Export guide
Export your Garmin workouts to get them analyzed by ChatGPT
Garmin Connect shows your workouts, but it does not hand them to ChatGPT. You first have to get the file out. Here are three ways to do it, from the quickest to the most complete, and what to do with the file next.
Export one workout from Garmin Connect
This is the everyday method. It happens on the website, from a computer.
- Sign in at connect.garmin.com.
- Open Activities in the left menu, then the workout you want.
- Click the gear icon at the top right of the activity.
- Choose the option that exports the original file; its label varies with the version of the site. TCX and GPX exports exist too, but the original FIT is more complete.
- The download is a ZIP that contains the FIT file. No need to unzip it: gps-digest opens it as is.
Several workouts? Export them one by one and drop all the ZIP files at once.
No internet needed: copy files from the watch over USB
Plug the watch into a computer with its cable. It shows up as a drive or a device named GARMIN. Workouts are in the GARMIN/Activity folder, one FIT file per activity. Copy the most recent ones and drop them into gps-digest. On a Mac, recent watches do not show up as a drive: you need an MTP file transfer utility.
Your whole history: the full account export
To get years of workouts, sign in to your Garmin account and, in the data management section, request an export of your data. Garmin emails you a link to a ZIP archive of your whole account, usually within a few days. FIT files sit inside nested ZIPs. gps-digest can find them there, but the archive often weighs several hundred MB: unzip it and drop only the last few weeks of workouts.
FIT, TCX or GPX: which format should you export?
| Format | What it contains | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| FIT | Everything: heart rate, laps, paired heart rate sensor, barometric elevation, pool lengths | First choice |
| TCX | Heart rate, laps, cadence; no paired sensor, no barometric elevation | Good fallback |
| GPX | Track and times, often heart rate and cadence; no laps | Last resort |
Why not paste the file straight into ChatGPT?
Because a watch file is made for software, not for reading. FIT is binary, and one hour of running as TCX is about 533,000 tokens: enough to max out a free plan with a single workout. Even when the file goes through, the AI reasons poorly over thousands of raw lines. The full explanation is here.
Next: get your workouts analyzed by an AI
- Drop the file into gps-digest as is: FIT, TCX, GPX, ZIP or .gz. Everything is computed in your browser.
- Copy the structured file it produces: a few thousand tokens per workout instead of several hundred thousand.
- Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Vibe with your question. For week-by-week follow-up, see our AI coach guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can you export a workout from the Garmin Connect phone app?
No, the mobile app offers no file export. Use connect.garmin.com on a computer, or copy the files from the watch over USB.
Why can't ChatGPT read my Garmin FIT file?
FIT is a binary format: ChatGPT has to write a script to decode it, and often uses only part of it. Even converted to text, one hour of running is hundreds of thousands of tokens. gps-digest decodes it in your browser and turns it into a structured file of about 5,800 tokens per workout.
Do you need a Garmin Connect+ subscription to export your data?
No. Exporting a workout and exporting your whole account are both free.