Polar Fitness Watch Daily Goal: What does it mean and can I change it?

Polar Fitness Watch Daily Goal: What does it mean and can I change it?

Your daily goal you get from Polar is based on the global physical activity recommendations for moderate and vigorous intensity activities, as well as research findings on the negative health effects that too much sitting may have on you.  

Your daily activity goal is determined by the activity level you have chosen for a typical day (Level 1: Mostly Sitting, Level 2: Mostly Standing or Level 3: Mostly Moving). High, medium and low intensity activity, such as jogging, walking and household chores, respectively, all contribute to reaching your daily activity goal.  If you are an office worker, for instance, you would be expected to reach about 7 hours and 20 mins of low intensity activity during an ordinary day.  For people who stand and walk a lot during their working hours, Polar has higher expectations.



Durations for activities are the same for people of all ages, men and women. However, age and gender affect the intensity you need to reach your Daily activity goal. The younger you are, the more intense your activity needs to be, and men require higher intensity activities to reach their goal than women.


The goal is based on the average fitness level of people of certain age and gender. If it seems to you that your daily activity goal is very easy to reach you can change your activity level choice. This way you’ll get a more demanding daily activity goal.


When you set up your Polar watch, you go to Flow website and select the closest option to your typical day, and fill in your age and gender.


Daily Goal for Activity (on your feet) based upon the Level chosen:
If your typical day falls under the description of Level 1, your Daily Goal will be based upon the following intensity levels of your daily activity, or a combination of any of the three levels:
  • Low Intensity (standing work, light household chores) for 7 hours and 20 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • Medium Intensity activity (Walking and other moderate activity) for 2 hours and 11 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • High Intensity (jogging, running and other intense activities) for 57 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
If your typical day falls under the description of Level 2, your Daily Goal will be based upon the following intensity levels of your daily activity, or a combination of any of the three levels:
  • Low Intensity (standing work, light household chores) for 9 hours and 20 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • Medium Intensity activity (Walking and other moderate activity) for 2 hours and 47 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • High Intensity (jogging, running and other intense activities) for 1 hour and 13 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
If your typical day falls under the description of Level 3, your Daily Goal will be based upon the following intensity levels of your daily activity, or a combination of any of the three levels:
  • Low Intensity (standing work, light household chores) for 11 hours and 20 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • Medium Intensity activity (Walking and other moderate activity) for 3 hours and 23 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch
  • High Intensity (jogging, running and other intense activities) for 1 hour and 29 minutes to reach 100% of your Daily Goal that appears directly on your watch

Why do I need to select a typical day during the set up process of my watch?  How does it affect my daily goal?

typical day settings are found at your Flow account, in your profile settings.  The setting helps Polar evaluate how much energy you consume daily and how it affects your metabolism.

If you choose Level 1: Mostly Sitting, Polar gives you the lowest Activity goal.  With Level 2: Mostly Standing, the goal will be a little more demanding.  And with Level 3: Mostly Moving you'll need to be most active to fulfill the daily goal.




Can I change my daily activity goal?

The daily activity goal is based on your physical settings and your typical day.  You can change them in the Polar Flow website.  If you feel you need a more challenging goal, and your current typical day choose is Level 1: Mostly Sitting, you can change the typical day to Level 2: Mostly Standing or Level 3: Mostly Moving, for instance. 


Note: If you're an active person who mostly sits through their work day, you can opt to select Level 2: Mostly Standing or Level 3: Mostly Moving to get a bit more of a challenge to achieving your daily goal.


Derived from and adjusted from Polar Support Article: https://support.polar.com/us-en/support/what_is_the_daily_goal