Does BulkForged work on the Garmin vívoactive?

Yes. BulkForged's free watch app runs on the vívoactive 4, 4S, 5 and 6. It runs a whole gym workout from your wrist, with your phone left in the locker.

How is it different from Garmin's Strength activity?

Garmin's own Strength activity counts your reps from wrist movement, and you add the weight after each set. On a vívoactive 6, you press the bottom button to end a set, then tap an edit icon to add the weight. Garmin's vívoactive 6 manual also notes that leg exercises may not be counted.

BulkForged works the other way round:

• It shows the weight before the set. Your target weight and reps come from your plan.
• It counts nothing. The reps start at your target, and you confirm what you did, so leg extensions and leg presses log as easily as curls.
• It remembers. Your next targets come from what you logged, so the weight goes up when you have earned it.¹

¹ Part of Coaching, the paid plan. Every install starts with 14 days of it free, with no card.

Fixing a Strength activity instead? See how to fix weights, exercise names and sets.

How do I log a set without up and down buttons?

A vívoactive has no up or down button, so a set takes swipes and taps:

1. On the set overview, tap the screen to start the set.
2. Swipe up or down to the weight you're lifting, then tap. Quick swipes take bigger steps: 0.5, then 1, 2.5 and 5.
3. Swipe to the reps you did, then tap. The set is logged, and the rest timer starts.
4. Tap to skip the rest, or let it run out.

Each screen says so at the bottom: "swipe up/dn tap". Press the bottom button, or swipe right, to step back a screen. From the set overview, that opens the workout menu, where you can jump to another exercise.

Which vívoactive watches does BulkForged run on?

Screen sizes are in pixels, from Garmin's Connect IQ developer files. Every one is a touchscreen. The vívoactive 4 and 4S have a memory-in-pixel (MIP) screen instead of AMOLED, and BulkForged draws the same screens on it.

Which vívoactive watches does it not run on?

• Every vívoactive 3, the Music editions included.
• The first vívoactive and the vívoactive HR.

Not sure which one you have? Garmin's Connect IQ store lists every compatible watch on the app's page. See every supported model.

How do I set it up on a vívoactive?

1. Install BulkForged on your Android phone from Google Play, and the free watch app from Garmin's Connect IQ store.
2. In the phone app, open Settings, then Account & watch, then Add your watch, and tap Generate pairing code. Pairing needs a BulkForged account.
3. On the watch, open BulkForged and choose Pair watch. Swipe up or down to set each digit of the code, and tap to move to the next one.
4. Start a routine from the watch.

Does the workout show up in Garmin Connect?

Yes. A workout you run on the watch also saves to Garmin Connect as a strength training activity, with heart rate and calories. Your sets and weights stay in BulkForged. More in what's saved where.

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.

Is there an iPhone app?

Not yet. BulkForged is Android only today, so a vívoactive paired to an iPhone cannot use it yet. iPhone is coming soon. Join the waitlist.

Which other Garmin watches work?

• Venu
• fēnix
• epix Pro
• Forerunner
• Instinct 3 AMOLED
• Instinct
• Every supported watch, 90+ in all

Related: Adding your watch, Using your Garmin watch, The set overview screen on your watch, The rest timer on your watch, The weight screen on your watch, The reps screen on your watch.