10 Best Smartwatches For Weight lifting (2024)

Are you just getting into weight lifting or muscle building? If yes, you should track daily health performance, calories, sleep, HR, etc.; this will only be possible with a smartwatch.

A smartwatch for weightlifting includes feature like Strength training, CrossFit, HIIT workouts, animated workouts etc., that helps you to track your performance. You can track reps, sets, and every exercise on your wrist.

A few smartwatches from Garmin have more advance features for weightlifting and powerlifting. Similarly, few other smartwatch brands out there make the best watches for weightlifting and heavy training.

Even though many smartwatches are available in the market, only a few have accurate sensors to measure weight lifting.

So. We have done deep research for you and found the 11 best smartwatches for strength training. So let’s have a look.

11 Best Smartwatches For Weightlifting

1- Garmin Venu 2 Plus – Winner

Garmin Venu 2 is one of the best smartwatch for weight lifting. This smartwatch includes an advanced strength training feature that shows which muscle part is more active and which one needs to work on.

Similarly, different HIIT workouts help a lot in weight lifting and muscle building. You can view detailed data of your muscle on the Garmin Connect app. 

The wrist-based heart rate not only measures your heart rate but also sends you alerts if it detects any irregular heart patterns. 

Garmin Venu 2 is also the best option for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts, as it includes different sports modes, running dynamics, body battery energy, VO2 max, and more. 

When it comes to durability and quality, Venu 2 Plus stands out from its predecessors. The bezel is made of stainless steel, whereas Gorilla Glass 3 protects the watch from scratches and dust.

The bright and vibrant AMOLED display is also a plus point in Venu 2 Plus. It has a 1.3” display with a 416 x 416 pixels resolution, and you can easily read the dial in bright lighting conditions. 

Regarding battery life, Garmin Venu 2 Plus gives 9 days of battery backup, whereas, in GPS mode, it lasts for 24 hours. 

This time Garmin has included a new built-in voice assistant that can make your life easier. Similarly, you can also make calls via its built-in microphone and speaker. So during workouts and gym, you don’t need to carry a phone for calls. 

2- Apple Watch 8 – Runner Up

The Apple Watch 8 is the best watch for weightlifting if you’re an iPhone user. Apple Watch 8 has an improved Workouts app, with a new workout view showing more detailed data. You can see your heart rate zones, SpO2, and customized intervals during weight lifting. 

The watch will count your reps and sets. It records your daily workouts and suggests exercises based on your performance. You can view in-depth fitness data on Apple health apps.

Plus, you can also customize your workout based on your preferences. For runners, Apple Watch 8 also sends alerts for heart rate, pace, power, and cadence. All these metrics help you a lot to improve your performance.

The watch also shows workout animation helping you to improve your angles and posture during weightlifting. 

Similarly, the sensors in Apple Watch 8 are much more accurate. It measures your heart rate, stress, ECG, and SpO2 on the go. 

Apple Watch 8 has improved GPS tracking as compared to its predecessor. This time there are more tracking features. You can challenge your friends, track friends in real-time, choose to race against your best results, and more.

The Apple Watch 8 will be the best option if you want to improve your sleep habits. It has a much-improved sleep-tracking app that measures your sleep stages more accurately.

Moreover, a new temperature sensor allows you to measure your body temperature while you sleep. 

Battery life doesn’t get many updates, and Apple Watch 8 lasts 18 hours, similar to Watch 7. But a new thing is Low Power Mode, where the watch lasts 36 hours. 

3- Garmin Forerunner 45 – Best Budget Watch

Specifications

OS	NA
Compatibility	iOS, Android
Display	1.2″
Internal Storage	No
IP rating:	50 meters
Battery Life	7 days
GPS	Yes

If you’re on a budget and your only concern is buying a watch for weight lifting, then you can consider Forerunner 45. This simple-looking watch gives you a variety of useful training features.

