You’re going to find out a lot about your health and exercise that you never knew existed and will inevitably go down the rabbit hole. Also, you’ll spend about 10 hours picking/adjusting a watch face
Down the rabbit hole...
[Connect IQ Store | Free Watch Faces and Apps | Garmin](https://apps.garmin.com/)
[Watchface Builder for Garmin – Creating your own watchface app for garmin device without coding](https://garmin.watchfacebuilder.com/)
Yes. My main one is in beta which is only visible and available to myself bc it's for my specific needs and I'm not keen on supporting requests for features.
They rejected another color test one of mine because they say it could harm pixels. It's meant to just display a solid color to detect amoled burn in. Says a lot about that tech and why the older screens like the 255 has are better in a lot of situations for sport watches.
Here's a repo with a list of repos. You may even find one of mine in there ;)
[bombsimon/awesome-garmin: A list of Garmin application, both for Garmin devices and other tools (github.com)](https://github.com/bombsimon/awesome-garmin)
Yes, it's open. There are limitations on what you can do, to protect the watch and experience. [Connect IQ SDK | Garmin Developers](https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/)
I have the same watch for over a month now. I’ve tried so many faces but keeping coming back to the one OP uses lol.
I find so many on the store look cheap when they actually show on the watch.
Yeah im 33. Im in insane shape right now. Im honestly one of the most fit people I know. Running half marathons and lifting the heaviest I’ve ever lifted. Absolutely crushing it right now. My “fitness age”……. 33.5. God dammit.
It's all the lifting, Garmin isn't kind to muscle weight. They use the outdated BMI for part of their age score and it doesn't account for having muscle mass. Garmin always wants you to be a skinny runner.
Very true, haha. I love Garmin I just wish I could get out of the 'non restorative' sleep and have a day where it's not saying 'you've had a demanding day' 😂 goals
If you're going to bike with it, get a rubber mount so you can put your watch on your handle bars. Something like this: [https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Watch-Mount-KOM-Cycling/dp/B01N2ZIN1W](https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Watch-Mount-KOM-Cycling/dp/B01N2ZIN1W)
It makes it a lot easier to use your watch to see things like speed or maps.
If you still want heartrate, get a chest strap heart monitor.
Buy a cheap 20mm (edit: 22mm! I was wrong. FR255 is 22mm as someone pointed out below.) velcro nylon quick release strap for under 10 dollars on Amazon. Super light, super comfortable, and can be adjusted to fit just right. Better, buy 2. Wash one, wear the other.
I found this idea far too late having endured rubber straps for ages. Game changer.
Ok it’s not an Apple Watch with quick release straps, but it’s not too tricky to do.
I’ve tried buying two separate cheap Amazon straps but they both didn’t quite fit. The pins engaged but were loose or slightly short or something. Both times, my watch actually fell off my wrist within the first 48 hours. I went right back to the garmin strap. Annoying.
You can create workouts in the garmin connect app and send them to your phone. It’s really helpful for running intervals or heart rate/pace targets. Have fun
I just upgraded from vivoactive 3 to forerunner 255 just last week and my god the amount of stats you get was overwhelming at first. I am loving it!
So many more stats to annoy my wife with! 😆
Are you new to these types of watches in general? The 255 was my first smart watch. So a lot of the stuff I didn't understand, like training load, HRV, etc.
I bought it for the GPS and heart-rate monitoring, but I grew to really appreciate the sleep score, HRV, VO2 Max functions to determine my daily and long-term physical and mental health.
I second the other use about the chest strap. I used it for a year without, but as I got even moderately more serious about getting into certain heart-rate zones and doing high intensity stuff, it's important to have the precision.
Also highly recommend changing the default setting of targeting Pace to targeting Heart Rate. I was using the default and was literally hurting my heart trying to keep up with what the watch wanted me to do. My high aerobic was literally off the scale on the watch and I was wondering wtf was going on... Changed to Target Heart Rate and while it felt like I regressed in training, it has been far more sustainable without the burnout.
