Hello Garmin Team,
I am writing to request a simple but crucial feature for Garmin Connect: the ability to manually input Body Fat percentage in the app and web dashboard.
Currently, the Fitness Age metric relies heavily on BMI if no body fat data is present. As an athlete who incorporates heavy strength training, my BMI technically classifies me as "overweight" (e.g., BMI 25+). This artificially worsens my Fitness Age, even though I have a high amount of muscle mass and low body fat.
To anticipate the standard recommendation: yes, I have experience with the Garmin Index S2 smart scale. Unfortunately, it does not solve this issue for muscular users. The scale significantly overestimated my body fat percentage because its BIA algorithm seems to struggle with high muscle mass/water retention. Judging by the feedback on fitness forums and Garmin's own community boards, I am far from the only athlete experiencing this specific limitation with the smart scales.
Since the Index scale is not an accurate solution for strength athletes, we desperately need a way to manually enter our true Body Fat % (obtained via calipers, DEXA scans, or professional in-body tests) directly into Garmin Connect. This single input field would fix the Fitness Age calculation and provide accurate metrics for thousands of weightlifters and cross-fitters in your ecosystem.
Thank you for considering this update to make Garmin truly supportive of all types of athletes.
