How to Switch Fitness Apps Without Losing Your Workout History
Moving from Hevy, Strava, Runkeeper, or a watch app? What carries over, which files to export, and how Apple Health and Health Connect fit in.
The most common reason people give for staying in an app they have outgrown is simple: "I don't want to lose my history." It comes up constantly in Reddit threads about switching workout trackers.
It is a fair worry. Here is how to move without leaving years of training behind. TandemFit publishes this guide, so the specific steps below describe importing into TandemFit. The export advice applies wherever you are going.
"What actually carries over?"
It depends on the source. Structured exports keep the most detail:
| Moving from | What to export | What comes across into TandemFit |
|---|---|---|
| Hevy | CSV export | Workouts, exercises, and sets |
| Strava | Connect your account | New activities sync on their own |
| Runkeeper | Archive export | Your activity history in one upload |
| Watches and bike computers | .FIT, .TCX, or .GPX files | Routes, laps, pace, heart rate, and cadence, where the file has them |
| Apple Health / Health Connect | Grant permissions | Steps, distance, active calories, heart rate, and body measurements |
Gzipped .GPX, .TCX, and .FIT files work too.
"Will my imported runs look like real runs?"
They should. A good import keeps the route, laps, pace, heart rate, and cadence when the source file includes them, so an imported run behaves like one you recorded rather than a row with a distance on it. Imports can only keep what the source recorded, though. If the original has no route, no app can recreate it.
"Isn't Apple Health or Health Connect enough?"
They help, but they are not a full training log. Apple Health and Health Connect are platform data layers: they hold steps, distance, heart rate, body measurements, and workout summaries from whichever apps you allow. They usually do not keep the detail of a strength session, like each set and load. Use them for everyday signals, and a proper export for your workout detail.
"Will I get duplicates?"
Duplicates can happen when the same workout arrives by more than one route, for example a watch run that syncs through Strava and also shows up in Apple Health. Pick one source per activity type where you can, and check the first week of imports before bulk-uploading years of history.
"Can I leave again later?"
Check this before you move, not after. Anywhere you put years of training should let you take it back out. TandemFit exports your training history whenever you want, and you can request account deletion from the support page.
A simple switching checklist
- Export everything from your current app first, even if you plan to connect it directly.
- Import your strength history (for example a Hevy CSV) and your cardio history (Strava, Runkeeper, or files).
- Connect Apple Health or Health Connect for steps and body measurements.
- Review one recent week and look for gaps or duplicates.
- Keep the original export files somewhere safe.
Where TandemFit fits
TandemFit's imports and health sync are built so switching does not mean starting over. Bring in your history, sync what your phone and watch already collect, then keep strength and GPS cardio in one log. That matters most for hybrid athletes, whose history is usually split across two apps. For the background on platform health data, read HealthKit, Health Connect, and workout imports.
Takeaways
Your training history is worth more than any one app. Export it first, import it into the app you are moving to, check a week of it for gaps, and only commit your data somewhere that will let you take it back out.