LiftTrack Offers All the Strength Training Features That Garmin Doesn’t.
Garmin watches are great for running , but they’re a bit difficult to use when trying to track strength training at the gym. (I have some tips on how to make the most of this odd experience.) But the LiftTrack app compensates for Garmin’s shortcomings by providing you with Garmin-powered strength measurement capabilities that Garmin probably should have included.
Creating workouts becomes smarter with LiftTrack
LiftTrack is an app (available for iOS and Android ) that helps you create and plan workouts, as well as view your workout and lift history. If you’ve used apps like Hevy or Strong to track your strength training, you’ll be familiar with the concept.
Create a workout in LiftTrack, and the process is similar to those used in strength training apps: you select exercises, specify the number of sets and reps you plan to do, and arrange them in your desired order, adding pairs of supersets as desired.
The Garmin app reverses the process: you organize work and rest blocks and then assign exercises to them. You can’t change the weight or the number of reps in a set until you break the exercise out of its short rep cycle and create a new block. This interface is convenient for high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but not so convenient for a traditional gym workout with squats and curls.
LiftTrack offers several built-in strength programs (like Garmin) and an AI-powered program builder (which Garmin doesn’t). Once you’ve created a workout, you can sync it to your calendar for a specific day or set up a recurring schedule so your bench press workout appears every Monday.
Your Garmin watch will track your routine.
Garmin has always had basic LiftTrack features, such as syncing workouts with your calendar. Garmin just doesn’t sync them properly. For example, there’s no easy way to tell Garmin you want to bench press every Monday. But Garmin does have a calendar that will automatically suggest bench press workouts if you set it up accordingly.
To start a workout, simply go to the gym, select “Strength Training” on your Garmin watch, and the screen will display your workout details for the day, asking if you’re ready to begin. As you complete the workout, the watch will record your reps and allow you to specify the weight you use. Once you complete the workout, the data will sync with LiftTrack.
LiftTrack allows you to view your history and progress
Reviewing your strength training after the fact in the Garmin app has never been easier. Yes, you can view today’s workout, but you won’t be able to get an overall picture, such as how your squat weight has changed over time.
LiftTrack, again, offers something Garmin doesn’t. I can view my strength training history in the calendar (without cluttering it with runs or other workouts), view my most recent workouts, and see progress graphs for each exercise.
Based on this history, LiftTrack can adjust your next workout, recommending a slightly heavier weight if you lifted more than expected last week. In short, this is everything Garmin should have included in its strength training feature, but didn’t.