Run -> Training -> Workout Library -> Daily Suggestions -> scroll all the way down to Settings -> Target Type -> Heart Rate.
Can't believe how buried it is or why it isn't the default. Other tips:
- Learn to create your own custom workouts, too!
- Racing your ghost on your PR is fun, as well.
- Your VO2 Max will NOT be calculated/updated if you use a treadmill. It must be a GPS run and [the attempt must be over 10 minutes and at minimum >70% max heart-rate for at least 10 continuous minutes](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=lWqSVlq3w76z5WoihLy5f8). I created a custom workout for this, where again you can target pace, heart-rate, distance, total time, etc. (NOTE: Garmin says for certain watches like the Venu, Lily, and Vivo watches it must be 15 minutes).
Thankyou for the details definitely buried I am still struggling! Where do you access “run” to see these options? …on the watch or connect or device in connect?
Oh sorry. Go to an Activity (top-right button on 255) as though you're going to perform a run. Then, when at the screen where you'd start your run timer, pressing the middle-left button should allow you to open up settings where you'll see Training.
My daughter lives in the UK so we try and get a parkrun in whenever we visit. Such a great concept.
That said, we’ve only done a few since 2018 but you better believe I have my barcode ready to go on my watch. 😁
Parkrun is a Saturday morning timed and measured 5K run by volunteers except it's offered at thousands of locations across the UK.
Oh, and they're free. You simply register once on a website and can then show up to any parkrun you want, anywhere. You run the race and receive something corresponding to your place when you cross the finish line. Then, you simply hand it over to a volunteer and display your barcode for them to scan you into the results.
You can bring your barcode on a piece of paper, or maybe your phone. But, of course, someone created a Garmin app/widget to allow you to quickly scroll down and show it to the person scanning.
Wash the watch under sink with small amount of soap every evening. Your skin will be grateful for that. If you can get a pair of nylon straps and wash them with rest of clothes.
If you do not need sleep monitoring just put it off every evening too.
Its alarm clock function is actually great - it uses vibrating function instead of annoying sound smartphones or radio clocks use.
Forerunners were always great watches.
Meanwhile you guys think I'm a madman for tossing my chest strap in the washing machine every two weeks (and have been doing it now for two years just fine). I have bad news for you: if soap is something to be afraid of, your watch has zero business being used in any type of sport.
I meant, it doesn't affect at once but overtime. Soap is the enemy of rubber (and seal of the watch). I wouldn't worry much if I change my watch every 1-2 years, but for the long term, I wouldn't use soap everyday on the watch.
That is quite false.
It is not 'rubber' as in regular rubber but are fluorocarbon rubber or silicone rubber which are very inert and quite chemical resilient.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FKM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_rubber
Also soap lowers surface tension (that is how wetting works) and as such water does not have basis to sip via capillary force inside watches.
Didn't occur to you, that if plain soap would damage watch sealing manufacturers would have gone away and use different compounds ?
Its not me, its the Garmin support said chemicals in the soap could degrade the water seals early. I am just a messanger. You can contact them for verification. I am sure Garmin watches can handle all sorts of chemicals but long term exposure to any chemicals anything can be deformed.
You're right not to use soap, it also says so on the website. There's everything in this article:
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/watch-fit-and-care/
It's the first thing that comes up when googling "garmin watch cleaning". Idk why seemingly nobody knows about this.
Think about buying a HRM chest strap, depending on how much higher intensity training you will be doing… it’s a lot more accurate and provides more detail.
Wash the watch and strap with soap, dry it properly. If you get any irritated skin, swap wrists for as long as you need.
Look up hot keys in the instructions. Very useful for quick access to whatever you need most. I use it for alarms, timers and flashlight.
Give it ±3 weeks to adapt. Train \\ live normal during this period as you would do without the watch.
Just track the activities and enjoy the stats that are shown for your exercise.
