Garmin’s Update Just Added a Weighing Feature to This Watch
A new update for Garmin watches adds a running feature with backpack weight adjustment to the Instinct 3 (both regular and tactical), Fenix 8 series, and Enduro 3. The running feature is also available at launch for the new Forerunners , 570 , and 970. The same software update also adds breathing change detection to a wide range of watches, including the Vivoactive, Venu, Lily, and Forerunner models.
Backpacking— walking with a weighted backpack —is both a fitness activity for people looking for a little exercise and a necessity for many hikers and campers. But without a specific activity or a backpack weight setting, the only obvious way to track it was as a regular hike. Because you move slower when carrying a heavy backpack, it affected people’s VO2max scores—the watch thought you were slowing down because you were losing shape.
The backpack weight setting changes this. In addition to running activities, trail running, hiking, and walking will also have this setting (at least on the supported watches I mentioned above). This allows you to log today’s backpack as being done with a 15-pound pack, and tomorrow’s as being done with a 10-pound pack, if those are the weights you carry.
There’s no word yet on whether carry or backpack weights will be coming to other watches in the future. Older Forerunners, including the just-replaced 265 and 965, won’t get the new carry features.
How to track rafting if your watch isn’t included in the update
If you have one of the older Forrunners or other watches that won’t load in this update, there’s a workaround. As noted in this Reddit thread , you can create a cardio workout. (Go to the More menu in Garmin Connect, then Training & Planning, then Create Workout.)
Create a single step in the cardio workout and set the exercise to Walk for that step. You will be able to add weights. This activity will not track your location via GPS, so it is not the best option if you are hiking in the wilderness or need to track your speed, but some users have found it useful for recording pack weight and time spent hiking.
What else is in the update?
The new software update has a slight benefit for the -65 Forerunners, as well as the older 255 and 955 , and a few other watches like the Venu 3, Vivoactive 5, and Vivoactive 6. It’s a feature for detecting “breathing changes” throughout the night. It uses Pulse Ox (blood oxygen) to detect “changes in your breathing pattern” as you sleep. They don’t want to call it sleep apnea detection since it’s not a medical device, but these changes are what you might see if you had sleep apnea.
The update also adds a device lock passcode to several devices that didn’t have one before. (Passcodes were introduced for some devices earlier this year .) According to a chart Garmin posted along with the new update, the latest Venu, Vivoactive, and Forerunner watches already had passcodes, and the update adds them to the Lily 2, Instinct 3, and E.