How to use Strava with your fitness tracker?
You can use one of the best running apps to help you improve your fitness without having to pay an expensive gym membership, personal trainer or buy bulky home equipment.
There are many apps for running. Some are suitable for experienced runners who need accurate measurement and a detailed picture of the route, heart rate, number of steps, pace and other characteristics of the training. Other apps are designed for the more inexperienced who need more motivation and encouragement through audio alerts and notifications.
Since it launched in 2009, Strava has long been one of the most popular apps for running (it also lets you track other types of exercise, including cycling) because it provides excellent GPS tracking, a simple dashboard, and a great community.
With that in mind, here's our guide to help you get started with Strava.
What is Strava?
Strava is a free activity tracking platform that can be used through a smartphone app or through a computer. Many consider Strava to be a social network for athletes rather than just an app.
Although this guide is about how to use Strava for running, it can also be used to track all kinds of sports, including cycling, hiking, and even ice skating.
It works as an app on your phone, tracking activity and running, but you can also upload data from other fitness trackers to Strava. In this way, you will see even more information about your body. You don't have to have a fitness tracker or heart rate monitor to use the app.
There's good GPS tracking if you want to see exactly where you ran and how you performed in certain areas. But it also provides information about your run, such as duration, pace and speed.
In addition to tracking your runs, Strava has a large community. You can post updates, share photos, add friends, connect with other runners, share your runs and activity, praise people for their runs, take part in challenges, join clubs, earn badges and more much more.
We recommend Strava for those who already have an established running habit. The app doesn't provide much guidance or motivation. For beginners, we'd recommend an app like Couch to 5K.
So it's no surprise that Strava is a hit with marathoners, serious runners and those looking for people who share their passion for running.
Strava: how to get started
- Install the app
The first step is to download the Strava app, which is compatible with most Android and iOS devices. Just head to the Apple App Store or Google Play and search for Strava.
- Register
After downloading the app, you'll be prompted to fill in your name, gender, and date of birth.
- Correct the settings
To change the settings at any time, go to the Profile tab in the bottom menu bar. In the top right corner, tap the gear icon to get to your settings.
This is where you can make changes to your entire Strava experience, including connected apps and devices, units of measurement, push notifications and, importantly, privacy settings.
- Customizing privacy
When we first set up a Strava account, we were a bit shocked to find that all of your profile and activity sharing settings were automatically set to 'everything'. Sure, it makes the setup process faster and makes sense given that Strava is socially driven, but it didn't give us a great deal of confidence about our data.
This should not stop you from using the app. But it's a good idea to spend some time reviewing the settings to make sure you agree with what Strava is sharing.
Again, head to your profile, tap the gear icon, and then scroll to Privacy Controls. Depending on how you want to use the app, we'd recommend reading each option here and making the appropriate changes. For example, for many of us it makes sense for the profile to be open to everyone, but you may want your activities not to be shared with others.
Of course, if you want to share everything, you can. But remember that your running data can reveal a lot about your habits and location.
Strava: how to track a run
There are three ways you can record activity with Strava. You can enter the data manually, record your run with the Strava app, keeping your phone with you while you run. Or you can sync data from a fitness tracker , such as a Fitbit or GPS smartwatch.
We'll take a look at fitness tracker syncing below. To enter data manually, you need to press the small + icon in the left corner of the Feed dashboard and select Manual Activity. Then you have all kinds of fields that you can fill in if you have the right information, like time, distance, pace, and then other personal data like photos and how you feel about the run. This is a good option if you decide to run without a phone or tracker, use a different app, or forget to sync.
If you just want to track your run, head to your Strava dashboard and hit Record to get started. The app will then detect your location and confirm that it has a GPS lock. Wait for this to happen before you go, but don't worry, it usually takes a few seconds.
Then you need to press the orange "Start" button to get started. As you run, information about your workout will appear on the screen. When you're done, hit the stop button. You'll see your route displayed on a map, as well as details about your speed, distance and more.
Press "Finish" to add more details about your run, such as any photos you took while running, a name and description of the run, how you're feeling, etc. This will be shared with anyone you've chosen to share it with in your settings.
To view your activity over time, simply go to your profile. This is where you'll see details about how often you run and how many kilometers you've run.
Strava: Additional features
Community
If you want to use Strava to find and compete with other runners, then it has a lot to offer.
First, you can add people you know who also use Strava. To do this, press the icon with a silhouette of two people in the upper right corner. There you can sync contacts, find people on Facebook or just see the people suggested by Strava. This is where you can also find the Invite Friends link.
In addition to adding people you know, you can find a club to join full of people you don't know. To do this, go to the Clubs tab, which is in the upper right corner of your feed. Then click the Browse Clubs button. Here you will find challenges you can join. These include things like “run a half marathon this month” or “run a 10k”. Once you join a challenge, your activity is tagged to that challenge. There is a club for park runners, a club for road runners and many more. Once you join them, you can post to others in the club, see leaderboards and who has achieved the most results in the group, and more.
If you don't want to join Challenges or Clubs, you can check out Segments as a way to compare yourself to other users. Segments are routes to run, and you can compete with people on how well you do at running a certain route. Click on a segment and you'll see who performed best in that segment.
Fitness trackers
Strava can also be used with a fitness tracker and is compatible with most major manufacturers. How you connect your fitness tracker to Strava will depend on the model, but most often you'll need to go to your Strava app to connect them. Tap Profile, then Settings. Then scroll to "Apps, services and devices".
This is where you'll be able to sync a fitness tracker. Just click Connect a new device to Strava and choose which device you have (all the major ones work fine with Strava). Once you connect Strava to your device, you'll need to log into its app.
For example, if you want to connect your Fitbit Versa, you'll tap the Fitbit icon, you'll be asked to sign in to your Fitbit account and approve the connection. Once this is all set up, activities from your fitness tracker should automatically sync to Strava.
Strava Summit
If you really like Strava, you might want to consider signing up for the Strava Summit. It's a subscription that unlocks more features, including setting goals, making training plans, and more.
Strava Summit costs $47.99/£47.99 if you pay for a year (which is £4/$4 per month) and $5/£6.99 if you prefer to pay monthly. We recommend that you spend at least a few weeks with the free version before signing up.