UPDATE
02 January 2026
Stay active in the new year with Apple Watch
New research from the Apple Heart and Movement Study shows participants with Apple Watch keep up their exercise levels well into the new year
Apple Watch is the ultimate fitness and health companion to support users in reaching and maintaining their goals in 2026. Apple Watch offers daily fitness motivation to millions of people across the globe, along with powerful insights into their workouts, training, and health.
A new analysis of data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study identified Apple Watch users consistently increase their exercise levels in January and maintain them well into the new year. For additional motivation, participants with Apple Watch can earn the Ring in the New Year limited-edition award this month.
Apple Watch Helps Users Stay Motivated and Consistent in the New Year
Many people give up their New Year’s fitness resolutions by the second Friday in January, also known as Quitter’s Day. A new analysis of data contributed by approximately 100,000 participants in the Apple Heart and Movement Study over four years identified participants with Apple Watch consistently keep up their exercise levels through Quitter’s Day and beyond.
Each year, following a decrease in average exercise minutes during the November and December holiday period, the average daily exercise minutes of Apple Watch users in the study not only rapidly increased in January, but also continued to progress into the spring. During the first two weeks of January, over 60 percent of Apple Watch users increased their daily exercise minutes by over 10 percent from their December average. Notably, many Apple Watch users kept up those exercise levels through Quitter’s Day and into the following months. Nearly 80 percent of those who increased their exercise minutes maintained those increased exercise levels through the second half of January, with 90 percent of that group also maintaining elevated levels through February and March.
The analysis included study participants who elected to share Activity data and consistently wore their Apple Watch over multiple years. The Apple Heart and Movement Study, conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association, and Apple, included over 250,000 people across the United States who consented to participate.1
Get and Stay Active with an Apple Watch Limited-Edition Award
To kick off the new year, Apple Watch users can earn the Ring in the New Year limited-edition award when they close all three Activity rings for seven days in a row in January.
More Ways to Keep Moving with Apple Watch
Apple Watch is the world’s most popular watch, and throughout the year, Apple Watch offers users motivating and actionable insights that break down barriers between users and their fitness and health information. Users can also:
- Track a wide range of workouts with scientifically validated custom heart rate and calorie algorithms in the Workout app, which uses a powerful AI and ML model for motion — trained on 50 million hours of activity data — to provide advanced metrics for running, cycling, swimming, hiking, and more.
- Stay motivated with Activity challenges and sharing, keep an eye on their progress with weekly summaries and trends, and monitor key fitness metrics like training load, cardio fitness, and cardio recovery.
- Track their sleep, receive insights on heart health, track their menstrual cycle, manage their medications, monitor environmental noise levels, and more.
- Benefit from a suite of third-party app experiences like Strava and Runna for runners; Golfshot and 18Birdies for golfers; and more.
The Apple Watch lineup supports everyone’s goals in the new year:
- Apple Watch Series 11 offers the most comprehensive set of health features yet with hypertension notifications and the ECG app, longer battery life, an even more durable cover glass, and 5G cellular capabilities, all in its thinnest and most comfortable design.
- Apple Watch SE 3 offers remarkable health, fitness, connectivity, and safety features, and the powerful capabilities of the S10 chip including an Always-On display and fast charging, at an incredible value.
- Apple Watch Ultra 3, the ultimate sports and adventure watch, features Emergency SOS via satellite, the largest display ever in an Apple Watch, 42-hour battery life, and powerful health insights.
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- To learn more about the Apple Research app, visit apple.com/ios/research-app.