Garmin Acquires TrainingPeaks & TrainHeroic: What It *Could* Mean for Athletes and Coaches

On July 22, 2026, Garmin announced its acquisition of TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, two of the most widely used training platforms for endurance and strength athletes.

For years, Garmin and TrainingPeaks have worked closely together, with athletes seamlessly syncing workouts and performance data between the two platforms. This acquisition makes that relationship official and has sparked plenty of conversation throughout the coaching community.

So...what does this actually mean?

The short answer is: I actually don't know yet.

Garmin's announcement focused on expanding coaching experiences and helping connect athletes with coaches. That's encouraging news, but it's also reasonable to expect that Garmin has a much bigger long-term vision… thinking from a larger cooperation perspective I could VERY much see it being more about more $$.

Here's what I think athletes and coaches should be watching over the next few years:

Why This Acquisition Matters

***Garmin didn't simply purchase a workout calendar.**

They acquired one of the largest structured training ecosystems in endurance sports.

That includes:

• Millions of structured workouts

• Years of athlete performance data

• Training progression across all ability levels

• Workout completion and compliance data

• Coach-created training methodologies

• Performance trends leading to PRs, injuries, and successful race outcomes

• A global network of professional coaches

Combined with Garmin's existing data, including GPS, heart rate, HRV, sleep, stress, Body Battery™, recovery metrics, and more…it creates one of the most comprehensive fitness datasets in the industry.

That's incredibly powerful.

What Athletes Can Expect

1. Smarter AI Coaching

Garmin has already invested heavily in Garmin Coach and adaptive daily suggested workouts.

With TrainingPeaks now in-house, it's reasonable to expect AI coaching to become much more personalized.

Imagine an AI coach that considers:

• Sleep

• HRV

• Stress

• Recovery

• Training history

• Race goals

• Workout compliance

• Previous injuries

• Heat acclimation

• Training load

Instead of simply following a fixed schedule, workouts could adjust dynamically based on how your body is responding.

2. Better Integration

One of the biggest wins may simply be convenience.

Athletes may eventually see:

• Less syncing between platforms

• Better workout execution

• Improved analytics

• Easier communication with coaches

• More seamless race planning

3. More Features Inside Garmin Connect

Garmin has traditionally kept many premium coaching tools outside Garmin Connect. This acquisition could bring advanced planning and analytics directly into Garmin's ecosystem. What this means for us cost wise? I still don’t know… perhaps there will no longer be a TrainingPeaks “premium fee” + Garmin connect fee.

What Coaches Can Expect

This is where opinions start to differ from what I’ve been reading onInstagram. Some coaches are excited. Others are understandably cautious.

Both perspectives are valid. Two things can be true at the same time.

Potential Benefits: Better Coaching Tools

Garmin has significant engineering resources.

That could mean:

• Better analytics

• Improved athlete dashboards

• Enhanced recovery insights

• Easier workout creation

• Better communication features

More Athlete Exposure

Garmin's announcement specifically emphasized connecting athletes with professional coaches.

If Garmin expands coach discovery, it could help independent coaches reach athletes who otherwise wouldn't know they exist.

From their announcement:

“TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic share Garmin’s passion for empowering athletes and coaches around the world with world-class training tools, performance metrics and actionable insights. The addition of these highly successful platforms to the Garmin ecosystem will expand access to more authentic coaching experiences—connecting athletes with professional coaches who guide, motivate and inspire them to reach their goals.” –Brad Trenkle, Garmin Co-Chief Operating Officer

Less Administrative Work

AI could eventually assist coaches with tasks like:

• Flagging fatigue trends

• Monitoring workout compliance

• Identifying recovery concerns

• Drafting training adjustments

• Generating reports

That leaves more time for what coaches do best: coaching people.

Potential Concerns

It's also worth discussing the questions many coaches have raised.

Will AI Learn From Coaching Data?

This is probably the biggest question.

Garmin now owns access to an enormous library of structured training data.

Whether and how that data may be used to improve AI systems depends on user agreements, privacy policies, and applicable laws. As of today, Garmin has not announced that it will use individual coaches' training plans to train AI models.

However, it's reasonable to expect Garmin will continue improving its coaching technology using aggregated insights where permitted.

That's very different from copying a specific coach's program; but it's something many coaches will be paying close attention to. And it’s purely speculation at this point.

Increased Competition From AI

As AI coaching improves, athletes may wonder:

"Do I still need a coach?"

For some runners, the answer may become "not yet."

For others, especially beginners, AI may be more than enough.

That could increase competition in the coaching space.

Platform Changes

Whenever a large company acquires a smaller one, changes often follow. Change isn’t always a bad thing! Without new innovations life would remain stagnant and we wouldn’t be here today typing away on a Mac an shooting emails back and forth. :)

Potential changes could include:

• Pricing

• Subscription models (maybe we will no longer have both TrainingPeaks Premium fees + Garmin Premium Connect fees?)

• Features

• User interface

• Coach tools

• Integrations with third-party apps

None of these have been announced, but they're common areas to watch after acquisitions.

Pros & Cons

For Athletes

Pros

• More personalized training recommendations

• Better integration between devices and workouts

• Smarter recovery guidance

• Improved analytics

• Potentially fewer apps to manage

• Enhanced Garmin Coach capabilities

Cons

• Possible subscription or pricing changes

• Less flexibility if Garmin prioritizes its own ecosystem

• Increased reliance on AI recommendations

• Questions around long-term data usage and privacy

For Coaches

Pros

• Better analytics and coaching tools

• Improved athlete monitoring

• More automation for administrative tasks

• Potential exposure to new athletes through Garmin's ecosystem

• Deeper physiological insights from Garmin data

Cons

• Increased competition from AI coaching

• Uncertainty about future platform direction

• Possible pricing or feature changes

• Concerns about how aggregated coaching data could influence AI development

• Greater dependence on a single ecosystem

The Human Element Still Matters

Technology has transformed coaching over the last decade: GPS watches replaced handwritten logs. Heart rate monitors became standard. Power meters changed cycling.

Now AI is becoming another tool. But coaching has never been just about writing workouts.

Great coaches recognize when life gets in the way. They adjust for stress, family obligations, travel, injuries, pregnancy, motivation, confidence, and all the variables that don't show up in a dashboard. AI can’t interact in a one-on-one coaching call and understand the tone in a human’s voice. we as human coaches can sense the fear, uncertainty or joy.

The workout is only one piece of the equation. The relationship is where the real value lives.

Final Thoughts

Garmin's acquisition of TrainingPeaks is one of the biggest announcements the endurance coaching industry has seen in years.

Will it lead to better tools? Almost certainly.

Will AI become more capable? Very likely….

Will it replace great coaches overnight? Probably not.

The future is likely to be a partnership between human expertise and intelligent technology. Coaches who embrace new tools while continuing to provide the empathy, judgment, accountability, and personalized guidance that athletes value most are likely to remain indispensable.

For now, this acquisition is less about immediate change and more about the direction of endurance coaching. The coming months, and the updates Garmin rolls out, will tell us much more about what that future looks like.

And remember this if nothing else: control what you can, release the rest, stay focused on YOUR mission as a coach and/or athlete. AI can never replace: YOU.