Why Tracking Strength Workouts with Your Garmin Watch is a Game-Changer (If You Do It Right)

1/5/2025

If you already own a Garmin watch, chances are you understand the value of tracking your fitness progress. Whether it’s recording your runs, cycling sessions, or even your heart rate variability, tracking helps you stay accountable and push your limits. But what about strength training? Why is it just as important to track your progress in the gym as it is on the road or trail? And how does LiftTrack solve the gaps in Garmin’s ecosystem to make this experience seamless and rewarding?

Let’s dive into why tracking your workouts matters, where Garmin excels (and falls short), and how LiftTrack bridges the gap.

Why It’s Important to Track Your Progress

What gets tracked gets improved. It’s as simple as that. Without a system for tracking your lifts, it’s easy to forget what you did last time in the gym. Did you bench 200 lbs for 8 reps, or was it 6? Did you rest 90 seconds between sets, or 3 minutes? Here’s why tracking matters:

  • Measure Progress: If you don’t track your weights, reps, and sets, it’s impossible to know if you’re getting stronger over time.

  • Avoid Plateaus: Progressive overload (gradually increasing weight or reps) is key to building muscle and strength. Learn more about the benefits of progressive overload.

  • Optimize Recovery: Rest time between sets affects your performance. Tracking rest intervals ensures you’re adapting for strength (3-5 minutes) or hypertrophy (30-90 seconds).

  • Efficiency: Tracking lets you complete more work in less time, so you’re in and out of the gym without sacrificing results.

"You can’t improve what you don’t measure." - Peter Drucker

Garmin Watches Are Great at Tracking Strength and Endurance Workouts

Garmin watches excel not only in endurance sports but also in tracking lifting workouts. Here’s what makes them a powerhouse for fitness enthusiasts:

  • Accurate GPS: Perfect for tracking distance and pace during outdoor activities.

  • Robust Data: Heart rate, calories burned, VO2 max, and more provide actionable insights.

  • Strength Training Features: Native support for tracking reps, weight, and rest during strength sessions.

  • Structured Workouts: Build custom workouts with timed intervals and guidance.

  • Focus-Friendly: No need to pull out your phone in the middle of an activity—everything is on your wrist. Here’s why minimizing distractions matters.

Where Garmin Falls Short for Strength Training

As good as Garmin is for endurance sports, its strength training support leaves much to be desired. Here are the main pain points:

  1. Clunky Workout Creation:

    • No support for supersets.

    • Adding sets with different weights and reps requires multiple steps.

    • Rest timers need to be added manually for each step.

  2. Limited Analytics:

    • No detailed breakdown of specific exercises or long-term performance trends.

  3. Manual Adjustments:

    • Editing completed workouts for accuracy is time-consuming.

    • No automatic updates based on past performance.

  4. Scheduling Challenges:

    • Can’t schedule recurring workouts like “Upper Body every Tuesday.”

How LiftTrack Solves These Problems

LiftTrack was built to make strength training with your Garmin watch easy, efficient, and effective. Here’s how it addresses Garmin’s shortcomings:

  • User-Friendly Workout Creation:

    • Create and edit strength workouts with ease.

    • Support for supersets, varying reps/weights, and rest timers without extra steps.

  • Seamless Integration:

    • Sync workouts to Garmin Connect and follow them on your watch using the native Strength app.

    • Completed workouts sync back to LiftTrack for analysis.

  • Smart Analytics:

    • View detailed performance metrics to make informed adjustments.

    • Ensure progressive overload with auto-updated reps and weight targets.

  • Automated Scheduling:

    • Schedule recurring workouts, so your watch always shows what’s next.

In the ideal world, you wouldn’t need to touch LiftTrack once your program is set up. Just follow your workouts on your watch and let the app handle the rest.

The Future of Strength Training with LiftTrack

LiftTrack is under active development, and we’re always adding features to improve your experience. Here’s what’s next:

  • Advanced workout scheduling options.

  • Smarter progression algorithms.

  • Custom reports to track your long-term gains.

We’re building this app for you, so please share your feedback and feature requests. Together, we’ll make strength training with your Garmin watch the best experience possible.

Try LiftTrack today and take your strength training to the next level

By tracking your progress, overcoming Garmin’s limitations, and using LiftTrack, you’ll unlock your full potential in the gym. Your gains are waiting—go get them!