DIGITAL LIFE

DOSSIER  How I stopped lying on the couch and fell in love with sports thanks to the Apple Watch

In 2014, when the first Apple Watch came out, I couldn't decide whether or not I needed this watch. The point was not that it was new at the time, but that there was no sport (other than running around the airport terminals trying to catch different flights) in my life, and the idea of ​​sending notifications from a smartphone to a separate device seemed so appealing. But I clearly remember how early Apple Watch users wrote enthusiastically about how good it is now that you can save time (!) And without taking your smartphone out of your pocket, find out that someone mentioned it in your tweet. I felt that at the same time, app developers began to abuse openly notifications. Annoying sounds and vibrations started to be sent not only messengers and social media customers, but also games, all kinds of organizers, readers and players. And many - including me - quickly developed a phantom vibration syndrome in their pocket, which became quite irritating. Is that familiar? If not, then rejoice. It manifests itself like this: you walk down the street, feel vibrations in your pocket, take your smartphone to see what happened and there is nothing. There didn't seem to be any vibration. I'm not sure this comparison seems appropriate, but about the same thing a heavy smoker feels when he lifts a cigarette to his lips and suddenly realizes that he already has a cigarette in his mouth. It is in these moments that a person becomes uncomfortable and thinks that it would be good to change something in life. Stop smoking, stop drinking, play sports and stop spending your nights on the couch in front of the TV.
And even if you don't take the obvious bad habits into account, it must be recognized that modern man moves very little. Small-town residents in that sense were a little more fortunate, but all residents of post-Soviet capitals and cities with millionaires lack physical activity. Many of us spent 8 hours in bed, then an hour and a half in the car on the way to the office, another 8 to 10 hours in the office, again in the car and, hopefully, an hour in the bar after work. This is very exaggerated, but many still tend to overestimate their own mobility. I am not a doctor, so I will not touch on specific health consequences, but even a sedentary lifestyle is extremely negatively affected by my well-being. In addition, the deterioration of well-being occurs very slowly, we don't realize it and, at some point, we start laughing with memes about the flabby 30 year old children and somewhere in the back of my mind the thought “damn it, it shouldn't be like this".
Honestly, I was convinced that smart watches would become something like 3D TVs, electronic frames and compact cameras - that is, a temporary phenomenon in the world of technology that we will safely forget after a few years. However, no, these devices are in constant demand, and Apple in this genre feels better. Last fall, I had a new smart watch - Apple Watch Series 5 - and I decided to monitor my lifestyle more closely. At that time, I had already stopped smoking, experienced obvious joys in life, such as shortness of breath after climbing the stairs to the fifth floor, and decided that something needed to be improved even more. Based on my height, weight and age, the watch “assigned me” the goal of spending 800 kilocalories per day, in addition to the calories spent on natural body functions, such as maintaining body temperature. Then, I used the function that allows me to share my activity with friends and see its results, and I noticed amazing things. It turned out that most people, even those whose lifestyle seemed healthy and right on the outside, actually live very passively and hardly move. Spend a total of 3 km per day and sometimes less. And those numbers were even before the coronavirus epidemic and forced self-isolation, which reduced anyone's already low mobility. By the way, I'm pretty sure that, after the end of the pandemic, an avalanche-like demand for fitness services and a boom in sales of smart watches and fitness trackers await us.
The most important thing in working with Apple Watch in my case was the complete disabling of notifications (except those related to physical activity and health). No disturbing vibrations - in normal mode, the watch is completely invisible; they only occasionally remember that it is time to get up and move. Or that today your activity is lower than normal. Having accumulated enough information, the watch starts creating charts and launching monthly challenges. And that simple gamification ended up being what made me gradually increase the load and improve my performance. At first, I felt great if I could walk 10 to 12 km on foot a day. This is much more than what ordinary people go through, but in general, this burden could hardly be called a sport. And those same challenges at first were also quite simple - follow a certain number of steps 10 times a month and earn an achievement. Or walk / run 100 km in a month - and your reward. 100 kilometers a month is very easy, even a week to go so much is not at all difficult. But, as these challenges are successfully completed, the algorithms complicate the task quickly. I will not hide, my excited excitement, which I often shared with friends in messengers. Friends, forgive me if that was unbearable, but the joy of my own successes, however small, is something you want to share with loved ones.