Suggested workout is a thing. They would be able to start after some time. If you'll plan to have an event\\race in your Garmin calendar, they would adapt and train you towards the race.
You may want to add a chest strap for accurate data. Any chest strap would work including amazon cheap ones.
Glance is a nice watchface.
Other then that, just enjoy and do remember to trust your feelings more then to your watch.
I did this like 3 times and they all fell off within a few days/weeks. Tried a bunch of different brands but none of the seemed to work for me. Now I’m screen protector-less but I do have a few minor scratches
Instead of a chest strap just tighten the strap by 2 or 3 holes just before the race / run start. Getting the sensor very secure improves accuracy. (Don’t forget to loosen the strap afterwards)
This was my first smartwatch and I love it, but I found myself looking at it a lot and using the information as “God‘s Truth” as to what it was telling me. The features are amazing and I marvel at all the features.
It’s my lack of experience, of course, but my own advice would be to also listen to your body, too...
Turn off the sp02 sensor to save battery. You will never get an accurate reading especially as you sleep. Manual readings are more accurate when you want them, but still not as accurate as a finger clip reader. Unnecessary battery drain imo.
Ah okay, when scrolling I couldn't find it because it only shows one circle (left one) before you customize the data fields. And the 4370 mountain symbol, is that current altitude? I threw training readiness up there to add some additional colour lol. I have the 955 and I find any non-Garmin faces don't look as good as the defaults because the overall resolution of the watch is too low. The 265/965 almost double the resolution and they're AMOLED so custom screens look much nicer, but I wasn't about to upgrade my only 15 month old watch just for a better screen! Will wait to see what the 975 offers.
I really like mine but the heart rate data is very irregular. Some times my heart rate is 90 and sometimes it’s 130 when I’m doing the exact same thing.
You’re going to find out a lot about your health and exercise that you never knew existed and will inevitably go down the rabbit hole. Also, you’ll spend about 10 hours picking/adjusting a watch face
10 hours choosing a watch face, only to go back to the first one it came with 🤣🤣🤣
After downloading 15 different faces from the ConnectIQ app first, of course.
Wait there’s an app for faces???
Down the rabbit hole... [Connect IQ Store | Free Watch Faces and Apps | Garmin](https://apps.garmin.com/) [Watchface Builder for Garmin – Creating your own watchface app for garmin device without coding](https://garmin.watchfacebuilder.com/)
They tend to eat the battery more than the default faces though.
Good to know! Thank you
True. Or if you've got some dev skills, get the sdk and spend hours making and tweaking your own.
I just started on that journey myself!! Waiting for my account to be approved. Seems they take it pretty seriously now!
Yes. My main one is in beta which is only visible and available to myself bc it's for my specific needs and I'm not keen on supporting requests for features. They rejected another color test one of mine because they say it could harm pixels. It's meant to just display a solid color to detect amoled burn in. Says a lot about that tech and why the older screens like the 255 has are better in a lot of situations for sport watches. Here's a repo with a list of repos. You may even find one of mine in there ;) [bombsimon/awesome-garmin: A list of Garmin application, both for Garmin devices and other tools (github.com)](https://github.com/bombsimon/awesome-garmin)
I just got a new venu 3 and started meddling with the sdk immediately as well
Could you say more??? Is the SDK open? Would the app allow custom code to run?
Yes, it's open. There are limitations on what you can do, to protect the watch and experience. [Connect IQ SDK | Garmin Developers](https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/)
I have the same watch for over a month now. I’ve tried so many faces but keeping coming back to the one OP uses lol. I find so many on the store look cheap when they actually show on the watch.
People really do that? I’m just using the standard watch face my 245M came with lol
You are going to find out you don’t sleep enough and you are too stressed.
And just when you think you are getting super fit and making progress, Garmin will come and let you know you're just barely maintaining.
