Garmin Forerunner – Must Have Watch for Runners

December 28, 2018

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Introduction

Garmin is one of the leaders within the GPS industry, and their running watches are also top quality for fitness purposes. These running watches are a great fit for exercise or training at all levels. Notably, the Forerunner series features a set of watches that are perfect for fitness minded and athletic purposes.

Owning one of these running watches will be a lifestyle choice when incorporating fitness in your daily routine. Whether you are looking to step up your game or train as an athlete, Garmin has a multi-purpose watch that acts as the best partner. The company’s devices are built in to measure your activity, advise on training, and improve yourself through metrics.

Activity Measurements

Garmin Forerunner watches are built to measure your activity and collect data, providing the best recommendations and predictions. Its GPS embedded devices have been rigorously tested by sailors and pilots to ensure the best accuracy up to date. This is one of the reasons that we, here at Heart Rate Watch Company, hold Garmin in such high regards.

These fitness watches will be able to precisely log every workout while making precise calculations. The measurements include your speed, distance, time, heart rate, cadence, VO2, and much more. In turn, the watches are programmed to calculate how many calories you burn while making a recommendation on recovery time before you begin your next workout.

Training

From increasing fitness levels to preparing for a marathon, Garmin offers applications and customizable software to sync with your running watch. Users are also able to set custom parameters for their training schedules. Forerunner watches can pit you against previous times to build upon what you’ve achieved before. This allows you to strive from previous sessions and increase your schedule at your own pace.

Live connections can be utilized to get updates and allow friends to track your location. Connecting to online platforms while providing live feedback is a great way to improve yourself during every session. These features can show notifications during activities to motivate and let you know how to push yourself to reach your goals. It’s GPS indicator is a useful feature for families as they will know you are safe in any terrain when outdoors.

Garmin Connect

Garmin’s Connect application is a free online training tool that syncs with your watch. It is used to track metrics from workouts to your every move. Each account supports a specific goal, set by their users, from maintaining a particular time, calories burned, to comparisons, the connect app does it all.

What’s nice about these applications is that Garmin users can constantly check their statistics for motivation or customization in their workouts. Forerunner watches allow for personal settings such as fitness presets in a particular area or terrain. From there, owners can create their own standards and begin to achieve it daily. Lastly, the app allows users to compare themselves to others and acts as a motivational piece to improve upon their current state.

Selecting the Best Garmin Forerunner Watch

Garmin Forerunner has a series of running watches to fit each individual person, from proactive runners to athletes. You must consider your fitness routine and budget when purchasing one of these technology-enhanced running watches.

Below, we review a few watches with different purposes to give an idea of which best suits your current state of activity.

Garmin Forerunner 230 & 235

For proactive runners and fitness enthusiasts, the Garmin Forerunner 230 & 235 is the watch for you in terms of matching your routine. It is perfect for keeping up with your workouts by tracking metrics, your daily steps, customizing running routine, and connecting to your smart phone for notifications.

Garmin’s device provides plenty of metrics to keep you active on and track towards your goals. Running is made easy as this watch can account for both indoor and outdoor activities. Its accelerometer and GPS measures the distance, time and, speed of your runs. Extended metrics include heart rate, VO2 Max, calories burned, and recovery time after each session.

The running watch also features measurements of your daily steps. It includes an activity tracker which counts your steps and calories burned throughout a day. Both the 230 & 235 is a great companion to own in staying connected and receiving updates on the go.

Applications can be synced with these watches for updates throughout the day. From here, you can track your progress through Garmin Connect, comparing your results on the LiveTrack page immediately afterward. Smart phones can also be connected to receive notifications from emails to weather forecasts, keeping you informed.

There is only one difference between the Garmin Forerunner 230 & 235. The 235 contains an optical sensor to measure your heart rate from your wrist. However, the 230 must be paired with a chest strap to obtain these measurements.

Overall, the Garmin Forerunner 230 & 235 are great companions for runners in training, taking it to the next level. For daily runners, it fits nicely into their lifestyle, keeping them focused and challenged.

Pros

  • Measures Heart Rate
  • Track distance, time, calories, and recovery of run
  • Sync and track your results
  • Receive Notifications from phone

Cons

  • Forerunner 230 requires heart strap

Garmin Forerunner 735XT

Created for triathletes and many other high-level fitness purposes, the Garmin Forerunner 735XT is a solid all-around device that is loaded with features. The running watch contains multi-sport activities, a heart rate monitor, extra measurements, and connected features to share and track your stats and achievements.

The 735XT is packed with numerous settings to fit your every fitness routine. It contains settings for running, cycling, swimming, skiing, paddling, hiking, and strength training. This is especially convenient for tri-athletes as one button can toggle between sport presets to track each activity closely. Custom profiles can be created for an individual sport to load onto your Garmin device.

Garmin’s fitness watch features a built-in heart rate monitor to measure pulse from your wrist. Its screen displays metrics including your heart rate zone, heart rate, and beats per minute. As a result, running and exercising become seamless as data is constantly displaying through the color gage.

What makes the 735XT unique is the extended metrics for competitions or training. The running watch includes extended details with a heart strap, displaying VO2 Max, lactate threshold, racing predictor, recovery, stride length, vertical ratio and contact time balance. These extras may be the difference in taking your activity up a notch during competitions.

