January 2026 - Challenges and Badges

Join the January challenges now in Garmin Connect.

Three month challenges - Stage 1

First month in Stage 1.

2026 Cycling - Stage 1
Join this challenge and record 675 kilometers (419.43 miles) of cycling activities from January 1 to March 31.

2026 Running - Stage 1
Join this challenge and record 300 kilometers (186.42 miles) of running activities from January 1 to March 31.

2026 Walking - Stage 1
Join this challenge and record 91 miles (146.5 km) of walking activities from January 1 to March 31.

Full month challenges

January Photo Share
Join this challenge and add a photo to 3 or more activities that are visible to others in January.

January Steps Podium
Join this challenge and finish in the top 3 of at least one weekly steps challenge from December 29, 2025, to January 25, 2026.

January Likes
Join this challenge and receive a total of 25 or more likes on activities, posts or comments in January.

Active January
Join this challenge and record 20 activities of at least 20 minutes each in January.

January Time to Ride
Join this challenge and record 20 hours of cycling activities in January.

January Time to Run
Join this challenge and record 10 hours of running activities in January.

January Time to Swim
Join this challenge and record 4 hours of swimming activities in January.

January Rundown
Join this challenge and record 50 miles of running activities in January.

January Step Month
Join this challenge and record 300,000 steps in January.

January Gains
Join this challenge and record a total of 4 hours of strength activities in January.

January Walking
Join this challenge and record 30 miles of walking activities in January.

January Warrior
Join this challenge and record a total of 4 hours of yoga activities in January.

Full month challenges Connect+

January Epic Hikes

Join this challenge and record 1,000 meters of total ascent during hiking activities in January.


January Running Climbs

Join this challenge and record 500 meters of total ascent during running activities in January.


January Heart Walks

Join this challenge and record at least 3 hours of walking in heart rate zones 2 or 3 in January.


January Speed Walking

Join this challenge and record at least 3 hours of walking with an average pace of 10:30 /km (16:50 /mi) or faster in January.


Intense January

Join this challenge and reach your weekly intensity minutes goal on two different weeks from December 29 to February 1.


January Battery Booster

Join this challenge and achieve a Body Battery level of 76 or higher for 7 days in January.


January Intense Cardio

Join this challenge and record at least 3 hours of cardio activities in heart rate zone 3 in January.


January Power Cycling

Join this challenge and record at least 4 hours of cycling activities in power zone 3 in January.


January Meditations

Join this challenge and record meditation activities for 7 days in January.


Low Stress January

Join this challenge and maintain a daily average stress level of 50 or lower for 7 days in January.


January Calorie Burn

Join this challenge and burn 8,000 active calories in January.

Weekend and week challenges

January Weekend Walking

Join this challenge and record a 3-mile walking activity from January 2-4.


January Ride to 200

Join this challenge and record 200 kilometers of cycling activities from January 4-17.


January Weekend 10K

Join this challenge and record a 10-kilometer running activity from January 9-11.


January Swim Week

Join this challenge and record 1,000 meters of swimming activities from January 11-17.


January Weekend 40K

Join this challenge and record a 40-kilometer cycling activity from January 16-18.


January Weekend 5K

Join this challenge and record a 5-kilometer running activity from January 23-25.


January Ride to 100

Join this challenge and record 100 kilometers of cycling activities from January 25-31.

Badges in January

Note: The listed country requirements are based on the country requirements from previous years. 
  • Jan 1 - Strong Start, Record an activity on New Year's Day. Repeatable

  • Jan 31 - Garmin Run Asia Series 2026 - Japan 5K, Record a 5K run during the Garmin Run Asia Series - Japan on January 31, 2026.

New badges

  • Celtic Rally Roads, Complete the Celtic Rally Roads challenge in the Tacx Training app.
  • Now We’re Cooking, Create a custom meal.
  • Breakfast Club, Log at least one food item for breakfast daily for 7 consecutive days.
  • Daily Balance, Record your weight daily for 30 consecutive days.
  • Logging Legend, Log at least one food daily for 30 consecutive days.
  • Daily Dish, Log at least one food daily for 7 consecutive days.
  • Watch What You Eat, Log a food from your device.
  • Weight Warrior, Hit your goal weight while recording your weight at least twice in the last 7 days. This badge can only be earned every 30 days.
  • Photo Foodie, Log a food by taking a photo.
  • Protein Pro, Hit your daily protein goal for 7 consecutive days.

