Christina Darby/

One of the fastest fitness motivators is good ole competition. 

The Fitness feature for Apple Watch makes it easy to challenge fellow users to a week-long workout match. 

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But what's the secret to successfully crushing your competition?

Sure, making sure you clock more hours in the gym than your competition is a way you could win, but there are even simpler and more efficient ways to ensure victory. 

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For those eager to win, we broke down three ways that bring you closer to earning a virtual Apple Fitness trophy, and of course, all the gloating glory. 

3 ways to win an Apple Watch activity challenge

1. Rack up your points

Since you and your Apple Watch opponent aren't likely to share the same move, exercise, or stand goals, it can take someone significantly more or less effort to close their activity rings. Apple uses a point system to determine the winner so that the competition isn't skewed.

Here's the breakdown: 

• You'll earn a Fitness point to every percentage point you add closing your daily move, stand, and exercise rings.

• Completion of all three goals (rings) -- stand, move, and exercise -- brings a total of 300 points. 
• Since you can go over 100% of your goal, it's possible to get over the desired 300 points. But, only 600 points, which would mean doubling your daily goals, go towards your daily challenge total. 
• You can ultimately earn up to 4,200 points a week. Whoever is the closest to the threshold wins the challenge. 

While the points system fosters a more holistic approach to the challenge, you can still manually compete with your friends to see who took the most steps or biked the most miles. 

I've completed 35% of my daily move goal, 10% of my exercise goal, and 50% of my stand goal so far, giving me a grand total of 95 points out of my daily 300 point goal. 

Christina Darby/

2. Record specific workouts

Before you literally run off to complete your daily exercise, remember to select which workout you're about to complete (HIIT, outdoor walk, indoor run, boxing, cycling, etc.) in watch's "Workout" tab. 

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While the watch passively tracks your steps, recording the specific workout before you start makes for more accurate tracking -- especially for low impact exercises. 

3. Take advantage of Fitness+ workouts

Not only does your Apple Watch track your workouts, but it's the key to unlocking Fitness+. Offering classes along with running and walking guides, Apple Fitness+ has elevated my simple treadmill workouts lately. Most importantly, Fitness+ automatically syncs your watch to your streaming device and displays your stats in real time, doubling a workout tracker and motivator. 

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Like how recording specific workouts helps ensure point accuracy, starting a workout on Fitness+ is sure automatically record your exercise while elevating your workout and heart rate.

Apple Fitness+ offers exercise classes that automatically sync up to your watch, tracking your workouts more accurately and potentially elevating your fitness routine. 

Apple

FAQs

How do I get my Apple Watch score to 600 points?

You can get 600 points by doubling your daily goals. Since there are three goals, or rings (move, stand, and exercise), completing each by exactly 100% would mean a total of 300 points. So, to reach 600, you'd have to close each ring twice. 

Can I send an Apple Watch challenge to myself? 

While you can't send a challenge to yourself as you would to another party, you can use your rings as a benchmark for competition, even challenging yourself to double your rings or beat daily records. 

Can I manually add workouts to my Apple Watch? 

If you forget to record, but still want your hard work to count towards the competition, you can manually input the exercise data on your iPhone's Health app. Once you're in the Health app, tap the "Activity" tab under the "Browse" section, then select "Workouts," and "Add Data" in the upper right hand corner. 

See also

How to chat with ChatGPT right on your Apple Watch. Meet Petey AIApple Watch Fall Detection: How and why to enable itHow to change your Apple Watch faceHow to enable Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch (and why you should)

• How to chat with ChatGPT right on your Apple Watch. Meet Petey AI
• Apple Watch Fall Detection: How and why to enable it
• How to change your Apple Watch face
• How to enable Low Power Mode on the Apple Watch (and why you should)