Advanced training features in this wear make it best for high-intensive exercises like weight lifting. You will see a lot of premium activity modes and updated performance analytics.

The looks and design of the Forerunner 45 are pretty simple, and it has a 1.2″ screen. Along with the dial, there is a Silicon band which is soft and breathable. So during weightlifting, it supports your wrist and doesn’t irritate. 

For runners, Garmin Forerunner 45 includes; ground contact time balance, vertical ratio, stride length HRM-Run, VO2 max, and beyond.

You will get a highly accurate and precise navigation system when it comes to GPS. During hiking, running, or cycling, Watch’s navigation system automatically shows you perfect routes and tells you distance and speed as well.

Luckily, Forerunner 45 comes with music support. While performing exercises, you can listen to your favorite tracks and boost your performance.

Usually, Garmin smartwatches come with powerful batteries. However, the advanced power optimizing system in Forerunner 45 boosts the battery life, and your Watch lasts for seven days. On GPS mode, you will get 6 hours of battery life.

4- Garmin Vivoactive 3 – Durable Watch

Specifications

Compatibility	iOS, Android
Display	1.2″ (30.4mm) diameter
Internal Storage	3.5 GB
IP rating:	5 ATM
Battery Life	7 days
GPS	Yes

Vivoactive 3 is a pretty cool Mid-range GPS watch. And it comes with all those features that you will need for weightlifting. In terms of design, Vivoactiv3 is a much more durable watch because of its stainless steel bezel and Gorilla Glass 3.

With more than 15 preloaded apps, you can track outdoor activities like running, hiking, swimming etc. Vivoactive 3 includes automatic rep tracking, which is helpful for weightlifting. Various gym activity profiles include strength, cardio, workouts, rowing, and more.

You can create specific workouts for activities like Squats, Rows, Pulls-ups, Power cleaning, Bench press, and more. These custom workouts also sync with the phone, and you can see the insights.

Garmin Vivoactive 3 comes with a VO2 max feature. The higher your VO2 max value, the higher you can expect to perform.

You can store music on your wrist along with GPS and fitness tracking features. Make your playlist of your favorite songs or transfer songs from your phone. 

Finally, Vivoactive 3 offers 7 hours of battery life which is impressive. And it lasts for 6 hours on GPS mode.

5- Fitbit Charge 4 – Lightweight Fitness Tracker

Specifications

OS	Fitbit OS
Compatibility	iOS, Android
Display	1.5 Monochrome OLED
Internal Storage	NA
IP rating	5 ATM
Battery Life	4 days
GPS	Yes

Do you want an affordable fitness tracker that has all the capabilities to track high-intensive exercises? Well, Fitbit Charge 4 is the perfect option for you. The accuracy and functionality are astonishing in Charge 4.

You will get GPS, 24 Heart rate, a calorie counter, sleep tracking, and other outdoor exercise tracking modes.

Charge 4 is a highly comfortable tracker. The soft and flexible silicone band gives you a comfortable feel. The device is also waterproof, and it’s water-resistant to 50 meters. So you can wear it during bathing or swimming without any problem.

Fitbit Charge is also the best fitness tracker for strength training. It comes with 20+ goal-based exercise modes. The best thing is Active Zone Minutes, which counts your time spent on any activity. So the harder you work, the more your Active Zone rounds will be.

Charge 4 allows you to control music directly from your wrist. Similarly, you can also see notifications from your smartphone on your fitness tracker.

Fitness Tracker is a big plus point built-in GPS at such a low price. You don’t need to use your phone’s GPS while running or cycling. All you need to do is track distance and speed and navigate directly from your wrist. 

On GPS mode Fitbit Charge 4 gives you 5 hours of battery life.