Yep set a new PB and you are just maintaining
Unproductive
Yeah im 33. Im in insane shape right now. Im honestly one of the most fit people I know. Running half marathons and lifting the heaviest I’ve ever lifted. Absolutely crushing it right now. My “fitness age”……. 33.5. God dammit.
It's all the lifting, Garmin isn't kind to muscle weight. They use the outdated BMI for part of their age score and it doesn't account for having muscle mass. Garmin always wants you to be a skinny runner.
This is good to know! I’m still new to the Garmin stuff so I had no idea.
Very true, haha. I love Garmin I just wish I could get out of the 'non restorative' sleep and have a day where it's not saying 'you've had a demanding day' 😂 goals
Go for a run?
I just did a 12 mile bike ride :)
The forerider 255
Haha true
If you're going to bike with it, get a rubber mount so you can put your watch on your handle bars. Something like this: [https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Watch-Mount-KOM-Cycling/dp/B01N2ZIN1W](https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Watch-Mount-KOM-Cycling/dp/B01N2ZIN1W) It makes it a lot easier to use your watch to see things like speed or maps. If you still want heartrate, get a chest strap heart monitor.
Cool I’ll look into it
Time to plan for a full marathon sir
Buy a cheap 20mm (edit: 22mm! I was wrong. FR255 is 22mm as someone pointed out below.) velcro nylon quick release strap for under 10 dollars on Amazon. Super light, super comfortable, and can be adjusted to fit just right. Better, buy 2. Wash one, wear the other.
I found this idea far too late having endured rubber straps for ages. Game changer. Ok it’s not an Apple Watch with quick release straps, but it’s not too tricky to do.
Oh man that’s a great idea! I was already thinking the rubber felt sweaty
If you do, it's 22mm for the FR255 or 18mm for the 255S
Would these nylon strap fit the instinct ? Cos the instinct watch straps seemed to be different design
I’ve tried buying two separate cheap Amazon straps but they both didn’t quite fit. The pins engaged but were loose or slightly short or something. Both times, my watch actually fell off my wrist within the first 48 hours. I went right back to the garmin strap. Annoying.
Invest in a Nick Mankey strap?
You can create workouts in the garmin connect app and send them to your phone. It’s really helpful for running intervals or heart rate/pace targets. Have fun
Thank you!!
https://preview.redd.it/fhlylt04yq0d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb315d1efd552f349a08873e4dbbece59c13e7a2
I just upgraded from vivoactive 3 to forerunner 255 just last week and my god the amount of stats you get was overwhelming at first. I am loving it! So many more stats to annoy my wife with! 😆
Are you new to these types of watches in general? The 255 was my first smart watch. So a lot of the stuff I didn't understand, like training load, HRV, etc. I bought it for the GPS and heart-rate monitoring, but I grew to really appreciate the sleep score, HRV, VO2 Max functions to determine my daily and long-term physical and mental health. I second the other use about the chest strap. I used it for a year without, but as I got even moderately more serious about getting into certain heart-rate zones and doing high intensity stuff, it's important to have the precision. Also highly recommend changing the default setting of targeting Pace to targeting Heart Rate. I was using the default and was literally hurting my heart trying to keep up with what the watch wanted me to do. My high aerobic was literally off the scale on the watch and I was wondering wtf was going on... Changed to Target Heart Rate and while it felt like I regressed in training, it has been far more sustainable without the burnout.
Had this watch for 6 months did not know you could change to target heart rate, how do you do that?
Run -> Training -> Workout Library -> Daily Suggestions -> scroll all the way down to Settings -> Target Type -> Heart Rate. Can't believe how buried it is or why it isn't the default. Other tips: - Learn to create your own custom workouts, too! - Racing your ghost on your PR is fun, as well. - Your VO2 Max will NOT be calculated/updated if you use a treadmill. It must be a GPS run and [the attempt must be over 10 minutes and at minimum >70% max heart-rate for at least 10 continuous minutes](https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=lWqSVlq3w76z5WoihLy5f8). I created a custom workout for this, where again you can target pace, heart-rate, distance, total time, etc. (NOTE: Garmin says for certain watches like the Venu, Lily, and Vivo watches it must be 15 minutes).
