Which Garmin watch is best for weight lifting?

For lifting, look first for five physical buttons, because a press works with sweaty or chalky hands. The fēnix 8 and 9, epix Pro, Forerunner 265, 965 and 970, and Instinct 3 AMOLED all have them.

After that, choose by wrist size, lens and battery. No single model suits every lifter, so the tables below say what each one suits.

Specs come from Garmin's own US product pages, press releases and owner's manuals, read on 4 October 2026. BulkForged is our app. Its watch app runs on most of these watches, but not on Venu or vívoactive.

What matters in a watch for the gym?

• Buttons. A press works through sweat, chalk and gloves. A touchscreen needs a clean, bare fingertip.
• A readable screen. Larger cases carry larger screens, from 1.1 to 1.5 inches across these watches.
• Size and weight. Cases run from 41 to 51 mm. With the band, they weigh from 36 g to over 100 g.
• A tough lens. Bars and racks knock watches. Garmin describes its sapphire lenses as scratch-resistant.
• Battery. Every watch below lasts at least 10 days in smartwatch mode, by Garmin's figures.
• App support. All nine run Connect IQ apps. Each lifting app still lists its own supported watches.

How do the current Garmin lines compare?

How to read it:

• Battery is Garmin's "up to" figure in smartwatch mode. A range covers the different sizes.
• The fēnix 9 Pro reaches 31 days at 51 mm.
• Solar editions of the fēnix 8 and fēnix 9 Pro use a memory-in-pixel screen and last longer.
• The Forerunner 265 comes as the 265S at 42 mm and the 265 at 46 mm.

Which one suits which lifter?

• The Instinct 3 AMOLED has a metal-reinforced bezel and is built to MIL-STD 810, Garmin says.
• The vívoactive 6 weighs 36 g with its band, the lightest here.
• The Forerunner 265S, at 42 mm and 39 g, is the lightest five-button watch here.

Are buttons or a touchscreen better with sweaty hands?

• Garmin's fēnix 8 manual walks through the whole Strength activity with buttons alone.
• The same manual explains how to turn the touchscreen off. Hold the lower-left and upper-right buttons.
• The Instinct 3 AMOLED has no touchscreen. Its manual describes five buttons.
• Venu 4 and vívoactive 6 have two buttons plus a touchscreen.
• In Garmin's Strength activity on a vívoactive 6, the bottom button ends a set. You tap an edit icon to add the weight.

Which of these watches run BulkForged?

• fēnix 8: AMOLED, Solar and Pro.
• fēnix 9, all three sizes, and every fēnix 9 Pro size, Solar included.
• epix Pro (Gen 2), all three sizes.
• Forerunner 265, 265S, 965 and 970.
• Instinct 3 AMOLED, both sizes. The Instinct 3 without an AMOLED screen is not supported.
• Not the Venu 4 or vívoactive 6. No Venu or vívoactive model runs it.

• The watch shows each set's target weight and reps. You confirm a set in three presses.
• Every supported watch has the five buttons in the diagram above.
• It runs on 60+ Garmin watches in all. See every supported model.
• Android only today. iPhone users can join the waitlist.
• Pairing the watch needs a BulkForged account. The phone app works without one.

What if I have a Venu or vívoactive?

• Garmin's built-in Strength activity runs on both. Garmin's spec pages list strength workouts for each.
• It counts reps from wrist movement. The vívoactive 6 manual notes that leg exercises may not be counted.
• Other Connect IQ lifting apps publish their own watch lists. Check each app's store page for your model.
• Compare the options in Best strength training apps for Garmin watches.
• Strength activity giving you trouble? See how to fix weights, exercise names and sets.

Where do these specs come from?

• Garmin's US product pages for each watch, read on 4 October 2026.
• Garmin's press releases for the fēnix 8, fēnix 9, Forerunner 265 and 965, Forerunner 970 and Instinct 3.
• Garmin's owner's manuals for the buttons on each watch.
• Specs and editions change. Check Garmin's page for your exact model before you buy.

Related: Using your Garmin watch, Adding your watch.