Lastly, the Garmin running watch can connect to devices for multiple purposes such as notifications and pairing with Strava to reach new heights each time. The watch can be paired with your phone to receive notifications while also sharing your progress live to receive feedback. Most importantly, it is compatible with Strava to get feedback and alerts from others in your online circle.

The Garmin Forerunner 735XT is a great watch for multiple athletic purposes. It’s only downside resides in the hefty price tag but is worth the investment if you require measurements in multiple categories with accuracy.

Pros

  • Heart Rate Monitor on Wrist
  • Multi-Sport Options
  • Extended measurements with Heart Strap
  • Notifications with Live Comments
  • Connect to Strava Live Segments

Cons

Garmin Forerunner 920XT

Garmin’s Forerunner 920XT is the perfect model for athletes of all types during any land and sea activities. The running watch features some great additions while focusing on heart rate, running, biking, and swimming.

The 920XT’s heart rate monitor is ideal for various occasions while providing detailed measurements through your wrist. Its optical technology is perfect for underwater training as the device stays in place while accurately detecting your heart rate in comfort. Additionally, the fitness watch provides heart rate, heart rate zone, VO2 max, and recovery times.

The GPS device is also built as the assistant within your running schedule. In running modes, it monitors 6 extra metrics such as contact time balance, cadence, vertical ratio, vertical oscillation, stride length, and ground contact time. Garmin included everyday features for tracking your steps, calories burned, and sleep to present a detailed overview of your day.

From indoor pools to the open seas, this device is also ideal for swimming, including a number of aids to keep you updated on how you’re doing in the pool. It can measure distance, pace, strokes, and its rates. Within the pool, there are training features for drills and sets within a lane. Swimmers can hold or build their pace for any type of scenario.

Lastly, the 920XT can be utilized by cyclists during workouts as its ANT+ meters are compatible with various sensors. When connected, the running watch can measure speed, cadence, heart rate, and sense pedal options.

With this watch, there are a few things to point out on the 920XT which can be small inconveniences to the daily user. The firmware is a bit outdated and could be enhanced to better view metrics during activities. Also, under Garmin connect, there is no option to customize swimming routines and create your own drill for training.

Considering the main features of the Garmin Forerunner 920XT, it is the ideal watch for athletes and triathletes. For ones that regularly partake in swimming, running, and cycling, the fitness watch is a great addition to your workout routine to assist and monitor your activities.

Pros

  • All-inclusive tracking for runners, bikers, and swimmers
  • Advanced Heart Rate statistics
  • All-purpose watch tracking daily use
  • ANT+ to connect with devices
  • Application Connected Extras

Cons

  • Old firmware
  • No swimming customization

Garmin Forerunner Fenix 5S

If the previous options do not seem like the right fit, then Garmin’s Fenix 5S is the ultimate athletic watch for anything you can imagine. The running watch comes jammed packed with features such as an enhanced navigation, performance monitoring, wireless heart rate, and a multitude of sports profiles for indoors and outdoors.

During adventures, you can never worry about getting lost again as the Fenix includes a GPS and GLONASS satellite tracking in all environments. It also contains sensors such as an altimeter, barometer, and compass to aid in your travels. This predicts elevations, weather, and the compass keeps you going in the right direction.

In addition, Garmin’s watch features new performance monitoring to enhance your workout for improvement. Tools such as the Training Status lets you know if you’re productively training or over the limits. Users can also compile and compare exercises to see if you are increasing your limits and expanding upon what you’ve accomplished.

The Fenix 5S comes with a built-in heart rate monitor to make your workouts convenient. It does not require a strap and can be utilized to measure daily activities such as calories burned, steps, and sleep patterns. By overseeing the metrics, you can adjust the intensity of your activities to match desired heart rate zones for goal purposes.

Most notably, the Garmin Fenix 5S is widely known for the numerous presets it has for any indoor and outdoor activity. This includes swimming, skiing, golfing, paddling, running, biking, and much more. Each profile provides a particular set of metrics to track your activity, with timely additional measurements to download from Garmin Connect.

Although the Fenix watch is the zenith of what Garmin has achieved, it does have a few downsides to consider when purchasing. It is the most expensive running watch that Garmin has produced for multiple activities. The notification interface is not the greatest as one cannot interact with it like other smart watches. Lastly, it’s Garmin app on the smart phone is a bit cluttered and difficult to read at times.

In conclusion, Garmin has created an ultimate watch for serious athletes that shuffle throughout various activities weekly. The Fenix 5S has a smaller and sleeker design that offers multi-sport options to keep up with your adventures.

Pros

  • Tracks every metric you can imagine
  • Multiple Sport Presets
  • Activity Logs with Recommendations
  • Heart Rate Monitor built in
  • Advanced GPS and tracking features

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Can’t interact with notifications
  • Hard to read application

Conclusion

Garmin Forerunner watches are at the top of their industry for a running watch. Its extensive measurements, and sport profiles make it easy to track specific activities and your progress within them. In addition, each contains a heart rate monitor that fits comfortably over your wrist. They are the perfect companion during exercises as you can easily check and track your current status.

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