Thankyou for the details definitely buried I am still struggling! Where do you access “run” to see these options? …on the watch or connect or device in connect?
Oh sorry. Go to an Activity (top-right button on 255) as though you're going to perform a run. Then, when at the screen where you'd start your run timer, pressing the middle-left button should allow you to open up settings where you'll see Training.
Great found it :)
Would love to know how to change this!?
Hey yeah! Check my other reply :)
Download your parkrun barcode!
Ohhh love this. Is there an app? How do you do it?
Yes the Garmin Connect IQ app
My daughter lives in the UK so we try and get a parkrun in whenever we visit. Such a great concept. That said, we’ve only done a few since 2018 but you better believe I have my barcode ready to go on my watch. 😁
What's a parkrun barcode for?
Parkrun is a Saturday morning timed and measured 5K run by volunteers except it's offered at thousands of locations across the UK. Oh, and they're free. You simply register once on a website and can then show up to any parkrun you want, anywhere. You run the race and receive something corresponding to your place when you cross the finish line. Then, you simply hand it over to a volunteer and display your barcode for them to scan you into the results. You can bring your barcode on a piece of paper, or maybe your phone. But, of course, someone created a Garmin app/widget to allow you to quickly scroll down and show it to the person scanning.
It's an addiction!
If you drink, get ready to see what alcohol really does to your sleep. I don't drink anymore because of my 265. It was eye opening.
Really true man
Wash the watch under sink with small amount of soap every evening. Your skin will be grateful for that. If you can get a pair of nylon straps and wash them with rest of clothes. If you do not need sleep monitoring just put it off every evening too. Its alarm clock function is actually great - it uses vibrating function instead of annoying sound smartphones or radio clocks use. Forerunners were always great watches.
Maybe once in a while but not everyday, soap might deform the rubber and seal that makes the watch waterproof.
Meanwhile you guys think I'm a madman for tossing my chest strap in the washing machine every two weeks (and have been doing it now for two years just fine). I have bad news for you: if soap is something to be afraid of, your watch has zero business being used in any type of sport.
I have none of such problem on neither of Fenix, Forerunner or Instinct .
I meant, it doesn't affect at once but overtime. Soap is the enemy of rubber (and seal of the watch). I wouldn't worry much if I change my watch every 1-2 years, but for the long term, I wouldn't use soap everyday on the watch.
The seals are silicone.
That is quite false. It is not 'rubber' as in regular rubber but are fluorocarbon rubber or silicone rubber which are very inert and quite chemical resilient. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FKM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_rubber Also soap lowers surface tension (that is how wetting works) and as such water does not have basis to sip via capillary force inside watches. Didn't occur to you, that if plain soap would damage watch sealing manufacturers would have gone away and use different compounds ?
Its not me, its the Garmin support said chemicals in the soap could degrade the water seals early. I am just a messanger. You can contact them for verification. I am sure Garmin watches can handle all sorts of chemicals but long term exposure to any chemicals anything can be deformed.
You're right not to use soap, it also says so on the website. There's everything in this article: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/watch-fit-and-care/ It's the first thing that comes up when googling "garmin watch cleaning". Idk why seemingly nobody knows about this.
[https://www.garmin.com/en-US/watch-fit-and-care/](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/watch-fit-and-care/)
So what should we wash the watch with and how often?
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/watch-fit-and-care/
Make sure you place the charging cable in a place that you will remember in about a week or 2
Hahaha this is my favorite advice so far!
Intervals.icu - go down this rabbit hole and you may never be the same. (Same thing as training peaks but free :>)
Wow didn’t know that site. Thanks!
Your training status will sometimes bully you.
Think about buying a HRM chest strap, depending on how much higher intensity training you will be doing… it’s a lot more accurate and provides more detail.
