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Have you heard of Garmin LiveTrack? Garmin is one of the most exciting and versatile fitness trackers. It has long been a favorite of Forces personnel around the world. No member of the Special Forces would leave home without it.
Regarding digital health gear and fitness trackers, Garmin offers one of the best opportunities for tracking your fitness and health. Today, we are looking at Garmin LiveTrack and what it has to offer.
What Is Garmin LiveTrack?
LiveTrack is much more than just another fitness application. It allows you to track your fitness activities in real-time. But, that is not the only thing Garmin LiveTrack does.
Thanks to the innovative tool, you can also share your fitness data with your friends and family. It is an excellent way of staying in touch with your supporters when participating in a competition or finding yourself on a long hike with many challenges.
What Are the Main Benefits of Garmin LiveTrack?
One of the main benefits is that you can share your data with selected people. Your location will show up. That means if you are running a marathon, your supporters will know your whereabouts on the course they can come and cheer you on.
The location of an athlete participating in more significant events is often hard to anticipate. But, thanks to Garmin LiveTrack, your support can follow you and find a suitable location to stand and help you to keep your spirits up.
For supporters, one of the main benefits of the function is that you can see the planned route. This also helps the athlete as they will know of any particular challenges that may be coming up. On occasion, when you are a long-distance athlete, it is also nice to know if any particular landmarks are coming up.
Another top benefit of LiveTrack is that your fitness coach can track your progress when you train, even when they are not on the scene. They can check in on your time, heart rate, and the rest of the information provided by LiveTrack.
How Do You Start a LiveTrack Session?
The first thing you need to do is to pair your compatible Garmin tracker with the Garmin Connect Mobile App. The app comes for free with your Garmin fitness tracker. Once paired, you select Autostart.
Once Autostart has been selected, all your activities on your device will be tracked as LiveTrack sessions.
How To Make the Most Out Of It?
There are several ways in which you can maximize the use of LiveTrack. Another reason why so many semi-professional athletes like the device are because their information is so easy to share.
In the app, you can invite your supporters to follow you via email. You can also share the information on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
To make you even easier to follow, they receive a link to the position of your phone or connected device on a web page. In addition, a map is displayed, making it easy for them to track your progress.
The information gathered by your Garmin device is also shared. That includes distance, speed, elevation, and activity time. In addition, your heart rate and cadence are also shared, which is important if you have your fitness coach supporting you.
In a nutshell, this is the information you can gain from Garmin LiveTrack:
- Current location
- Elapsed time
- Average space
- Distance covered
- Elevation gain
- Planned route
- Current pace
- Speed
- Heart rate
- Current elevation
- Heart rate
- Cadence
Helpful Hints and Tips When Using LiveTrack
I have used LiveTrack in locations worldwide and have become a big fan. So here are a few hints and tips I thought I would share with you.
Many athletes don’t check their watch before they start. They assume LiveTrack is going to start automatically. Although you may have used it before, a LiveTrack session does not start immediately. Before you put one foot in front of the other on the course, make sure that LiveTrack Icon is showing on your watch.
Loss of connectivity is an issue. With more advanced gear, your supporters can stay connected by other means. But, the average user has to rely on cellular signals. If you are running or following a course outside of cellular coverage, your profile will not “pop up” until you have cellular coverage again.
Before you start, check that you have a good GPS signal. The best thing you can do is to check the GPS signal before you set out. LiveTrack should now kick in, and you should be easy to follow.
Get into the habit of using AutoStart. When you do so, your activity is automatically shared. However, there have been issues with AutoStart. This is why I encourage other Garmin users to look for the icon before they set out.
Do you have more than one Garmin device paired, or does your partner also share the app? If so, you need to make sure the current Garmin tracker you are using is selected.
What About Apple Devices?
There seems to be a bit of misinformation about iOS devices. Many say that Apple devices don’t work when it comes to LiveTrack and don’t recommend Garmin for this reason.
They are wrong. If you have an iPad or iPhone, you can still sync your Garmin to your iOS device. You can also stay in touch with your supporters who have compatible iOS devices when you are training or on a course.
Garmin LiveTrack is suitable for both iOS and Android devices.
Things I Like About Garmin LiveTrack Sharing
There are some things I like about LiveTrack when it comes to staying in touch.
One of the best things for me is Extended LiveTrack. This feature shows your session or competition stats for a period of up to 24 hours after you have finished the activity.
That works for me as I have friends who may not always be what I call “active.”
On top of that, Strava Beacon is another cool feature. GroupTrack is another way of staying connected with supporters or others in a group. For example, perhaps you are doing a hike with others, but you are separated for various reasons, or you are all participating in a competition. The GroupTrack feature allows you to track your training partners or fellow competitors.
What If LiveTrack Stops Working? How Do I Fix LiveTrack?
Help – my LiveTrack has stopped working! Okay, this does happen.
Most of the time, it is down to the fact that you have lost cellular connectivity. So when you know you will be in an area where cellular connectivity will be a challenge, let your supporters know. That stops them from launching rescue missions just because you are out of reach of a cellular network.
Cellular network problems are not that rare when you travel with your Garmin device. To broadcast LiveTrack, it does need to have that essential cellular connection. One tip when you are doing a competition abroad is to buy a local sim card. Most devices are dual sim these days. Put your local sim card in your phone and select it when you want to show your activity on LiveTrack.
Why is my activity not showing up? Okay, your Garmin watch may need re-syncing with your device. The easiest option is to restart your Garmin watch and phone. That means you need to switch both off for a few minutes.
This does not seem to work unless you switch them both off together. So, to make sure you do this correctly, switch them off at the same time. Leave them off for a few minutes and switch them back on again. As you switch them back on, place your Garmin watch next to your device. Be a little bit patient as it may take time for your devices to start talking to each other again.
Another tip is to remove the Garmin watch from the Bluetooth menu on your phone. I recommend switching your phone or device off and then switching back on again. Look under Bluetooth, and you should now find your device has found your Garmin watch again. Select Garmin, and you should be good to go.
You can also try pairing your Garmin watch with your device or remove the watch from the app.
In general, there are very few problems.
Final Thoughts
Garmin LiveTrack is great for competitions or sharing training session information. If you are exercising in general or out and about, you can switch it off. It has to be said that most Garmin watches users don’t wear their watches all the time. But, there is no reason why you should not do so.
LiveTrack is perfect for competitions and a great way for your supporters to take an active part. Very popular with competing athletes. So, if you are considering getting into a competition or are a keen outdoor enthusiast, a Garmin watch is one of the best trackers you can invest in. LiveTrack is also one of the best reliable live trackers.
