I want to buy a watch to help my SUP training. I am looking for something with a programmable workout function. with programmable workout  function. Is something like the Garmin better than the NK speedcoach SUP 2 .

That is a good question. We finally have some options in the SUP world regarding gadgets to help us with our training. On the one hand you came to the right place as we are always testing new training devices. On the other hand – we might not be the best one to answer this question because we do not use the programmable workout function on either the Garmin or the NK Speedcoach. For us, our workouts are not that complicated and we prefer to just keep track of them as we go along.  That is just personal preference. We know lots of paddlers who program their workouts so they do not have to keep track of things. Fortunately for this discussion that does not change our recommendation because both the Garmin and Speedcoach allow you to program workouts.

Putting that aside, here is how it shakes out for us.

If you absolutely, positively, need to have a GPS based map to document your paddle workouts  – get the Garmin unit. Being able to upload and document your workouts is something that sis important to some paddlers. This is one of those features that you are going to need to decide whether or not it is important to you. For many paddlers, after a while, they do not upload their data or map their workouts.

In our opinion, paddling is different than cycling where a GPS/Mapping type of feature is very handy because there is elevation, the distances covered are much longer than cycling, and you might change your route…not to mention Strava. Again, these are not things that commonly happen with paddling. So GPS tracking of workouts is important to some paddlers but kind of a neutral for us.

If you are going to use your watch while running or cycling, you should consider getting a wrist based unit such as a Garmin. The NK Speedcoach won’t do you much good while you are running.

If, however, you are like most paddlers and mapping your workouts is not important and you are either not going to run or use your device on a bike OR you are ok with getting a second, inexpensive heart rate monitor for your running workouts then we strongly suggest considering the NK Speedcoach.

Although it is not discussed that often, the KILLER FEATURE of the NK Speedcoach is that big freaking screen staring you in the face while you are paddling. It is a huge pain in the rear end to have to keep stopping paddling to check your heart rate or time when you are paddling hard during an interval. Although you could mount your Garmin on your board it is really tough to see the interface unless you bend down to see it.

The other major benefits of the NK Speedcoach that we like are 1) the distance per stroke measure as this is tremendously beneficial in helping you become a better paddler and 2) the fact that it reads from the satellites 5x per second. That faster updating is helpful when you are gauging your efforts/speed during an interval.

So, the bottom line for us is that the NK Speedcoach is the way to go UNLESS you want/need to document your workouts on a map OR you are going to use the GPS features of a Garmin while running or biking and you don’t want to buy 2 devices.

All of that said, we kind of sort of dodged your first question. For more information about the programming features of Garmin vs. NK Speedcoach you are going to have to go online and get their instruction manuals to see how easy or hard it is to program these devices.  It is possible that the ease of programming may be important to you and help your decision.  Again, we do not use that feature so we do not have experience there. It is likely we will get some input from our readers and will contact you if we do.

FULL DISCLOSURE: NK speed coach is an advertiser with Riding Bumps. That, however, did not in any way influence our answer. We would have given the same answer whether or not they were an advertiser. We only allow advertisers on this site if we use and unequivocally recommend their products.