Tag: hiking

Garmin releases 2025 Garmin Connect Data Report

Garmin has released its 2025 Garmin Connect™ Data Report, highlighting overall fitness and health trends from customers around the world.  From data trends like average stress and daily steps to an increase in recorded activities, insights from the Garmin Connect community highlight key fitness and well-being trends across a range of demographics, locales and abilities.

Activity takeaways

Garmin users recorded 8% more activities this year than in 2024, with the following activities seeing the largest year over year increase:

  • Racket sports: +67%
  • HIIT: +45%.
  • Pilates: +46%
  • Strength training: +29%
  • Indoor running: +16%
  • Diving: +16%
  • Hiking: +12%

 

Health and fitness takeaways

  • Women recorded lower average stress scores than men, and Garmin users in Indonesia had the highest stress scores this year while those in the Netherlands had the lowest.
  • Garmin users got nearly 1% better sleep this year, with an average sleep score of 71.
  • Younger Garmin users typically had higher Body Battery™ energy levels, with 18–29-year-olds averaging 75. Users 40-49 years old averaged 70, while users over 70 years old averaged 64. Those in Portugal recorded the highest average Body Battery levels, while Japan had the lowest.
  • On average, users took more steps per day in 2025. Garmin users in Hong Kong took the most average steps with more than 10,000 per day.
  • Users 18-29 years old did the most outdoor running this year. 50-59-year-olds led the indoor cycling category, while those 70 years and older did the most golfing.

Click here to read the entire report.

What athletes love about Garmin Connect

 “I live a very active lifestyle, from long days surfing to runs and strength work in the gym. Being able to track my recovery, HRV, and overall performance in one place helps me make smarter decisions, stay consistent, and train with real purpose.”

–Brianna Cope, Garmin ambassador

 Garmin Connect is an organised person’s dream. It makes tracking and comparing my performance over time incredibly simple thanks to its clean colour-coded categories and easy-to-read charts. I can instantly spot trends across a week, a month, six months, or even a full year. So, when it’s time to reassess my training, Garmin Connect shows me exactly where I need to dial in my sleep, recovery, and overall workload.”

–Lauren Kalil, Garmin ambassador

“Since coming back to training and racing after having my daughter, I’ve really had to readjust my expectations for training and recovery. Using resting heart rate and HRV trends in the Garmin Connect app has been a huge help to me as I’ve recalibrated what’s normal for me right now. The data helps me know if we are getting the training and recovery load right, or if we need to back down.”

–Skye Moench, Garmin-sponsored triathlete

This year, Garmin Connect+ users can check out their own highlight reel – the Garmin Connect Rundown. Available now in the Garmin Connect app, the personalised annual report includes health, performance and activity stats, including total steps, average sleep score, totals of each activity type and more.

Garmin’s latest smartwatches – like the Venu® 4 and fēnix ® 8 Pro – are packed with popular health and fitness features and seamlessly sync to Garmin Connect, letting users track their activities, analyse their data, compete in challenges and more. Whether you’re chasing a new PR, training for an event or focusing more on overall wellness, Garmin has a smartwatch that’s ready for any goal. Click here to learn more about the latest lineup of Garmin smartwatches.

Engineered on the inside for life on the outside, Garmin products have revolutionised life for runners, cyclists, swimmers and athletes of all levels and abilities. Committed to developing technology that helps people stay active and elevate performance, Garmin believes every day is an opportunity to innovate and a chance to beat yesterday.

Hillwalk Tours Partner With HiiKER

Hillwalk Tours, a leading provider of self-guided walking holidays across Ireland, the UK, Spain, and Portugal, are thrilled to announce an innovative new partnership with Hiiker, a fellow Irish-based company, and experts in hiking and navigation technology. This collaboration brings the best of both worlds together: world-class hiking tours and state-of-the-art navigation support.

The partnership will allow Hillwalk Tours’ customers to seamlessly navigate their self-guided walking tour using Hiiker’s advanced GPS navigation app. Built with the customer experience in mind, Hillwalk Tours has meticulously curated and integrated their own GPS tracks for each hiking trail onto the Hiiker platform, which customers can access directly via the Hiiker app.

This strategic collaboration enhances the hiking experience by providing Hillwalk Tours’ customers with comprehensive offline GPS navigation, as well as a host of powerful features such as the ability to change to different, more detailed mapping layers and receive real-time “off-trail” alerts. The offline capability ensures that even in remote areas with limited connectivity, hikers will have access to reliable trail guidance.

“Our mission at Hillwalk Tours has always been to create experiences that make people happy” said Anthony Barrett, Managing Director of Hillwalk Tours. “By partnering with Hiiker, an Irish company that shares our passion for the great outdoors, along with providing exceptional navigational technology, we’re elevating our offering to customers. This partnership represents a major leap forward in ensuring our customers can safely and confidently explore the trails, while also enhancing the experience of our walking holidays.”

