification system similar to fitbit. You complete rings (goals) by walking, standing up and exercising. Except you are competing against yourself and they prompt you with daily reminders / notifications. Being that Apple Watch is more than a notification system, it's a bit more difficult to ignore. Let's say you're on a 80 day streak completing 100% of your goals of standing up, exercising and walking. You'll want to keep going. At 24 hour hackathon, there was someone trying to keep their streak up so they ended up leaving to jog around the block to complete their daily activity.

Of course, this isn't to say that it can't be possible without the Apple Watch. It's just that it's more difficult to ignore.

You can now do Activity Sharing so it can be more than competing with just yourself if you have friends who use a an Apple Watch. It can be a great motivational tool if you use it as such.

I don't see where saagarjha said that only Apple Watch could act as such a catalyst.

When you get a notification saying you've increased your daily move goal streak to 200+ days, you're tempted to not break it. There are already quite a few people I've seen hitting 800 days.

I don't disbelieve you, but in my particular case this would not be possible.

I exercise intensely at least 3 times per week. If you achieve your move goal 5 times per week, the Apple Watch software will automatically raise your move goal the following week, giving you the option to manually adjust it on the start of a new week. Because I let the software take its automatic course, my move goal at one point was 1160 calories.

So, when winter weather came as well as a period of work crunch, I simply couldn't spend the 2.5 hours/day biking to hit that move goal.

Since then, my move goal has gone up and down, my higher goals coinciding with better weather and longer days.

Long story short, hitting one's move goals for many weeks on end implies the wearer is manually adjusting the move goal down each week.

I set mine manually only once, when I bought it, and it has never changed.

I've got perfect months the last 2 months and now I stress if a day gets close to not hitting the completion mark (I.e. It's raining or such to inhibit an outdoor walk/run).

I mean, whatever works for you, but I don't understand that at all. You forget to exercise?

It's an accountability mechanism. It reminds you to get up and move, reminds you that you need to hit your goals, etc.

e: Not so much about forgetting, but a nag.

If you don't want to work out a watch isn't going to change that.

Not true at all.

Personal experience: I got hooked on hitting my activity goals with my Apple Watch and am now on day 292 of my streak. I've lost 20 pounds and am running a 5k at a near 7min/mile pace, something I haven't done in over 15 years.

Sure: the watch didn't move my legs for me, but it sure as hell manipulated me into getting off my ass :)

Counterpoint, I never want to run at 6:30 am so having someone or something add pressure to get out only helps keep that commitment. And 15 min in I'm always glad I got out of bed.

Different things work for different people. My wife and I exercise very regularly, but the way in which we stay motivated and on track are very different.

Not sure if the Apple watches do the same, but the Garmin watches have a "Move!" reminder plus easy-to-configure step and stair goals, and make your progress obvious. I'm guessing it's more due to those types of little pokes throughout the day than parent actually forgetting to hit the gym every morning.

AW does this if you don't stand up within an hour, it pokes you to stand up and move around. It also sends you progress updates throughout the day of how much you've walked/moved/etc.

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