The new Garmin Connect Rundown empowers users to track their progress and stay committed to ‘beat yesterday’
Garmin announced its 2025 Garmin Connect Data Report, Garmin users logged 8% more activities than in 2024, reflecting steady growth in global fitness participation. Backed by continuous monitoring and long-lasting battery life, the report highlights global activity and health patterns, revealing regional differences and shifts across exercise categories that reflect evolving training habits and lifestyle behaviors.
Looking ahead to 2026, insights from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) indicate that wearable technology will continue to lead global fitness trends, and hybrid training may gain broader popularity. To support long-term personal health insights, Garmin introduces the Garmin Connect Rundown — a year-in-review feature that provides users with a clear, personalized overview of their training and daily routines, helping them better understand their wellness habits and stay motivated to beat yesterday.
Global Fitness Participation Increases 8% — Hybrid Training, Strength Workouts, and Racket Sport Rise Across Asia
This year, Garmin users completed 8% more activities than last year, with running, walking, cycling, strength training, and indoor cardio ranking as the top five sports. Garmin’s data reveals notable differences across regions.
In Asia, users are increasingly adopting a more balanced mix of cardio and strength workouts, while racket sports continue to gain significant momentum, in Malaysia, running and walking continue to hold the top two spots as the most popular fitness activities, while new favourites are quickly gaining ground. Pickleball participation spiked 700% year-on-year, padel climbed 132%, Pilates grew 43%, and strength training increased 24%, signalling a rising interest in diverse and social forms of fitness.
Running: Global outdoor running increased by 6%, with Japan recording the highest number of running activities. Norway saw a 16% increase in indoor running, reflecting differences driven by climate and training culture.
Walking: Over half of global Garmin users averaged over 8,000 steps per day, with 28% exceeding 10,000 steps. Hong Kong ranked #1 globally with 10,663 steps per day, followed by South Korea ranked (9,969), and Spain (9,937).
Hiking: Global hiking activity grew 12%, with Slovenia recording the highest share of hiking activity among all regions
Strength Training: Strength training increased 29% globally, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth above 20%. Women recorded 6% more strength-training sessions than men. In Asia, strength training grew 27%, surpassing cycling for the first time and entering the top three sports, indicating a shift toward more balanced training routines.
Racket Sports: Including pickleball, badminton, table tennis and padel, racket sports grew 67% globally and more than doubled in Asia. Vietnam recorded the highest per capita in racket sports.
Health Monitoring: Women reported 3% lower stress levels than men, with the Netherlands ranking as the least stressed country. Body Battery data showed greater energy fluctuations among younger users, while China recorded the highest average daily energy expenditure.
2026 Global Fitness Trend Forecast
According to the 2026 ACSM Worldwide Fitness Trends, wearable technology remains top of the fitness trend for the fifth straight year, with growing interest in advanced metrics such as heart rate variability (HRV), sleep data, and VO₂ max. Fitness apps ranked #4, helping users build consistent exercise habits through reminders, rewards, and tracking features. Senior fitness continues to rise, emphasizing the importance of professional training and health management for aging populations.
Functional and core-focused training is expected to see continued growth. Activities such as yoga and Pilates emphasize strength, core stability, and flexibility to improve overall fitness and reduce the risk of injury. Physiological data and analytics have become essential tools for coaches and other fitness professionals, enabling personalized, science-based training programs. Garmin Coach training programs and Garmin Health’s integration with third-party health platforms further demonstrate how data can support diverse activities, from running to strength training.
By leveraging long-term personal data, Garmin users can access timely, personalized training guidance and recovery strategies, fostering a safer, more efficient, and technology-enhanced fitness lifestyle.
Garmin Connect Rundown: Comprehensive Integration of Physiological Data
Garmin continuously monitors users’ health through precise and continuous tracking. This month, Garmin introduced the Garmin Connect Rundown as part of its newly launched Garmin Connect+ subscription. The premium plan provides personalized Active Intelligence insights to help users enhance their health and fitness knowledge. It also offers Live activity features that allow real-time tracking of heart rate, pace, and indoor workouts on a smartphone. More exclusive features will be added in the future.
The newly launched Garmin Connect Rundown compiles a full year of physiological metrics and activity data—such as users’ top three sports, total annual activity volume, step count and sleep data. It provides a clear view of long-term health and activity patterns, helping users track progress and examine changes through scientific data. With these health insights, users can set health goals for 2026, whether improving sleep, building strength, or taking on outdoor adventures. Garmin leverages technology to help everyone better understand their bodies and pursue a healthier everyday life, beat yesterday’.
“Customers worldwide love using Garmin Connect to track, analyze and share their health and fitness activities. We are excited to provide even more personalized data and enriched features with the addition of Garmin Connect+. You can now learn even more about yourself, take on new challenges, train confidently and stay even more connected.” – Mr. Scoppen Lin, Assistant General Manager, Garmin Asia.
Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionized life for adventurers, athletes, off-road explorers, road warriors and outdoor enthusiasts everywhere. Committed to developing products that enhance experiences, enrich lives and help provide peace of mind, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday.
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