Apple Fitness Monthly Challenge

Seems like all of the questions on this topic have been closed to any responses even though they've been virtually unsolved. I'm re-asking it here, but am also including my own solution(s) - my own self-licking ice cream cone.

So, like others, I've had some issues with Apple Fitness syncing properly, primarily with respect to the monthly challenges, which occasionally hit a glitch. In some instances I've properly recorded the activity on my phone using an app like Wahoo or Runkeeper, but it doesn't always accumulate properly towards achieving a goal on my watch.

This month, my task was to do 'at least' 5 minutes of indoor cycling, a minimum of 13 times. Pretty simple, since my normal indoor ride on exercise days is between 45-60 minutes. This tracked until I got to 8 out 13 rides, however, after this the watch somehow reset to having only 3 rides and stayed there - even after I hit 13 rides on my phone. The trigger for this may have been the most recent iOS update, but who can remember the timing of such things.

I finally fixed it by doing three things:

1. Minimum requirement. Because it literally needs to be > 5' each, I rode 6' on rest days. Just mentioning this because this is a commonly known issue. Whenever it says 'at least', always add one to the least significant digit in order to meet the requirement. Just to reiterate the point, if it says ride 5 minutes, ride 6, not 5:10. If it says run 3.2 miles, you need to run 3.3, not 3.21.
2. Rebooting both phone and watch. First, turn off the watch by holding down the button, tapping the power button, and swiping right. Then turn off your phone by holding down the power button (and up volume on newer phones), then swiping right. Re-power the phone, and make sure it's correctly logged into your Apple ID. Then re-power your watch, similarly making sure it can get to the internet: If it has it's own cell plan, you're good. If it uses your phone as a hot spot, make sure the hot spot is working. If it connects to your existing wifi, similarly make certain the watch is using it - many times the wifi doesn't connect if the Private Address is set and your wireless modem is set to only allow certain MAC addresses. Apple Watch defaults Private Address to on after rebooting the watch, which is real annoying - but if you know, you know.
3. Double check that both Fitness AND Fitness+ is using iCloud. No idea if this really has any impact, but am throwing it in there anyway. At some point Apple split the two parts of Fitness that uses iCloud and it's really confusing. Double check that BOTH Fitness and Fitness+ are set as Apps Using iCloud under Settings -> Apple ID menu -> iCloud -> Show All. Fitness+ is in the top section. Fitness (proper) is in the second section. I switched Fitness+ as part of the process even though I don't subscribe to it. I haven't checked to see if it stops syncing again if I turn Fitness+ off again because it's just too hard, so...

Hope this helps someone.