Huge Garmin update brings course planning, gear tracking and personalised workouts to the brand's smartwatches

Garmin has announced a sweeping software update for a range of its latest smartwatches, adding a raft of new training, health and connected features designed to make its ecosystem more useful day to day.

The update, which is now rolling out, touches everything from personalised coaching and sleep insights to gear tracking and accessibility.

Compatible models include recent flagships such as the Fenix 8 Pro, alongside the Venu X1, Vivoactive 6, Forerunner 570, and Forerunner 970, with some features also arriving in the Garmin Connect app for everyone.

Gear tracking moves to centre stage

One of the biggest additions is a significant expansion of Garmin’s gear tracking tools, a feature that has long been popular with runners and cyclists who like to monitor shoe mileage or component wear.

The new update introduces more gear categories, the ability to create collections, and a built-in database that lets you quickly find specific models when logging equipment.

Gear stats can now also be viewed directly on the watch, complete with a progress indicator showing how close an item is to the end of its useful life.

Training tools get more personalised

Garmin is also expanding its coaching offering with a new Fitness Coach feature that generates personalised plans based on training history and overall fitness.

These programmes span more than 25 activity types and combine heart-rate-based cardio sessions with optional strength work, extending beyond traditional running plans.

A new mixed session mode lets you track multiple activities in a single workout, which should appeal to hybrid athletes (e.g. HYROX, CrossFit, etc.) who don’t want to juggle separate files for circuits or brick sessions.

For race preparation, a course-planning tool lets you map routes with checkpoints, cut-off times, and aid stations, then sync the plan to your watch.

Health insights and lifestyle logging

On the health side, Garmin is introducing sleep alignment metrics that show how closely your schedule matches your circadian rhythm, alongside on-device lifestyle logging.

You can now record behaviours such as caffeine or alcohol intake directly from your Garmin watch and see how these habits correlate with sleep, stress and heart rate variability in reports.

The update also brings a handful of quality-of-life improvements, including live sports scores from major leagues, voice alerts for cyclists using Varia radar, and new accessibility options such as spoken data readouts and colour-blind display modes.

The updates are free and will continue rolling out to compatible devices over the coming weeks via automatic updates or Garmin Express.