What each ring measures
Before you change a goal, it helps to know what each ring counts. Apple describes the three Activity rings like this:
- Move (red) counts the active calories you burn.
- Exercise (green) counts your minutes of brisk activity.
- Stand (blue) counts the hours in which you stood and moved for at least one minute. If you use a wheelchair, a Roll ring takes its place and counts the hours in which you rolled for at least a minute.
So the Move goal is a number of calories, the Exercise goal is a number of minutes, and the Stand goal is a number of hours. When a ring overlaps itself, you went past that day's goal.
Change your goals on Apple Watch
These are the steps from Apple's Apple Watch User Guide:
- 1Open the Activity app on your Apple Watch.
- 2Turn the Digital Crown to the ring you want to change, then tap Change Goals.
- 3Tap Change for Today for a one-day goal, or Change Daily Goal for a goal that stays in place.
- 4Tap the minus or plus button until the number looks right, then tap Set.
A goal you set with Change for Today only lasts for today. The next day, your ring goes back to your daily goal. That is handy for a rest day or a travel day when you know your usual target is out of reach.
Change your goals on iPhone
You can do the same thing from the Fitness app on iPhone, which is easier if you would rather tap a big screen. Apple's iPhone User Guide says you can change the daily goal for each of your Activity rings there:
- 1Open the Fitness app on your iPhone.
- 2Tap your Activity rings, then tap the edit button next to the ring you want to change.
- 3Tap Adjust Goal for Today for a one-day goal, or Change Daily Goal for an everyday goal.
- 4Tap the minus or plus button to adjust the number, then tap the button that saves it, for example Change Move Goal or Change Move Goal for Today.
A different goal for each day
Most weeks are not seven identical days. If you train hard on Saturday and rest on Sunday, one fixed goal will either be too easy on one day or out of reach on the other. You can set a goal schedule by day of the week instead:
- On Apple Watch: tap Change Goals, then Change Daily Goal, tap the Goal Type button in the top-right corner, and tap Schedule. Set a number for each day, then tap Set Schedule.
- On iPhone: in Fitness, tap Change Daily Goal, then tap the schedule button to set the goal for each day.
Apple also helps you adjust as you go. Every Monday you get a notification about the previous week, with suggested goals based on how active you were, and you can accept or change them for the coming week.
Take a break without losing your streak
Lowering a goal is not the only option when you are sick, injured or just need time off. You can pause your rings for up to 90 days without breaking your award streak, and resume them at any time.
- 1On Apple Watch, open the Activity app and tap your rings. On iPhone, open Fitness, tap your rings and scroll down.
- 2Tap Pause Rings.
- 3Pick one of the preset lengths, or tap Custom to choose your own.
To end the break early, tap your rings and tap Resume Rings. To make the break longer or shorter, tap Edit Pause.
How to pick a number
There is no single right goal. A useful one is a number you can reach on most days, with a little effort. Two things can help you choose.
Your own history. Look at what you actually did over the last few weeks before you change anything. The Monday suggestions are a good start, because they come from your recent activity. Then aim for a number you expect to close on most days, and raise it once that feels easy.
The weekly guideline. The World Health Organization recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, and it says that any amount of activity is better than none. If your Exercise goal is 30 minutes and you close it five days a week, that adds up to 150 minutes of brisk activity. Apple and the WHO do not measure activity in exactly the same way, so treat this as a rough guide.
This is general guidance for adults, not advice for you in particular. If you have a health condition, an injury or you are pregnant, check with your doctor before you raise your goals.
What about a step goal?
Many people search for a way to set a step goal on Apple Watch. The Activity rings do not count steps: as described above, they measure active calories, exercise minutes and stand hours. Your steps are still recorded, and you can see them by week, month and year in the Health app on iPhone: tap Browse, then find Steps. But there is no ring that fills up when you reach a number of steps.
If a step target is what keeps you moving, Fitness Wrapped can do it. It reads your step count from Apple Health, and in its Goals tab you can set a step goal for a week, a month or a year, next to workout and active time goals. Each goal shows as a ring with your progress, so you can see if you are ahead or behind before the period ends.
Get Fitness Wrapped on the App Store (iPhone).