Raise the Bar: Best Smartwatches for Weightlifters in 2023

Discover the best smartwatches for weightlifters: track workouts, monitor progress, and optimize training with these advanced wearable fitness devices.

Powerful yet rugged smartwatches built for the weight room. You’ve probably heard of smartwatches, but what exactly are they? A smartwatch is a wearable device that can track your fitness and health metrics. They can also provide notifications from your phone or even allow you to make payments using NFC technology.

Smartwatches have become extremely popular in recent years due to their ability to track steps taken during the day and heart rate throughout the week (or even 24 hours). Many brands are available today, including Apple Watch Series and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, which just released this year!

Buyer’s Guide

If you’re looking for something specific when purchasing a new smartwatch, check out our buyer’s guide below, where we’ve listed some essential features to consider before making any decisions.

Fitness Tracking Features – When it comes to weightlifting, it’s important to have a smartwatch that can accurately track your workouts. Look for a smartwatch that has features such as:

Rep counting – Track the number of repetitions you complete for each set. Some watches can estimate your 1 rep max for benchmarking progress.

Heart rate monitoring – Ensure you push yourself during high-intensity weight training intervals. Heart rate is key for optimizing intensity.

GPS tracking – For weight training at the gym or home, GPS tracks metrics such as distance traveled, time spent exercising, and calories burned.

Built-in weightlifting workout plans – Guided audio coaching through exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, and shoulder press with set/rep recommendations for progressive overload.

Durability – Weightlifting can be tough on your smartwatch, so choosing a durable watch that can withstand wear and tear is essential. Look for a watch with a:

Sturdy build – Rugged, scratch-resistant materials like titanium and sapphire crystal and durable straps can handle weight plates and barbells without damage.

Shock-resistant – An impact-resistant and shatter-proof design to prevent cracks or breaks from barbell slips or collisions.

Battery Life – Weightlifting sessions can last hours, so you’ll want a smartwatch with exceptional battery life. Some smartwatches can last up to 5 days on a single charge while providing guided coaching and tracking your entire workout.

Compatibility – Make sure the smartwatch you choose is fully compatible with your smartphone. Most smartwatches require a companion app to sync data, receive notifications, and stream music during your workout. Sync across devices ensures all your workout records, stats, metrics, and progress are in one place.

In summary, choose a smartwatch that powers you through intense weightlifting workouts with a durable design, optimal battery life, and robust fitness tracking features. Sync with your phone for coaching, metrics, and motivation to push yourself further at each session. Let science and technology enhance your gains!

Best Smartwatches for Weightlifters in 2023

Are you looking for a smartwatch that can keep up with your intense weight-training workouts? These durable yet feature-packed watches are designed specifically for tracking lifts, providing coaching, and monitoring your performance over time.

Apple Watch Ultra

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Apple’s durable Watch Ultra features a rugged titanium case, crack-resistant crystal, and built-in emergency SOS. It tracks weight training, provides audio guidance, and detects muscle oxygen levels during tough workouts.

Apple Watch Ultra Features

• Built-in weightlifting workouts for guided audio coaching and personalized recommendations.
• Rep counting to track repetitions and measure progress over time automatically.
• Weight tracking for easy input and detailed reports of weight lifted per exercise.
• Set tracking for a comprehensive record of endurance and work capacity improvement.
• Rest timer to optimize recovery and enhance performance during workouts.
• Lift timer for efficiently incorporating supersets, giant sets, or other complexes.
• Muscle oxygen monitoring for insights into muscle exertion and recovery needs.
• Music control to stream motivational tunes and podcasts directly to your headphones.
• Emergency SOS for added safety during intense weightlifting sessions.

Built-in logs & reports for tracking progress and easy sharing with coaches or trainers.

Elevate your weightlifting game with the Apple Watch Ultra, designed to help you achieve your fitness goals precisely and efficiently.

Coros Vertix 2

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The Coros Vertix 2 is designed specifically for weightlifting. It has a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, a titanium case, and durable straps. It provides real-time coaching for weightlifting movements, monitors rest periods, and tracks bench press, squat, and deadlift performance metrics.

Coros Vertix 2 Features

• Rugged and Premium Design: Sapphire crystal glass protects the screen from weight plates and dumbbells. 316L stainless steel is durable enough to handle intense weightlifting for years without damage. Built to power through and track every rep.
• Strength Training Mode: Create custom weightlifting workouts with sets/reps and rest times and see progress/history.
• Repetitions and Sets Tracking: Track reps (20) and sets (4) completed for each exercise. See reports on gains across sessions. Set goals (6 squats at 10 reps) and get alerts when achieved.
• One-Rep Max Calculation: Use strength data to estimate the max weight that can be lifted with perfect form. Monitor how weight moved is increasing over time.
• Rest Timer: Customizable rest timer (2, 3, or 4 min) provides ideal downtime between sets based on fitness level and effort. Ensure adequate recovery periods for continued progression.
• Heart Rate Monitoring: See zones hit (fat burn, endurance, power, max) during weightlifting for optimization. Determine if the further effort will be productive or if rest is needed due to fatigue.
• GPS Tracking: Track workout route, distance traveled, and duration. Useful when weightlifting outdoors, doing cardio intervals, or wanting to measure strength fitness benefits beyond the gym.
• Battery Life: Up to 140 hours in GPS mode. Sufficient for extremely long weightlifting days, competitions, tracking other athletic endeavors, and strength training. Extended battery avoids midday charging.

