If you are an avid runner, chances are you are using a Garmin Fitness watch to track your distances and performance. Garmin watches are designed to accurately measure distance, speed, heart rate (optional), time, altitude, and pace, all of which can be important to athletes in training.

If want to get the most from your Garmin, it’s worth taking the time to get to know it better. Here are a few useful tips on finding and setting up several key features on your Garmin watch.

Note: The following tips may not apply depending on your model (Garmin 35/45, 245, 645, 725, 945, Felix 5/6)

Maximize your Battery Life

One of the ways to limit your Garmin’s battery life is by limiting the smartphone notifications the device displays. If you are using an iPhone device, go to the iOS notifications settings to select the items to show on the device. If you are using an Android smartphone, from the Garmin Connect app, select Settings > Notifications.

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If your watch has a built-in wrist-based heart monitor, but you are not doing any time of heart rate training, you can turn off the Wrist-based Heart Rate Monitor. This will help conserve battery life on your long runs. Go to Menu > Settings > Heart Rate Monitor > Select Off (Auto is the default)

Turn the Backlight On for night running

Garmin has a special backlight feature that will automatically turn on the backlight with just a twist of the wrist. To access the backlight feature press Menu > Settings > System > Backlight.

If you want to set the backlight to turn on for wrist gestures, click on Gesture. Gestures include rotating your wrist toward your body to view the device. You can use the Only During Activity option to use gestures only during timed activities. To set the length of time before the backlight turns off, go to Timeout. Garmin also allow the ability to set the brightness level on the backlight, by clicking on Brightness.

Increase GPS accuracy

Ever wonder why your running partner’s pace is different than yours while you are running together? It may be that your GPS is set to locate GPS satellite.

By default, your Garmin uses GPS to locate satellites. For increased performance in challenging environments and faster GPS position location, you can enable GPS and GLONASS. Using GPS and GLONASS reduces battery life more than using only GPS. To change your GPS settings, select Menu > Activity Settings > GPS > GPS + GLONASS.

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Auto Scroll Data Screen

Garmin provides a number of Data Screens that can allow you to monitor your performance. Because Garmin only allows for a maximum of (4) four data points, the only option is to scroll through the Data Screens to view your performance.

Garmin also has an Auto Scroll feature, which allows runners the ability to cycle through all of the training data screens automatically while the timer is running. To adjust the settings for this feature, select Menu > Activity Settings > Auto Scroll. Select a display speed.

LiveTrack (Let others track you while running)

With the requirements for social distancing, running solo is the only option but sometimes safety concerns become an issue. Garmin Connect LiveTrack allows users to share real-time information from an outdoor activity being recorded on a Garmin device with friends or family.

To use this unique feature, a mobile phone device with a cellular signal must be paired and connected to the Garmin Connect app. Setting up the LiveTrack can be easily done in the Garmin Connect app and needs to be setup only once.

To set up LiveTrack, open the Garmin Connect app , access the Menu (Android: Select menu icon (top left) / iOS: Select More (bottom right). Select LiveTrack and select how you want someone to receive a link to your livetrack (email or twitter). If by email, click on Recipients > Enter Email Address, to enter an email address the link will be sent to > Done. Use Auto Start to automatically start LiveTrack each time you start an activity on your device. This feature will display for compatible devices. If it is not an option, you likely have a device that does not offer this feature.

Note: LiveTrack can only be used if you are running with a mobile phone device with a cellular signal.

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