Garmin rolls out software updates to Forerunner 945, 745 & 245

Good news for owners of Garmin Forerunner 945, 745 and 245. Garmin has released a press release yesterday announcing it has formally rolled out a hefty software update for the trio. Up to recently, this was only available in Beta.

It’s worth noting, the features are slightly different to those listed in the change-log of the Beta. So presumably Garmin has tweaked the software a bit for the public release. But not by much.

Main changes

Updates available for Forerunner 245 (245 Music), 745 and 945:

• Trail Run VO2Max – this was originally introduced on Enduro and slapped onto Fenix 6 as a software update. It it is a slightly tweaked version of Garmin’s VO2 max which tracks your cardiovascular fitness level and adjusts based on trail conditions. The hope was the feature would trickle down to other watches. Now it has.
• Better Body Battery metrics – a recent update to Garmin’s algorithms, up to now Venu 2 was the only watch with the improved stats. The changes put more emphasis on sleep when calculating Body Battery. So if you want to bump up the metric, make sure to get enough kip time. Hopefully, the tweak will help make the figure more representative of your actual state.
• Intensity minutes are also getting a tweak in the algorithm which should improve this metric.
• Rate of perceived effort: The new prompt appears when you save a workout. You’ll need to enable it by going to [Activity] Settings > Self Evaluation for options. Basically, before saving the activity you’ll be asked to grade your effort on a rotary dial that goes from zero to 10. These are your subjective ratings. The metric will then appear in the exercise stats of your Forerunner.

Updates available only for Forerunner 745 and 945:

• Ultra Run activity profile: Available on Enduro and Fenix 6, the activity profile is coming to other GPS watches.
• Better sleep tracking and Sleep Score: These are more accurate sleep tracking statistics and a sleep widget that utilises Firstbeat algorithms. The feature was introduced on the Fenix 6 nearly a year ago and has made their way to Garmin’s recent watches.
• A few more animated on-screen workouts
• Improved fitness age: This metric has been tweaked for more accuracy. It takes into account your chronological age, activity, resting heart rate and BMI or body fat percentage.

Updates available only for Forerunner 245/245 Music:

• Daily Suggested Workouts: The 245 is getting workout recommendations based on your recovery, training history and wellness data.

Garmin says the software update has started rolling out. If you are not seeing it yet on your watch, you should soon.

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