Get Zone 2 right.
Push your VO2 Max up.
Now on your Garmin.
Your Garmin measures the heart rate; vibration holds the intensity — drop out of your zone and your wrist knows. Put the phone on the floor and it is the dashboard for the whole session.
Both apps are free. The watch app trains on its own; KINETIC Link on the iPhone handles setup, the dashboard and your history. 64 models across Forerunner, fēnix, epix, Venu, vívoactive and more.
Two apps, three steps.
Install KINETIC on the watch
Open the Connect IQ store (or Connect IQ inside Garmin Connect), search for KINETIC and install it on the watch.
Install KINETIC Link on the phone
Search the App Store for KINETIC ZONE 2 and pick the one subtitled “Works with your Garmin watch”. Open it and pick your watch — it hands off to Garmin Connect and comes back.
Set it, push it, start
Set zones and sessions on the phone and push once; the watch remembers. Then start on the watch, or from the phone.
No phone, no problem: pick OPS, BASE or PEAK on the watch and your zones are worked out from your Garmin user profile.
Three protocols, all on the watch.
Start, train, stop — heart rate, time in each zone and calories all recorded. Count reps as you go and they go into the record with everything else.
A buzz when you drop out, another when you are back in; the target-zone track shows how close to the edge you are. 1 to 180 minutes.
Norwegian 4×4 and Assault 60s (60/60, 40/20, 30/30, 20/10). The segment countdown is the big number, with a buzz at every change and a 3-2-1 before it.
The outer ring is the ledger
On a round display the outer ring is your time in each zone, drawn as you train — one glance and you know where this session has been.
English and Traditional Chinese
Traditional Chinese when the watch language is set to it, English otherwise; telemetry labels like ELAPSED, REC and IN ZONE stay English in both, as on the Apple Watch version.
KINETIC Link:
setup, dashboard and history.
Time, heart rate, calories and time in each zone, big enough to read from two metres away; turn it sideways and it is the dashboard on the floor.
The Zone 2 target zone and duration, the interval sets and seconds — set on the phone, pushed once.
MHR, HRR and LTHR, with Auto picking the most accurate one your data supports; or fill in your coach's table. Age, resting and max heart rate can come from Apple Health.
In an open session, cross the line and the watch buzzes at once, then every five seconds until you come back down.
Heart-rate curve, zone distribution, duration, calories, average and max heart rate; add notes, photos and session details any time afterwards; export a share card in one tap.
No account, no server. Records stay on the iPhone; the watch's activity goes to Garmin Connect as usual.
64 models, ten families.
The KINETIC page in the Connect IQ store is the authoritative list. Square displays and the Instinct line aren't supported yet; watches without Connect IQ (the vívomove line, for example) can't install it. Missing yours? Tell me the model.
Five questions. The full set is on the support page.
Do I need an iPhone?
No — the watch app trains on its own; without an iPhone you don't get the phone-side setup, dashboard and history. No Android app yet.
Where does a session show up?
In Garmin Connect as an activity (Strength, Cardio or HIIT) and in KINETIC Link with your zone ledger, verdict and share card — two different records, not duplicates.
GPS and distance?
No. KINETIC does heart rate, zones and time; use a native Garmin activity for distance and route.
Is the watch in Chinese?
Traditional Chinese when the watch language is set to it, English otherwise; telemetry labels (ELAPSED, REC, IN ZONE) stay English in both, as on the Apple Watch version.
Versus the Apple Watch app?
Same three protocols and zone math, different watch. Separate apps, separate records — open the app for the watch you're wearing.
On an Apple Watch?
KINETIC started there — same protocols, same haptics, same zone math, measured on the watch and written to Apple Health.
The Garmin edition is nearly there.
The watch app runs on 64 models and the iPhone companion is done; what is left is the last round of on-device testing before release. Follow along on Instagram and Threads for every test and every revision.