Other examples of these monthly challenges were things like the fact that you need to completely close all “rings of achievement” every day in a given month. And then a task appears in the spirit of “burning 68 thousand kcal per month”. By the way, this is my current challenge for June 2020. This number says nothing to many of you, so just believe that it means a very serious burden. For example, for a 13 km run lasting more than an hour, I can burn about 1000 kcal, according to the Apple Watch. That is, to complete the June challenge, you will need almost 70 races of this type. It sounds complicated, but if you systematically increase the load and engage in more diverse activities - strength training, cycling, climbing, swimming, crossfit - the task will begin to feel more real. Rest days, of course, are necessary and important, but less activity will be less rest for you, but not your complete absence.
Well, in addition to the monthly challenges that most captivate me personally, the activity tracking app has unique achievements that should support motivation for a long time. At first it looks like this is not going to work, but in the end, your inner skeptic admits that such a modest reward system works very well - if you are initially determined to change something in life, of course. I once shared my observations with a friend's trainer and asked if it is normal that I am taken to all these rewards and gamification mechanisms on the Apple Watch. To which he, without a doubt, said something like this: "man, of all the wrong things that can capture you, this is the most correct one, so go ahead and don't worry". And I continue. And I'm just concerned that the current charges, which make me truly proud of myself, after six months seem completely ridiculous. I'm not going to become a professional athlete, so I was at least 20 years late, but I'm infinitely satisfied with my progress. A few years ago, I smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and climbed the stairs to the fifth floor without difficulty, but today I run calmly 12 km before the start of the work day and I feel nothing but a wave of vigor.
The logical question is: why do you need a watch if a smartphone with the right conditioning apps can't count on the activity? The fact is that the smartphone itself is not able to count the pulse, which is an essential parameter in some sports. First of all, on the run. And, say, after 30 years, and especially after 40, you need to monitor the remote very carefully. The data obtained from the application without a smart watch / fitness tracker will not be accurate enough. For an hour of operation with a pulse of 160, the power consumption will be much higher than at the same time with a pulse of 100, but a smartphone without a smart watch will not know about it and will show the average value. Gamification and rewards will remain in place, but there will be less precision in tracking progress, and this is very important.
It's not that important here that I use the Apple Watch - it could be any other smart watch, but it just so happened that I love Apple devices and that they fit into the native ecosystem much better than Android devices or anything else. Yes, I have no experience with the Apple Watch of all generations; therefore, I am not the type of person who will provide an exhaustive description of their differences and progress from model to model. But if we talk about the little things that I have allocated for myself, these are mainly the strips of fabric for the sport. It looks like they were introduced a little earlier, but I tried them out only with the Watch Series 5. And now I'm sure I haven't worn anything more convenient in my life, but I want to quickly forget about the standard silicone bracelet.
Suppose, if you are reading this column, I would like to start playing sports. Or at least lead a more fluid lifestyle. In this case, congratulations, you are on the right track. But make no mistake - just buying a smart watch will not change anything. First, a great desire is needed, and second, a serious motivation. In addition, the primary motivation passes quickly, so you need to keep it to yourself, because at first you may not notice progress, it can be slow, especially if you are not 30 years old. And that is exactly what smart watches will help with - they will make your progress more visible and constantly raise the bar, and you, in turn, will gradually increase the charge. Then there will be a perception that, in general, it has always been obvious - anyone can always do much more than they think. You will start walking more, then you will start running, swimming. You will increase the distance, increase the pace. Maybe run a marathon, or maybe even an ultra marathon. But, regardless of the achievements recorded in your heritage, one thing will definitely be clear to you: you have never felt so good in your life! Well, I will be very pleased if this modest text leads to positive changes in life. Well, now is the best time for that - why not leave the energy accumulated during the session at home, in the right direction? .

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