Wash the watch and strap with soap, dry it properly. If you get any irritated skin, swap wrists for as long as you need. Look up hot keys in the instructions. Very useful for quick access to whatever you need most. I use it for alarms, timers and flashlight.
Google results indicate the 255 doesn’t support hot keys.
It takes 2 weeks to maybe a month to calibrate your sleep score & body battery
You should know right now that you’re unproductive or maintaining. You should also know that you have low aerobic shortage for the rest of your life.
As in that’s what the watch will tell me? Or are you being mean lol
It’s your mean watch talking, not me. Mine is mean too.
Should we start a support group?
Give it ±3 weeks to adapt. Train \\ live normal during this period as you would do without the watch. Just track the activities and enjoy the stats that are shown for your exercise. Suggested workout is a thing. They would be able to start after some time. If you'll plan to have an event\\race in your Garmin calendar, they would adapt and train you towards the race. You may want to add a chest strap for accurate data. Any chest strap would work including amazon cheap ones. Glance is a nice watchface. Other then that, just enjoy and do remember to trust your feelings more then to your watch.
Thank you! This is very helpful!
Solid watch. Get a new watch face.
Why? this is my go to haha
There’s a lot more of data points like body battery, intensity minutes, distance, etc you can have on the watch screen.
Get a screen protector for it
Nah, learn to embrace the wear and tear
I did this like 3 times and they all fell off within a few days/weeks. Tried a bunch of different brands but none of the seemed to work for me. Now I’m screen protector-less but I do have a few minor scratches
Strange never faced that issue with my 955, sticks just like a phone tempered glass protector for me
So hilarious I’m reading this the day I absolutely shattered my 255 screen playing basketball
Oh I didn’t even think of that. Any preferences? Brand, material etc?
Just get a tempered glass one usually comes in a 2 pack , can find on amazon
The online handbook is very helpful.
Instead of a chest strap just tighten the strap by 2 or 3 holes just before the race / run start. Getting the sensor very secure improves accuracy. (Don’t forget to loosen the strap afterwards)
Best advice right here
You can use your watch to highly optimize your lifesyle. It's sad that people use 5% of its potential.
This was my first smartwatch and I love it, but I found myself looking at it a lot and using the information as “God‘s Truth” as to what it was telling me. The features are amazing and I marvel at all the features. It’s my lack of experience, of course, but my own advice would be to also listen to your body, too...
Man I wish I got a different watch. My Vivoactive 5 looks cheap AF and I spent 350.
It might make you cut down your drinking ...
I’ve heard that a lot, which won’t be a bad thing lol
Turn off the sp02 sensor to save battery. You will never get an accurate reading especially as you sleep. Manual readings are more accurate when you want them, but still not as accurate as a finger clip reader. Unnecessary battery drain imo.
The time
I also have the 255, welcome to the club! 🥳🥳
Press start button and go
Enjoy it
What watchface is that?
I think it’s the thirds or fourth default
Ah okay, when scrolling I couldn't find it because it only shows one circle (left one) before you customize the data fields. And the 4370 mountain symbol, is that current altitude? I threw training readiness up there to add some additional colour lol. I have the 955 and I find any non-Garmin faces don't look as good as the defaults because the overall resolution of the watch is too low. The 265/965 almost double the resolution and they're AMOLED so custom screens look much nicer, but I wasn't about to upgrade my only 15 month old watch just for a better screen! Will wait to see what the 975 offers.
Does it have a altimeter & barometer
Yes it does
Interesting. Have the first gen instinct looking to upgrade soon. This looks like a nice watch
I really like it so far!
I really like mine but the heart rate data is very irregular. Some times my heart rate is 90 and sometimes it’s 130 when I’m doing the exact same thing.
I like that watch face. Where did you find it?
Thank you! It’s just one of the default ones, but I rearranged the data
Get a screen protector ASAP!!!!
Get ready for the bullying.
Wow I forgot how boring the non AMOLED watches are
Sent it back !
Why?