What you need to know
- The Apple Watch tracks three specific things and represents them as circles to be filled.
- Cardiac surgeon Dr. Brian Lima says if you're going to focus on one, it should be the exercise ring.
- Maintaining cardiovascular health will help everything else fall into place.
Your Apple Watch already keeps tabs on how much you move, when you exercise, and how often you stand during a 24-hour day. But out of those three rings, it's the green one – your exercise ring – that is most important. That's according to cardiac surgeon Dr. Brian Lima. And he'd probably know.
Speaking to Well + Good, Dr. Lima points out that by filling your exercise ring, you're helping your body bring everything else into check as a result. Regular exercise is already something the American Heart Association recognizes as vital.
"I'd have to say that completing your 'exercise' ring is the most important, because regular exercise is one of the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 Measures You Can take To Reduce Your Risk of Cardiovascular Disease," says Dr. Lima. "By completing the exercise ring, you're helping maintain not only your cardiovascular health, but also promoting your overall wellbeing, mental sharpness, self-esteem and other cascading benefits," he says. And as he puts it: "When our heart is firing on all cylinders, the rest of your body tends to follow its lead."
While Dr. Lima says that "moving and standing are also important," exercise is the only one that is specifically pointed to as a key part of ensuring our hearts stay healthy. And if there's one part of your body that you should be looking after, it's definitely your heart.
Now might be a very good time to brush up on your Activity rings and how they work!
