Replace Your Personal Trainer With Claude AI — Using Your Garmin Data

Day 38: Replace Your Personal Trainer With Claude AI

I'm aiming to run a marathon in 6 months. So instead of guessing, I exported all my data from my Garmin — heart rate, sleep, HRV, VO2 Max, training load, everything — and handed it to Claude. What came back wasn't generic advice. It was a customised training plan built around my actual numbers.

That's what a $200/month personal trainer does. Claude does it in about 10 minutes, for free.

Here's the exact step-by-step.

Step 1: Export your Garmin data

Go to garmin.com → Account → Data Management → Export Data.

1. Log in to your Garmin account
2. Click "Export Your Data"
3. Garmin will prepare a ZIP file with all your data — this can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours depending on how long you've been using your watch. You'll receive an email when it's ready.
4. Download the ZIP file and unzip it. You'll see a folder called DI_CONNECT — that's the one Claude needs.

While you're waiting for the export: think about your goal. It can be anything:

• Run a marathon in 1 year
• Lose 20kg in 6 months
• Improve my 5K time
• Build general fitness
• Sleep better and reduce stress

The clearer your goal, the more specific Claude's plan will be.

Step 2: Install Claude Code

Claude Code is the version of Claude that can read files directly from your computer — which is exactly what we need. Here's how to install it, even if you've never touched a terminal before.

Open your terminal

On Mac: Press Cmd + Space, type Terminal, and press Enter. A window with a blinking cursor will appear.

On Windows: Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, right-click it and choose "Run as administrator".

Don't panic — you're just going to copy and paste two commands.

Install Claude Code

Paste this into your terminal and press Enter:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

You'll see some text scroll by — that's normal. When it stops and shows a new cursor, it's done.

Log in with your Claude account

Now type:

claude

Claude Code will start and ask you to log in. It will open a browser window — just sign in with your existing Claude account (the same one you use on claude.ai). If you don't have one yet, create a free account at claude.ai first.

Once logged in, you'll be back in the terminal with Claude Code ready to use. No API keys, no setup — just your normal Claude account.

Step 3: Navigate to your Garmin folder

In your terminal, navigate into the folder you unzipped. The easiest way: type cd (with a space after it) and then drag the folder from Finder/Explorer straight into the terminal window — it will type the path for you automatically. Press Enter.

Or type it manually:

Mac example:

cd ~/Downloads/GarminExport

Windows example:

cd C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\GarminExport

Then start Claude Code:

claude

Step 4: Use this prompt

Once Claude Code is running inside your Garmin export folder, paste this prompt — and fill in your goal where indicated:

You are an expert personal trainer and health coach. I'm going to give you my real fitness data exported from my Garmin watch.

Based on this data, create a detailed, personalized plan to help me achieve my goal.

MY GOAL:
[fill in — examples: "run a marathon in 1 year", "lose 20kg in 6 months", "improve my 5K time", "build general fitness", "sleep better and reduce stress"]

MY GARMIN DATA: see the DI_CONNECT folder

Please give me:
- An honest assessment of my current fitness level based on the data
- A realistic weekly training schedule
- Key things to focus on first based on what my data shows
- Any red flags you see in my data I should know about

Be specific and reference my actual numbers. Don't give generic advice.

Let it run for a minute or two. Claude reads through your data files and builds a plan specific to your body, your history, and your goal — not a template, not an average.

What you'll get back

Based on my own run, Claude delivered:

• An honest read of my VO2 Max trend and what it actually means for marathon readiness
• A 6-month weekly training structure with specific easy, tempo, long run, and rest days
• A note that my HRV dips mid-week — suggesting I should front-load harder sessions earlier in the week
• A red flag about my resting heart rate creeping up over the previous month (early overtraining warning)

None of that is generic. Generic AI gives you a 5-day training plan with no idea who you are. This one references your actual numbers from your actual watch.

That's what a $200/month personal trainer does. Now you can do it yourself, with your own data, in 10 minutes.