Updates




Garmin Badge Database
Garmin Connect
Change country setting


Comments

  1. Andy, I probably got 50 badges I wasn't supposed to get. I lost many of them for unfinished activity, BUT... I read that someone still managed to cheat the system and get those badges. Do you know how they did it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be easier if you give a few examples which badges you are referring to.
      It seems that the race badges can be aquired by running on a treadmill and by changing the country to the country for the race. I haven't verfied it.

      Delete
    2. I read something like "Change the date on the clock"... When syncing with the server, should the date update? P.S. I'm referring to some Sunday trips, which is my day off.

      Delete
    3. If it isn't a challenge you just have to edit the date for the activity. For challenges you have to log it on the correct date and you must upload the date during the challenge period or latest 12 hours after. You changing the date on the phone might work for step challenges.

      Delete
  2. The 5K run asia Japan language is vague. Do we still have to run in Japan or can you just change your location?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a race badge so you have to run at the correct location.
      It might work if you log a treadmill activity with country set to Japan. Not verified.

      Delete
  3. Hallo Andy das Abzeichen fürs Chinesiche Jahr fügst Du sicherlich dann noch mit ein wenn es bei Dir angezeigt wird oder kommt es erst im Februar?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! I will add it when I see it. It should come in February. Those badges are usually added pretty late by Garmin. Usually the Wednesday before so we should see it on February 11th.

      Delete
  4. Happy new year! So I am looking at my challenges page. GMT+2. Just passed midnight. I choose the correct time zone in the settings, that correctly displays in the bottom that it was updated at 2026-01-01 00:01, but it looks like the timezones is not taken into consideration when calculating all the values of the table. It shows I still have 1 day left for the December challenges.plus another bug, that the unfinished challenges display a higher (absolute) value of ahead value than the to go value. So where I have 123.23 to go it displays that I'm -124.84 ahead.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Happy new year! It isn't tested that much. Maybe it was even harder for the calculations when the year changed. I don't see any obvious errors and I use the timezone for all dates, but there is something wrong somewhere. I will put it on my to do list.

      Delete
    2. Wondering if anyone else has an error for the weekly step challenge, to earn the "steps podium badge", it is still "gathering results", usually it is done by 1pm.

      Delete
    3. Yes same for me still this morning

      Delete
    4. Bonjour
      Pour ma part le badge est bien tombé hier

      Delete
    5. Piou, are you subscribed to Connect+? I bet you are and Garmin "accidentally" changed the Podium badge to be Connect+ only (I wouldn't be surprised if the same will be the fate of the Likes and the Photos badge too)

      Delete
    6. I've got a response from Garmin Support. They're investigating the issue. I recommend that if anyone else has the weekly steps challenge in limbo take a screenshot, upload it via Secure File Upload: https://support.garmin.com/en-GB/?faq=x1XUrzdeRx84EnUCQHEKM8&searchQuery=sending%20files and then report it to Garmin Customer Support: https://support.garmin.com/

      Delete
    7. Done.
      The issue isn't with the steps podium badge itself as far as I can see. It's that the weekly challenge is stuck in evaluation and hasn't reset for the new week which means the badge hasn't been awarded yet. Piou has received it but I checked with a couple of my connections on Connect and they see the issue so must be impacting just a subset of users.

      Delete
    8. Anyone with subscription that still sees "In Evaluation" or anyone without the subscription that got the results?

      Delete
    9. Oui abonné connect+.
      De plus je me désabonne du défi hebdo dès obtention du badge.

      Delete
    10. I got the January Steps Podium badge yesterday. It is not showing as in evaluation. Sometimes it takes longer if there are people in different time zones? (I live in Rarotonga so am 11 hours behind GMT - about last place in the world!). I am on Connect+

      Delete
    11. So seems Gavriel may be right that subscription or not is the difference. I've asked 4 connections now, none of us have Connect+ and we're all stuck in evaluation.

      Delete
    12. Issue resolved for me now. I got the Steps Podium badge around 5am GMT on 7th Jan and the weekly challenge has been reset.

      Delete
    13. Looks like it's fixed for me

      Delete
  5. Yesterday, Garmin added a nutrition record to the website and app and published new badges in the process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Garmin was really fast here. Adding them now.

      Delete
    2. All the food related badges seem to be achievable only if one has Connect+, because needs the nutrition tracking, but I'll try to see if the weight related is achievable without paying.

      Delete
    3. Daily Balance was available since yesterday. I have the Index S2 scales and have weighed myself daily for months, including yesterday and today, but when I look at progress against the badge I see 0 days.

      Delete
    4. PaulM, and are you subscribed to Connect+?

      Delete
    5. No I'm not, sorry, I should have added that.