Amazfit PowerBuds Pro

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Amazfit’s PowerBuds Pro earbuds integrate with their Zepp Z smartwatch platform for weight training. The earbuds provide audio guidance, measure oxygen levels, and track metrics like rest periods, reps, weight, and sets during your workout. The Zepp Z watch syncs the data for full workout reporting and analysis.

Amazfit PowerBuds Pro Features

• Measure your heart rate during workouts using a PPG optical sensor in the right earbud and sync your stats with third-party apps like Runkeeper and Endomondo.
• Detect your posture and alert you if you are slouching at your desk or sitting still for too long.
• Four levels of active noise cancellation to block out distractions and an ambient listening mode to let in external sounds when needed.
• Dust and water resistance with an IP55 rating and a battery life of up to 9 hours with ANC off or 5.5 hours with ANC on.

Fitbit Sense 2

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The Fitbit Sense 2 features an EDA sensor for stress tracking, ECG app for heart health monitoring, and oxygen level sensing for intense weight training sessions. New weight-lifting exercise types provide guided audio coaching and track key metrics for reporting progress over time. Integrated NFC allows gym access via Fitbit Pay.

Fitbit Sense 2 Features

• It has a 1.58-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with a physical button for easy navigation and a case made of aluminum and stainless steel.
• It has a heart rate sensor, ECG sensor, EDA sensor, SpO2 sensor, temperature sensor, altimeter, gyroscope, and accelerometer that enable it to track your sleep, stress, blood oxygen, skin temperature, heart rate, floors climbed, calories burned, steps taken, and more.
• It has over 40 sports modes that you can choose from to track your specific workouts, including weightlifting. It can also sync your stats with third-party apps like Runkeeper and Endomondo.
• Its microphone and loudspeaker allow you to access Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants. You can also reply to notifications with preset replies, voice messages, or emojis (Android only).
• An NFC chip supports Fitbit Pay and Google Pay for contactless payments. It also has Google Maps for navigation (NEW).
• It has a battery life of up to 6 days or more with normal use. It also supports fast charging, giving you a full day of power in 12 minutes.

Garmin Fenix 7

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The rugged Garmin Fenix 7 smartwatch features a 2.2-inch display, sapphire crystal, titanium case, and durable design ideal for weightlifting. It provides weight lifting-specific exercise apps with guided audio coaching for key lifts. Advanced metrics include an estimated 1 rep max, training readiness score, and heatmaps to view favorite weight training areas.

Garmin Fenix 7 Features

• It has a 1.6-inch memory-in-pixel display with a touchscreen, five physical buttons for easy navigation, and a stainless steel or titanium case.
• It has a heart rate sensor, ECG sensor, SpO2 sensor, temperature sensor, altimeter, gyroscope, accelerometer, and GPS that enable it to track your sleep, stress, blood oxygen, skin temperature, heart rate, floors climbed, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled, speed, pace, and more.
• It has over 40 sports modes that you can choose from to track your specific workouts, including weightlifting. It also has a new Real-Time Stamina tool that tracks your exertion levels during a run or bike activity.
• Its microphone and loudspeaker allow you to access Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants. You can also reply to notifications with preset replies or emojis (Android only).
• It has an NFC chip that supports Garmin Pay for contactless payments. It also has Garmin Maps for navigation and safety features like incident detection and assistance.
• It has a battery life of up to 21 days in smartwatch mode or 60 hours in GPS mode. It also supports solar charging, extending the battery life by up to 10%.

Considerations before buying Smartwatches for Weightlifters

Training Features – Look for weightlifting-specific features like training load, training effect, body battery, VO2 max, and workout modes. These provide insights into performance, fatigue, and guidance on pushing intensity or applying rest. Rep count and set tracking are also essential for monitoring strength gains over time.

Design and Style – Though irrelevant to some, design and comfort matter for optimal wearability during lengthy weightlifting sessions. Choose a sleek, lightweight, and non-bulky watch, especially for smaller wrists. Brands like Fitbit offer very comfortable options ideal for females.

App Compatibility – For comprehensive progress reporting, sync data across multiple fitness and calorie tracking apps beyond the watch’s software. Options include MyFitnessPal, GoogleFit, RunKeeper, Strava, and more. See details on specific workouts and get exercise suggestions to continue advancing fitness objectives.

Battery – Aim for at least 5 days of battery life; longer is better. Many watches now reach 7-14 days per charge which is necessary for back-to-back weightlifting days, competitions, or combining training types. The poor battery would require frequent charging, impacting workflow.

Best Weightlifting Apps

While a weightlifting-focused smartwatch has useful built-in features, downloading independent apps provides enhanced metrics and insights. Top options for tracking weight training include:

• BodySpace – Rep counters, timer, rest periods, and weight tracking for Workout progress over time. Helpful guides for exercises, sets, and reps based on fitness goals.

• Pact – Customizable weightlifting workout programs with guidance on set/rep schemes for optimization. Track details for major lifts, see reports on strength gains, and get motivated to push new personal bests week after week.

• Google Fit – Syncs across devices and provides visual summaries of workouts, including charts for weight lifted, duration, calories, and other metrics. Adjust intensity and fitness objectives as needed for continued progress.

• MyFitnessPal – In addition to weight/rep tracking and customized workout programs, calorie needs assessment, macro tracking, and more. Ensure gains come from muscle rather than excess calorie consumption after every workout.

Conclusion

In summary, choose a smartwatch with weightlifting-specific features, durability, optimal design, and/or battery life. Then invest in independent sports/fitness apps to gain deep insights, customized programs, progressive guidance, macro management, and essential metrics for monitoring performance and progress over time. Let science enhance your workouts. Track and celebrate victories to stay on the path to weightlifting excellence every step of the way.

References

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