How does importing workouts work?
Steps required to import training correctly
1. Save a workout on your watch
Once the athlete has completed their workout, they complete the workout and save it on their watch.
2. Synchronise the watch with an external provider's app
The next step is to synchronise the watch with an application from a third-party provider (Garmin, Polar, etc.) after connecting to it via a Bluetooth connection (or sometimes another method, depending on the watch manufacturer)
You need to make sure that you can see your training in the external app (Garmin Connect, Polar, Suunto, etc). At this stage, the apps you sync your workouts to can be problematic and sometimes need to be restarted in order for them to properly connect to the watch and download your completed workout from it.
3. Importing workouts into the Good Coach App system (for Garmin, Coros, Suunto, Strava)
Once correctly synchronised, the workout will automatically be sent to the Good Coach App system and will be stored in our database. This usually takes a few seconds, but depends on the load on the providers servers and our servers, and the number of workouts currently being processed.
What happens later with the workout depends on whether we have automatic import of workouts enabled in the Good Coach App for the integration.
Automatic workout import
Automatically import workouts is enabled in the Good Coach App mobile app under Settings -> Integrations -> Garmin Connect (or other integration). Option: Automatically import workouts.
After importing a workout, you will receive a push notification on your phone (from the Good Coach App) that the workout is in your account. Once in the app, you sometimes have to refresh the calendar screen by 'pulling it down'.
After importing, the activity can be automatically merged with a training plan prepared by the coach. More....
Manual import of trainings
If you don't have automatic import of workouts enabled, then workouts have to be imported manually. To do this, go into the Good Coach App, select the Calendar tab and press the Import from Garmin Connect button (or other integration). The app will then show the workouts available that have come into the Good Coach App system from an external service.
Always prefer to import workouts from the watch provider service, rather than from Strava. Strava receives workouts from external providers and sends them on to the Good Coach App. That's why the workouts sent by Strava have a limited amount of training data and are simpler than the original workouts. However, it can be useful to import data from external sources if it is not directly supported by the Good Coach App.
4. Importing workouts into the Good Coach App system for Apple Health
Importing workouts from the Apple Health app works differently than with other integrations. It happens directly on the iOS device (iPhone, iPad) where the athlete saved their workout. Unlike other integrations, where the athlete might not even need to have the Good Coach App installed on their device at the time of the workout, for Apple Health this is essential.
Connecting the Good Coach App to Apple Health
To start importing workouts from Apple Health to the Good Coach App, you first need to connect the Good Coach App to the Apple Health app on your iOS device. To do this, go to the Good Coach App mobile app, select the Settings tab -> Connections with external apps -> Health and press the Connect button. The app will then ask you to grant the appropriate permissions to access Apple Health data.
When the system permission window appears, check all permissions so that the Good Coach App can import workouts with detailed data from Apple Health. (This data also includes health data (e.g. sleep, resting heart rate, etc.) which is needed to add health entries.)
A workout performed using an Apple Watch will include training data such as laps, segments, route, heart rate, pace, elevation, cadence, power, and vertical oscillation (if these data are recorded on the given watch model).
Automatic workout import process from Apple Health to Good Coach App
- The athlete performs a workout and saves it on their Apple Watch.
- The watch automatically syncs with the Apple Health app on the iOS device (iPhone, iPad) to which the watch is connected.
- The Good Coach App mobile app (on the same device) receives information about the new workout from the Apple Health app and can import it in the background without user involvement.
iOS passes information about new workouts according to its own algorithms and at specific time intervals. Therefore, it may happen that the Good Coach App receives information about a new workout only after some time from when it was saved in the Apple Health app (even up to several hours). This is particularly related to battery saving modes in iOS, which can delay the operation of apps running in the background.
If you have problems importing workouts from Apple Health, make sure that Background App Refresh is enabled for the Good Coach App in iOS settings. (Settings -> Apps -> Good Coach App -> Background App Refresh).
It should also be remembered that for the Good Coach App to import workouts from Apple Health, it must have the appropriate permissions to access Apple Health data (particularly for workouts, heart rate data, route, and other workout-related data). When connecting the Good Coach App to Health on an iOS device, the app will ask for such permissions. They should be accepted for workout importing to work correctly. (Settings -> Apps -> Health -> App Access -> Good Coach App).
The data is also automatically refreshed when you launch the Good Coach App mobile application.
Manual import of workouts from Apple Health to Good Coach App
A completed workout can also be imported to the Good Coach App manually.
To do this, go to the Good Coach mobile app, select the Calendar tab, the plus button, and press the Import from Apple Health button. The app will then show the workouts available that are in the Apple Health app on the same device.
For workouts from Apple Health, the Good Coach App can only access workouts that are in the Health app on the same device where we have the Good Coach App installed.
From the Health app, you can also download other workouts stored in this app using other external apps from other devices, such as watches from other manufacturers. To do this, synchronise these workouts with the Health app on the device on which you have the Good Coach App installed, and then import them in the Good Coach App. This applies only to manual import.
Lap calculation in workouts from Apple Health
For workouts imported from Apple Health, laps are calculated based on information about the time when the end of a given segment occurred. Because the Apple Health app performs certain transformations of GPS location data to improve their quality and display them more usefully on charts, it may happen that calculated laps may differ slightly from those displayed in the Apple Fitness app or other apps. However, this is intentional to improve the usability of the provided data.
5. Add training manually
If a workout has not been imported automatically or is not available for manual import, you can add the workout manually. To do this, go into the Good Coach App, select the Calendar tab and press the Add workout manually button. The app will then show you a form where you have to enter the workout details.
It is important to note, however, that such a workout is much simpler and does not include exact data on heart rate, pace, altitude etc.
Manual import of a workout data file
When manually adding a workout in the browser app, you can also import a FIT file, which contains the full workout information and has the same value as data imported automatically from an external service. If you want to use this method, you can download the FIT file from an external service (e.g. Garmin Connect) and import it manually in the Good Coach App browser app.