      Delete
    6. I guessed it. Now we'll have to wait for someone that is subscribed to check it too so we know it only works with Connect+ (my guess) and we probably should report to Garmin to add the Connect+ tag to all these badges, or maybe there's an even bigger bug (like last week's weekly step challenge is still evaluating... probably the whole badge backend system died, and we won't get any badges for a few months....)

      Delete
    7. All my other badges are showing expected progress (10k a day / walk streak / 30 for 30 / etc) so hopefully it's just the weekly challenge that's an issue. I don't think it should be Connect+ for the weight badges given you can record weight without the subscription as a long standing feature but it seems they have decided otherwise.

      Delete
    8. Of course it's PAY. The popup ad says "free trial". I would think the badges are only available if you start the trial.

      Delete
    9. Preneur d'un pas à pas pour enregistrer un aliment dans Garmin connect. J ai obtenu le badge "créer un repas personnalisé" mais étrangement ça ne passe pas pour enregistrer un aliment ??

      Delete
    10. A bit crap that the nutrition glance is only on the newest watches - so cant get the add from device badge!

      Delete
  6. Bonsoir

    Pour le badge "fou de la balance" mon objectif quotidien n' avance pas malgré une saisie du poid quotidien.
    Est ce que quelqu'un rencontre ce problème ?
    Merci

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see the same behavior. It isn't working as it should.

      Delete
    2. Same here, but I think that it's another misconfiguration on Garmin's part. Of course we can only hope that this will be fixed for non-subscribers, though I wouldn't be surprised if all the new badges are meant to be only for subscribers who manage these things from within the nutrition tracking.

      Delete
  7. Which scale do you use, the Index smart scale or the Index S2? The Badges Weight Warrior seems to work, as some have already received it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anyone without Connect+ subscription received it? I Don't have an Index scale. I use a xiaomi scale and sync that with the Garmin account (or if you like it's like manually adding the weight)

      Delete
    2. As I estimate Garmin, it will probably only work with a paired Garmin scale.

      Delete
    3. I use Index S2 and am not a Connect+ subscriber. I don't see progress against Daily Balance despite weighing myself every morning. I also tried messing around with my weight goal and weigh-ins from the past couple of days. I did not receive Weight Warrior despite meeting the criteria, so I suspect both of these are indeed available for subscription only.

      Delete
    4. I have a Connect+ subscription and it is not working for me. I use the Whitings scale and update Garmin through MyFitnessPal. Sounds like must be a Garmin scales. They should put more effort into testing these badges work as described!

      Delete
    5. LOL :) They don't even test real, serious features, like software that is running on our watches, what do you expect about the badges?

      Delete
    6. I have the old Index smart scale and Connect+ subscription. Daily balance badge did not work yesterday, but today I can see the progression. Yesterdays weigh in was counted aswell.

      No progression visible on the Weight Warrior badge, BUT if I check the "Weigh" tab in Connect/App, I can see that my goal is visible in the graph

      Delete
    7. *Still not possible to "Add a meal/food". I just get a red error message

      Delete
    8. I got the Weight Warrior badge today. I logged the weight manually. I got Connect+. The badge shows stars in the background so it should be a Connect+ badge.
      The Daily Balance badge is now also showing progress.

      Delete
    9. @Jarlelj. Have you made sure you've set the correct Region in the Nutrion settings? Also try using Garmin Connect Web to add meal/food.

      Delete
    10. I see 5 days progress on daily balance today too.

      Delete
    11. @e7andy Strange thing: I checked the nutrition settings now, and the wrong region was listed (Argentina). I changed to Norway, pressed save and tried adding a food/meal again. Same error.

      Checked the settings again, and Argentina was back! I changed to Norway once more, pressed save and the message confirm that the region is changed. I pressed F5, and the settings bounces back to Argentina again.

      (Have tried adding food/meal both in the app and Garmin Connect Web)

      I guess Garmin just have rolled out a feature too early again, I will just wait for them to fix the issue

      Delete
    12. Definitely. I guess this was hastily implemented (maybe using AI), not reviewed and not tested by humans as one would expect. But I'm not surprised, the trend is clearly downwards in terms of software quality recently.

      Delete
    13. @e7andy Edit: Garmin have fixed the bug above with the region resetting, and now I can add a food/meal!

      Delete
  8. Food tracking badges - Daily Dish shows progress, but Breakfast Club doesn't - even though I have been recording in the "breakfast" category

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi,
    I can't get the badge for my weight goal... I have Connect +, I enter the weight manually (obviously it's lower than the goal), the counter goes forward but the badge doesn't arrive... any suggestions? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To get the Weight Warrior badge you must enter the same weight as your goal weight. A lower weight is not always what the user wants. Some users want to gain weight.

      Delete

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