Garmin Forerunner smartwatches are getting a big upgrade with new Strength Coach rollout

Garmin Forerunner 965
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is one of the watches benefitting (Image credit: Future)

  • Strength Coach is now heading to more users
  • The extra workouts are available for beta users
  • Forerunner and Venu watches are included

Up until this point it's only been the very best Garmin watches – the Fenix 8, the Enduro 3, and the Fenix E – that have had access to the Strength Coach feature. But it's now being rolled out in beta form to other models, including several Forerunner watches.

As spotted by the5krunner, Strength Coach is now available in beta for the Forerunner 965, Forerunner 955, Forerunner 265, Forerunner 255, Vivoactive 5, Venu 3, and Venu 3s. Once testing is complete, it should appear for everyone with one of those watches.

Like the Running Coach and Cycling Coach programs that are already widely available, the Strength Coach offers detailed guides for building up strength and muscle – with different plans available to suit your own goals and current progress.

Only a few days ago we heard Garmin was planning to add a Get Fit plan to the Strength Coach, a set of workouts aimed at beginners. It would make sense that Garmin would want this to be available more widely across its product range.

Coming to a wrist near you

Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED watch on wrist

The Strength Coach made its debut on the Fenix 8 (Image credit: Future / Matt Evans)

If you're keen to get Strength Coach and other new features before anyone else, you can sign up for the Garmin beta software program through your Garmin account – though you may have to put up with a few bugs and issues with these early software rollouts.

If you'd rather stick to the stable releases, just hang tight: the Strength Coach update will find you eventually. You shouldn't have long to wait, though it depends on whether any major problems are spotted during the beta phase.

For now, there's no word on whether any other watches – such as the Fenix 7 or the budget Forerunner 165 – are going to get the Strength Coach feature too, though presumably Garmin will eventually want this on as many wrists as possible.

We tested the strength training workouts as part of our full Garmin Fenix 8 review and came away impressed with what was on offer, awarding the watch a full five stars out of five – despite the hefty price tag attached.

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David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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