6- Garmin Venu

Specifications

Compatibility	iOS, Android
Display	1.2″ (30.4mm) diameter
Music Storage	up to 500 songs
IP rating:	5 ATM
Battery Life	5 days
GPS	Yes

Garmin Venu is another advanced smartwatch for strength training. It gives you a detailed view of your active and inactive muscle groups. Similarly, you can also create custom workouts and sync them with the Garmin Connect app. 

The watch includes animated workouts and high-intensity training that enables you to track your performance accurately. 

The display of this watch is insane, and you will get a brighter display that helps you easily read the dial under direct sunlight. There are two smart buttons on the side that helps you to start and pause tracking automatically.

Under the hood, you will have 25 different sports modes to track your major daily activities like running, walking, swimming, hiking etc.

Garmin Venu also tracks your respiration and VO2 max performance during workouts. Plus, it includes useful health-tracking features like sleep monitoring, HR tracking, intensity minutes, body battery energy and more. 

You can also set goals using the Garmin Connect app, and the watch will efficiently track your every move and sincerely show the analytics.

Besides, this Garmin Venu also supports music. You can download Spotify and other streaming apps. Now you can make a playlist of your favorite songs on your wrist.

7- Polar Vantage M2

Specifications

Compatibility	iOS, Android
Display	1.2″
Music Storage	NA
IP rating:	3 ATM
Battery Life	7 days in smartwatch mode
GPS	Yes

Polar is a well-known brand making smart fitness gadgets, especially since their smartwatches are very popular. Polar Vantage M2 is a mid-range smartwatch that allows you to track your daily workouts and fitness routine.

It comes with over 130 sports modes that help you track your different indoor and outdoor activities.

With Fitspark, you will get tons of workouts. It offers on-demand workouts that match your recovery and fitness level. Your smartwatch will guide you during each set of your workout, and hence you can effectively focus on the best part.

For strength training and weight lifting, this watch includes Training Load Pro. These features measure the stain of your muscles during workouts.

Similarly, with a new Energy Source feature, you can see how much each energy source your body uses during training. You can view the in-depth detail of fats, carbs, protein and more. Fitness Tracking Features

The good thing about this watch is that it will deeply track your every move and show analysis with high-quality visualization to understand workout performance better.

8- Apple Watch 7

Because of the updated and accurate sensor, you can choose this smartwatch for your weightlifting purpose.

According to my experience, Apple Watch 7 accurately measures your high-intensity exercises, like HIIT, weight lifting, cardio, etc. 

Compared to its predecessor (Apple Watch 6), Watch 7 includes a 1.9″ larger display. Plus, the QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to reply to text messages. There are no big improvements seen in Apple Watch 7 over its predecessor. 

The battery life is also similar to Apple Watch 6, and Watch 7 lasts for 18 hours. But the improvement is seen in charging, and this Watch charges 33% after then Series 6. So, it will take 2.5 hours to charge Series 7 from 0 to 100% fully. 

Apple watches always focus on improving their health tracking capabilities. This time we have not seen such big improvements. Instead, the ECG app has become faster and more accurate. It will take 15 seconds to get ECG data.

Further, it includes blood pressure monitoring, sleep tracking, stress tracking, and a 24/7 heart rate monitor. 

For athletes and weightlifting, it includes different workout modes that help to track your performance more specifically. On completing more challenging activities, Apple Watch also gives rewards that keep you motivated. 

9- Coros Pace 2

Coros Pace 2 is the best alternative to Garmin Venu. But unlike Garmin watches, this smartwatch is much lighter, having only 29 g of weight. During tough workouts like weightlifting, it feels more comfortable.

Coros Pace is packed with sports modes and indoor workouts that attract weightlifters. It also includes specific features for runners like strength mode and track run mode. If you are interested in bodybuilding, then Coros Pace 2 is the best option.

Its strength training program includes over 200 exercises for the upper body, lower body, etc. Thanks to its advanced sensors that automatically detect your movements and monitor your heart rate. 

The latest muscle heatmap is another useful feature for weightlifters telling you which muscle group remains mostly active in a day, week, or month. 

