After months or years of logging workouts, your fitness app holds a detailed record of your training: lifts, runs, rides, heart rate data and personal notes. That history can be motivating to look back on and useful for planning. But it lives on someone else's servers, and apps change, shut down, raise prices or simply stop suiting you. Keeping your own copy of your workout history means you can switch apps, cancel a subscription or recover from a lost account without losing years of progress. This guide covers how to find export options, which formats you may see, how to move data between apps and how to store it safely. Features differ widely between apps, so check your own app's help pages for exact steps.
Why back up your workout history
There are several good reasons to keep a copy:
- Switching apps. You may want to try a different app without starting from zero.
- Cancelling a subscription. Some apps limit access to history after a subscription ends.
- App changes or closures. Services are sometimes discontinued or merged.
- Account problems. Lost logins or hacked accounts can lock you out.
- Sharing with a coach or healthcare professional. A file can be easier to share than screenshots.
- Your own records. Some people like keeping a long-term training log independent of any app.
Where to look for export options
Export tools are often tucked away. Common places to check:
- Settings or account pages, under headings like "Data," "Privacy," "Export" or "Download your data"
- Individual workout pages, which may offer a share or export button for a single session
- The app's website, since some services offer exports only through a web browser
- Help or support pages, which often explain export steps
Depending on where you live, privacy laws may give you a right to request a copy of your personal data, and many companies offer a "download your data" request tool. These requests can take time to process, so start early if you plan to cancel. For more on how apps handle your data, see fitness app privacy and health data.
Common file formats
You may come across several formats:
- CSV files, which open in spreadsheet programs and are common for strength training logs, workout summaries and body measurements
- GPX files, a common format for GPS routes from runs, walks and rides
- FIT and TCX files, formats used by many sports watches and cycling devices that can include heart rate, pace and other sensor data
- JSON or ZIP archives, often produced by "download your data" requests and containing many files
Not every app can import every format. Before you rely on a file to move data, check what your new app accepts.
Syncing through phone health hubs
Many phones have a built-in health or fitness hub that can collect data from several apps and wearables. Connecting your apps to that hub can act as a partial backup, since workouts are stored in one place on your phone. But syncing has limits:
- Not every detail transfers. Sets, reps and notes may not carry over, even if the workout appears.
- Permissions matter. Check which data types each app can read and write.
- Duplicates happen. Connecting several apps to the same hub can create duplicate workouts.
- Phone backups matter too. Health data may only be safe if your phone's backup includes it.
See workout tracking and wearables for more on how devices and apps fit together.
Moving your history to a new app
If you are switching apps:
- Export your data from the old app first, before cancelling.
- Check what the new app can import and in which formats.
- Try a small import first if possible, and check that dates, units and workout types look right.
- Expect some gaps. Custom exercises, notes and photos often do not transfer cleanly.
- Keep the original export file even after importing, in case you need it again.
Some services offer direct connections between apps, which can move new workouts automatically going forward but may not copy your older history.
Check what you exported
Open the file and take a quick look before you rely on it:
- Do the dates cover your whole history?
- Are units, such as pounds or kilograms and miles or kilometers, correct?
- Are workout names, sets and reps readable?
- Are any months missing?
If something looks wrong, try the export again or contact the app's support team.
Store your data securely
Workout files can include sensitive details, such as heart rate, body measurements, health notes and GPS routes that reveal where you live or regularly exercise. Store exports somewhere secure, such as an encrypted drive or a password-protected cloud account with two-factor authentication. Be careful when sharing GPS files publicly, and consider trimming the start and end of routes near your home. Delete old copies you no longer need.
Before you cancel or delete an account
- Export everything first, including any notes or photos you care about.
- Check how long the app keeps data after cancellation, if it says.
- Disconnect linked services such as health hubs and other apps.
- Decide whether to delete the account or just cancel the subscription. Deleting usually removes data permanently.
See cancelling a fitness app subscription for more steps.
Make backups a habit
A one-time export is useful, but a regular routine is better. Set a calendar reminder every few months, or at the end of each training block, to export your latest data and save it alongside earlier files. Name files with the app and date, such as the month and year, so they are easy to find later. Keep at least two copies in different places, for example one on a computer and one in a secure cloud folder. If you use several apps, such as one for lifting and another for runs, back up each of them. A regular backup also gives you a natural moment to review your progress and notice patterns in your training; see building a weekly routine with a fitness app.
A low-tech backup
If an app has no export option, you can still keep a simple record: screenshots of key stats, a monthly summary in a notes app or a paper training log. It will not capture everything, but it preserves the highlights; see journaling workouts without an app.
Bottom line
Your workout history is worth keeping. Find your app's export or download-your-data option, learn which formats you get, check the files, store them securely and always export before you switch apps, cancel or delete an account.
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