The Apple Fitness app provides a wealth of health and activity data through its colorful interface. But those little icons and symbols can be confusing at first glance. Let’s break down what all those fitness app icons actually mean so you can get the most out of tracking your health and workouts.
Activity Rings: The Core of Apple Fitness
The three colorful rings are the heart of the Apple Fitness app, giving you an at-a-glance view of your daily activity goals:
Move Ring (Red)
The red Move ring shows active calories burned throughout the day. It’s based on a personalized calorie burn goal you set.
How it works:
- The ring fills as you burn active calories
- Completes a full circle when you hit your daily goal
- Can go beyond 100% if you exceed your goal
Exercise Ring (Green)
The bright green Exercise ring tracks minutes of brisk activity.
Key points:
- Tracks any activity at or above a brisk walk
- Default goal is 30 minutes per day
- Automatically detects workouts on Apple Watch
Stand Ring (Blue)
The blue Stand ring encourages regular movement throughout the day.
What it measures:
- Hours in which you stood and moved for at least 1 minute
- Default goal is 12 stand hours per day
- Aims to combat prolonged sitting
Workout Icons and Symbols
When you start a workout in the Fitness app, you’ll see various icons providing real-time data:
- Heart Icon: Shows current heart rate
- Pace Icon: Displays your current pace (running/walking)
- Distance Icon: Total distance covered
- Time Icon: Duration of your workout
- Calories Icon: Active calories burned during the workout
Heart Rate Zones
During workouts, you may notice colored zones on your heart rate graph:
- Gray: Below 120 BPM - Warm up / Cool down
- Green: 120-140 BPM - Fat burning zone
- Orange: 140-160 BPM - Aerobic zone
- Red: Above 160 BPM - Anaerobic zone
These zones help you understand workout intensity and target specific training goals.
Trends Arrows
In the Trends section, you’ll see arrows next to various metrics:
- Upward Arrow (↑): You’re improving in this area
- Downward Arrow (↓): This metric is declining
- Horizontal Line (—): No significant change
These arrows compare your recent 90-day average to the previous 365 days, helping you spot long-term progress or areas needing attention.
Awards and Achievements
The Fitness app uses various icons to represent awards and achievements:
- Perfect Week: Filled circles for each goal you’ve hit every day of the week
- Longest Move Streak: Flame icon showing your longest streak of hitting Move goals
- Monthly Challenge: Unique icon for each month’s special challenge
- Personal Records: Trophy icons for new personal bests in various workouts
Other Common Icons
- Green Lightning Bolt: Your Apple Watch is charging
- Red Lightning Bolt: Low battery warning
- Airplane: Airplane mode is active
- Water Droplet: Water lock is enabled (prevents accidental taps when swimming)
- Red Dot: You have unread notifications
Using the Fitness App Effectively
To get the most out of these icons and symbols:
- Customize your goals: Adjust Move, Exercise, and Stand goals to match your fitness level and objectives.
- Check trends regularly: Use the Trends section to identify areas of improvement or decline.
- Explore workouts: Try different workout types to see specialized metrics for each activity.
- Use complications: Add Fitness app complications to your watch face for quick activity updates.
- Enable notifications: Set up smart coaching notifications to get movement reminders and goal updates.
By understanding these icons and symbols, you can unlock the full potential of the Apple Fitness app. Whether you’re tracking daily activity, analyzing workout performance, or working towards long-term health goals, these visual cues provide valuable insights to keep you motivated and informed on your fitness journey.