Garmin releases 2021 Garmin Connect Fitness Report
Garmin has finally released its eagerly-awaited 2021 Global Garmin Connect Fitness Report. Wait, this is just a blog post. Why’d they hit us up about a blog post?
The report offers insights into the activities of millions of Garmin smartwatch users around the world as the COVID-19 pandemic stretched into its second year. Whether hitting the trails, the slopes or even the yoga mat, Garmin customers logged more activities in the Garmin Connect™ fitness community app than ever before, with double-digit increases in almost every activity category. Which is nice, really.
“In the face of ongoing lockdowns and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, Garmin users logged a record-breaking number of fitness activities in 2021,” said Joe Schrick, Garmin VP, Fitness Segment. “We already knew that our customers are performance-driven and resilient, and the data proves that even a global pandemic won’t stand in the way of their relentless drive to ‘beat yesterday.’”
Possibly predictably, the number of indoor activities logged by Garmin users increased by twice as much as outdoor activities year over year. Fitness sessions that took place indoors rose 20.54% in 2021 over 2020, with Pilates and yoga leading the way. Wellness activities also saw strong growth, with a big uptick in breathwork sessions. Activities performed outdoors in the elements increased by 9.52%, with gravel cycling seeing the most growth.
Phew, finally got a mention of cycling in there. We were worried we’d have to change the name of the site to Wellnesslry or Breathworklry for a minute.
Gravel Cycling Grew 50%
Outdoor cycling nudged up globally in 2021, but gravel travel really stole the show. Gravel cycling activities increased by 49.55% globally in 2021, with South Americans leading the pack with an 87.5% increase specific to their region. Eastern Europeans logged 66.13% more gravel cycling activities, and Western Europeans trailed only slightly behind with a 59.86% increase.
North America, however, only saw a 28.54% uptick. Garmin playfully suggested to us that US gravel cyclists “better get to pedaling in 2022, guys,” but honestly it’s hard to imagine how even more Americans could ride gravel. We’re about ten minutes away from converting all our cycle lanes into loose pack gravel at this point. Wish we were back in the fixie boom of 2005.
Garmin also told us, “You can train for your next gravel race no matter the weather with a Tacx trainer, complete with an exclusive Road Feel Feature to bring the beaten path indoors.” Which is a factually true statement. You can also do it on a dumb trainer, or outdoors. Or you can sit around drinking beer and doomscrolling Twitter.
The End
We’re not including the rest of what they told us, because we can’t possibly fit more links to their products on this page. Big increases, buy a smartwatch. That sort of thing.
Have you ridden more gravel miles than ever this year due to using a Garmin product? Let us know. Simply write your story on a bit of paper and drop it in the first garbage can you see.