I was about 6 editions considering if I should buy an Apple Watch or not. I have a lot of Apple products. But I only buy them if it makes sense. For all these years I did not find any use of the Apple Watch worth the price. Until now.

This year I started cycling more regularly. I started tracking my rides with the iPhone app Strava, to see my progress and my achievements. The main problem is that I was not having real-time information about what I was doing. I am worried to have my phone in the handlebar, in case I fall and I break the iPhone. So what I was doing was: I start the ride in Strava, store the phone in my bag, and stopped it when finish riding.

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With the Apple Watch, I get real-time metrics on my wrist. It’s like a video game, where you fight against yourself. When I was young I spent hours playing Gran Turismo trying to beat my times. It felt this way while doing exercise, which made it as addictive as a video game. Was the fact of wearing a new watch motivating me to exercise more?

Since I have my Apple Watch I’ve seen myself moving more. Even if it’s only to close my daily circles of activity. Every time you see the time in your wrist you see the circles: “You did not exercise enough today. You did not stand up enough today.”. Sometimes you ignore it, but sometimes this guilty feeling gets your butt off the chair.

I still feel that what you can do with the watch is really limited, but if you want to be more fit it’s a first starting point. You will have an external trigger to remind you of your fitness habits.