Hiiker, renowned for its expertise in creating intuitive navigation solutions for outdoor enthusiasts, is equally enthusiastic about the partnership. “We are excited to join forces with Hillwalk Tours, who have been creating first-rate self-guided hiking trips for over 15 years now,” said Paul Finlay, Founder of Hiiker. “Our technology will provide Hillwalk Tours’ customers with peace of mind, even in the most remote and beautiful landscapes, thanks to our app’s ability to provide detailed maps, offline navigation and trail safety alerts.”

Both companies, deeply rooted in Ireland, are passionate about promoting outdoor exploration in a safe, accessible, and enjoyable way. The collaboration is a testament to the shared values of innovation and quality, and it highlights the strength of Irish entrepreneurship in the global hiking and tourism industry.

Key Features of the Partnership:

  • GPS Navigation Made Easy: Customers of Hillwalk Tours will have access to Hillwalk’s own meticulously crafted and custom-built tracks on the Hiiker app, ensuring they can easily follow their hiking route.
  • Offline Capability: Hiiker’s offline navigation feature will keep hikers on track even in areas with no phone or cell coverage.
  • Detailed Mapping Layers: Customers will have access to switch between a wide array of comprehensive maps for navigation. This includes OSI, EastWest Mapping, and historical maps in Ireland; OS Mapping, Harvey Maps, and historical maps in the UK; as well as IGN and other national and independent maps across continental Europe.
  • Off-Trail Alerts: Automatic alerts notify walkers if they wander off the designated path, adding an extra layer of safety to their adventure.

This partnership marks a significant enhancement for hiking enthusiasts who value the freedom of self-guided tours without compromising on safety or convenience.

For more information on Hillwalk Tours, visit www.hillwalktours.com. To learn more about Hiiker, visit www.hiiker.app.

Coillte and HiiKER Unveil Innovative Pilot Programme to Enhance Visitor Experience at Seven Coillte Forests

Coillte, Ireland’s semi-state forestry company and leading provider of outdoor recreation, has announced an exciting new pilot programme in partnership with Irish start-up HiiKER, creators of an innovative hiking app. This initiative will offer a new and innovative way for local and visiting outdoor enthusiasts to experience Coillte forests by offering walkers and hikers real-time forest and walking trail insights before and during their visits.

Launching this summer, the pilot programme will introduce advanced features to HiiKER’s “Parks and Recreation” functionality. New enhancements include trail distances, accessibility reports and difficulty levels. Users will also benefit from real-time updates on trail busyness, parking availability, food options and toilet facilities. The HiiKer app will, for the first time, give visitors a real sense of the various activities available in Coillte’s forests and improve the overall visitor experience.

This new technology will be piloted in seven Coillte forests across the country including: Cruagh Woods, Ticknock, and Tibradden Woods in Dublin, as well as Donadea Forest Park in Kildare, Portumna Forest Park in Galway, Farran Forest Park in Cork and Dromore Forest in Kerry. Visitors to these forests will be the first to experience the enhanced capabilities offered by HiiKER.

HiiKER, is an Irish start up founded by Paul Finlay in Co. Meath. The app has helped over 1 million hikers to plan and navigate their hiking adventures all around the world. The app curates the best hikes on the planet, along with important points of interest to help users to plan the perfect hike. Most importantly, it works with the most notable map developers and cartographers to bring a wealth of verified route information to the public.

HiiKER on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 – techbuzzireland

Coillte and HiiKER will pilot the technology over a six-month period, utilising Coillte’s extensive expertise. The collaboration will yield valuable insights into forest and trail usage, allowing Coillte to make data-driven decisions to further enhance the visitor experience for all.

Daithi de Forge, Head of Recreation at Coillte said “Coillte forests attract an average of 18 million visits annually and we are delighted to partner with HiiKER on this pilot which aims to enhance the walking and hiking experience across several of our beautiful forests. This innovative programme supports our commitment to enhancing the recreational, social and wellbeing benefits from our forests and to making them more accessible and enjoyable for all. 

“By integrating Coillte’s extensive knowledge of the natural environment with HiiKER’s cutting-edge technology, we aim to provide visitors with an enriched, informed and seamless experience when they visit our forests.

Paul Finlay, HiiKER CEO added, “We are excited to join forces with Coillte to launch this innovative pilot programme that will transform the way people explore Ireland’s forests. Our new HiiKER Parks and Recreation functionality and Coillte’s extensive database of recreational maps and data, enables the public to explore Coillte forests like never before. We’re encouraging everyone to download the app for free and start exploring these forests today.”

Download HiiKER from the Appstore or Google Playstore and search for one of the pilot forests.