You got a new Garmin. Here's how to log a gym workout on it.

Q: What does Garmin's own Strength activity do?

Open the activity list and choose Strength. Start the timer, do your set, then press the lap button. The watch shows the reps it counted, and you add the weight yourself. Good for: Heart rate and calories for the session, recorded to Garmin Connect next to your runs and rides. No extra app to install. Less good for: Lifts the wrist does not move. The rep counter cannot see a leg press or a leg curl. Knowing what to lift. Started on its own, Strength records each set after the fact. A target before the set needs a workout built in Garmin Connect first. Entering the weight. You scroll to it after every set, every time. A Connect IQ watch app replaces counting with confirming: the watch already knows your routine, shows the set you are about to do, and you confirm what you did. BulkForged, our app, works this way.

A new Garmin can already count your reps. To see what to lift before a set, you build each workout in Garmin Connect first. A Connect IQ watch app like BulkForged takes your routine from your phone instead, and setup takes about five minutes.

What does Garmin's own Strength activity do?

Open the activity list and choose Strength. Start the timer, do your set, then press the lap button. The watch shows the reps it counted, and you add the weight yourself.

Good for:

Heart rate and calories for the session, recorded to Garmin Connect next to your runs and rides.
No extra app to install.

Less good for:

Lifts the wrist does not move. The rep counter cannot see a leg press or a leg curl.
Knowing what to lift. Started on its own, Strength records each set after the fact. A target before the set needs a workout built in Garmin Connect first.
Entering the weight. You scroll to it after every set, every time.

A Connect IQ watch app replaces counting with confirming: the watch already knows your routine, shows the set you are about to do, and you confirm what you did. BulkForged, our app, works this way.

How do I add BulkForged's watch app?

Install BulkForged on your Android phone from Google Play, and the free watch app from Garmin's Connect IQ store.
In the phone app, open Settings, then Account & watch, then Add your watch, and tap Generate pairing code. Pairing needs a BulkForged account.
On the watch, open BulkForged and choose Pair watch. On a watch with buttons, press UP or DOWN to set each digit and START to move to the next one; on a touchscreen watch with no UP or DOWN button, swipe up or down instead and tap to move on.
Start a routine from the watch, or from your phone if you are mid-workout there already.

Once it's paired, the watch shows the exercise, the target weight and the target reps before every set.

The set overview on the watch: the exercise, the set, and the target weight and reps

Which Garmin watches does this run on?

90+ watches, button-only and touchscreen both — see every supported model to check yours by name. The main families:

What does it cost?

The watch app is free, and so is BulkForged's Basic plan: every workout, your history, your routines and your records. Coaching, which sets your next targets for you and shows why each one moved, is a paid plan after a 14-day preview. See what each plan includes.

Where do I get it?

BulkForged's phone app is free on Google Play, and the watch app is free from Garmin's Connect IQ store. Install both, then pair the watch to the phone app with a pairing code — that is the whole setup.

Get BulkForged on Google Play