Apart from this, Coros Pace 2 includes other basic health features like a heart rate monitor, steps counter, sleep tracking, calories burned, etc. 

Coros Pave 2 has a 1.5X more powerful processor than the previous model when it comes to performance. Similarly, the battery life is also very impressive, and it lasts for 20 days in smartwatch mode and 30 hours in GPS mode. 

10- Forerunner 245

Garmin Forerunner 245 is the best Watch for weight lifting. For weightlifters, it includes VO2 Max, training status that tells the history of your exercises, aerobic and anaerobic training effect, recovery time, and more.

The feature I like the most is the intensity of minutes that count minutes in each heart-pumping activity.

Physically, Forerunner 245 looks much similar to its predecessor. It has a 1.2″ MIP display with a touch screen. There are five physical buttons to control the functionality of the Watch.

Similarly, for runners, Forerunner 245 is the best option. It comes with Running dynamics feature that allows you to track the major running metrics like pace, cadence, stride length, ground contact time, vertical ratio and more.

The built-in Garmin Coach assists you on every step of your fitness journey. Similarly, the built-in GPS is more accurate and works in more challenging environments.

Moreover, Forerunner 245 lasts for 7 days in smartwatch mode and 24 hours in GPS mode. So you can track your exercises for an extended period with the stress of charing them repeatedly.

Considerations Before Buying a Best Smartwatch For Weight lifting

There are vast variety of stuff available in the market, and it’s pretty hard to select the best smartwatch for your wrist, especially if you athletes and want a smartwatch that can also monitor high intensive moves.

You should consider few factors before picking a smartwatch for your wrist.

1- Training Features

You need a smartwatch loaded with training features as a weight lifter or strength trainer. Training load, Training effect, Body battery energy, and VO2 max. All these features help you track your performance more effectively.

Similarly, a smartwatch for strength training also includes different workout modes and tracks your rep count and sets.

2- Design and Style

You can ignore this factor if you don’t have any interest in design. Colors and sleek design always attract every eye. Most of the smartwatches come in classical black colors that look elegant. 

For a thin wrist, a smartwatch with a sleek design and lightweight is perfect. Especially for females, I recommend you to buy Fitbit Versa 3 or Fitbit Charge 4 as there are very comfortable to wear.

3- App Compatibility

If you want to see the in-depth insights of your fitness activities, then it is not an excellent approach to sync data with just one app. Instead, you must sync your daily data with multiple apps like my fitness pal, GoogleFit, Runnkeeper, starve, and others. 

In this way, you can see the data of every specific activity, and also, these apps suggest exercises that are perfect for your health routine.

4- Battery

The last thing is a battery. You should pay attention to rate battery life while shopping. I suggest you never buy Smart wear that has Wear OS because it will never give you a battery life above 24 hours.

All the above mention watches come with a long-lasting battery. I think a watch with 5 days of battery life is an excellent piece to pick.

Best Apps to Track Weightlifting

Once you pick a fitness tracker, the next question is which one is the best app to track Weightlifting? Well, the built-in apps of fitness tracker are themself measure workouts. 

But to get in-depth metrics, you can install the independent app on your phone and sync it with your watch. The few apps I see are performing well and best to track Weighlifting.

• BodySpace
• Pact
• Cody
• Google Fit
• MyfitnessPal
• Fitness

Final Words

Athletes must have a fitness tracker, as it tracks every single activity. Without monitoring your daily performance, it’s impossible to achieve your fitness destination.

You have to select a fitness goal first and then dive into the sea and achieve your fitness goals. Fitness trackers are your best companion throughout this challenging journey. 

After going through the above topics, I hope you can choose the best fitness tracker for your weightlifting activity. All trackers were performing exceptionally well. It’s up to you which one you should pick.

It will be the happiest moment for us if you pick any fitness watch from our suggestion. Also, it helps us to make some pocket money:)

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