Which Sports Can My Garmin Smartwatch Help Me Track?

To make the most of Garmin smartwatches, it’s worth knowing ‘what does a Garmin watch track?’. These watches are built to be more than your standard smartwatch, giving a completely tailored experience depending on your fitness goals.

As a long-time Garmin admirer, I’ll guide you through what Garmin watches do, how Garmin sports work, and how to get the most from your device.

What Sports Are Available on Garmin?

The exact list will depend on the model, but most Garmin watches support the following: 

• Running (road, trail, treadmill)
• Cycling (road, indoor, mountain)
• Swimming (pool and open water)
• Hiking
• Golf
• Fitness Training (strength training, cardio, yoga)

There are some Garmin watches built more for certain sports than others. For example, the Garmin MARQ Golfer has specific features like preloaded courses, wind speed and direction, and club tracking.

What Does a Garmin Watch Track? 

No matter your sport, Garmins are designed to be companions to your lifestyle, and can track many health-related statistics. 

• Distance, pace, speed, and time.
• GPS routes and elevation.
• Heart rate and training zones.
• Calories burned and recovery data.
• Sleep, stress, and body battery.

Running

If you’re a running enthusiast, a Garmin smartwatch is your ultimate companion. Garmin running profiles track:

• Cadence and pace. 
• Distance measurement.
• Heart rate monitoring.

Best Garmin Watches for Running: The MARQ II Athlete is where you want to look if you’re into running. It’s got everything you need to track your progress, like stamina tracking and NextFork™, which helps with trail running by showing the name of the upcoming trail. If you’re marathon training, it’ll even give you predictions on your time based on past runs. 

Cycling

Garmin cycling modes provide:

• Speed and elevation tracking.
• GPS mapping.
• Real-time stamina information.

Best Garmin Watch for Cycling: The Fenix 8 is built for durability, accompanying you on bike rides on roads, trails, and even mountains. It’s got clear visuals for those foggy or dark conditions, and a built-in microphone for making calls hands-free.

Swimming

Garmin smartwatches can improve your swimming experience by:

• Lap count and distance.
• Stroke type and rate.
• Time and pace.

Best Garmin Watch for Swimming: Garmin Venu watches. They come with the choice of black silicone and leather straps to easily change between swim and the office. It’s also got skin temperature readings, stress tracking, and 5 ATM water resistance. 

Hiking

If hiking is your sport, you’ll need a smartwatch that can offer topographical mapping and route tracking features. Garmin smartwatches have:

• Superior positioning accuracy in any environment. 
• ABC sensors for elevation data, weather barometer, and electronic compasses.
• Preloaded TopoActive Europe maps to navigate trails.

Best Garmin Watches for Hiking: The Garmin MARQ Adventurer is made for hikers. It’s got a ClimbPro ascent planner to see real-time gradient, distance, and elevation gain. The acclimation widget shows your current elevation, acclimated elevation and your pulse, heart, and respiration rate. 

Golf

Golfers benefit from using a Garmin smartwatch, which fine-tunes your golf swing or putting technique. These watches come packed with features, including:

• 42,000+ preloaded courses from around the world.
• Virtual caddie, which provides club recommendations.
• Wind speed and direction data. 

Best Garmin Watch for Golfing: The Garmin MARQ Golfer (Gen 2) comes with everything you might need as an avid golfer, from club recommendations, greater accuracy of the green, and club tracking sensors. 

Fitness Training

All Garmin watches support general fitness tracking, making them ideal beyond structured sports. 

You can track:

• Strength and cardio workouts.
• Daily activity and calories.
• Sleep and recovery. 

This makes Garmin just as useful for gym sessions and wellbeing as it is for competition and endurance training. 

How to Add Sports to a Garmin Watch

If you’re wondering how to add sports to a Garmin watch, it’s a quick process that can be done in two ways:

Add Sports Directly on the Watch

1. Press the Activity button.
2. Scroll to Add Activity.
3. Select the sport you want to track.
4. Save it to your activity list.

Add or Manage Garmin Sports in Garmin Connect

Using the Garmin Connect app:

• Open the app and select your device.
• Tap Activities & Apps.
• Add, remove, or reorder sports so your favourites appear first.

This is especially useful if you track multiple activities and want faster access.

Choosing the Right Garmin Watch 

Choosing a Garmin is much like choosing a fine watch, it should suit your lifestyle, your ambitions, and how you move. At Banks Lyon, we offer an extensive range Garmin watches on finance, suitable for everyone from new comers to elite athletes. 

So, whether you’re starting your fitness journey or a seasoned athlete, visit our store to speak to our expert team or get in touch with us online. We’re always happy to help you find a Garmin that fits both your training and your wrist perfectly.