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Insider Journal

Get inspired or learn something new by reading blogs on a range of topics written by our expert team members, including product tips, how-to’s, news and personal stories.

  • 79 Topics
  • 270 Replies
79 Topics
K
Strava
Katie11Strava
published in Insider Journal
Down Strava Challenges Memory Lane

Strava challenges, perhaps one of the most popular and long-standing features of the Strava product! When I first started working at Strava, challenges mainly consisted of cumulative challenges referred to as the MTS (Monthly Training Series), Strava Races (10k, half marathon), the Gran Fondo and a few hosted by some of our partners. Back then, we only had run or ride activity types and in order to participate your activities had to be public in order to reflect on the challenge leaderboard. At one point we even offered the opportunity to purchase unique gear like cycling and running kits for those who completed them. Shout out to anyone who remembers the rainbow of jersey colors (and the one athlete our distribution center accidentally shipped several boxes of foam swords to - are you still out there?). At that time, Strava Challenges seemed pretty far out of reach for me - more of a weekend warrior type who was maybe able to get in a few miles a week on the bike with friends.

110
K
Strava
8 months ago
Marc_
Strava
Marc_Strava
published in Insider Journal
Getting Started with Strava: Recording Swim Activities

New to Strava?  Welcome!  Our mission is to help people live their best active life. Our Getting Started with Strava series is designed to help you get the most of your Strava membership and Subscription. In this article, we'll talk about recording and uploading swimming activities to Strava.     How to Record: The Strava Mobile Phone Apps do not support swimming, but many swim and multi-sport devices are compatible with Strava.  Visit this link for a list of some compatible devices   Additionally, the Strava app for Apple Watch can record swimming activities but without GPS (distance and pace will not be reflected on the activity.)  For Athletes using Android watches running the Wear OS3 App, the Strava Wear OS3 App can record outdoor, GPS based swims. It doesn't support indoor swimming.   Insider Tips: GPS/Outdoor swimming: It is important to note that water can impact the ability for your device to connect and recor

1780
Marc_
Strava
9 months ago
Jane
Community Manager
JaneCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Getting Started with Strava: Recording Virtual Activities

New to Strava?  Welcome!  Our mission is to help people live their best active life. Our Getting Started with Strava series is designed to help you get the most of your Strava membership and Subscription. In this article, we'll talk about recording and uploading your virtual activities to Strava.   What is a virtual activity?  Indoor training with virtual GPS has become popular in recent years.  Virtual training platforms have revolutionized and gamified the way Athletes and fitness enthusiasts engage in indoor riding, running and rowing.  They make working out indoors fun, because you can train and compete (with others and yourself) in an engaging virtual world.   Virtual Ride/Run/Row activities are activity recordings that contain GPS data, distance, elevation, and time data from a simulated route.  Requirements: a smart trainer a subscription to a virtual training platform a connection between your training platform and your S

463
Jane
Community Manager
9 months ago
-Charles-
Strava
-Charles-Strava
published in Insider Journal
Strava Live Segments on Rouvy

Strava is proud to announce that our Live Segments can now be ridden in the virtual world on Rouvy! This exciting new feature marks the first time that Strava Live Segments have been available for athletes recording a virtual activity. Find a supported route on Rouvy with Live Segments to compete against the King or Queen of the Mountain (KOM or QOM) or your Personal Record (PR) if you’ve ridden the segment in the past. While previously the changing of seasons meant that competing on Live Segments would need to cease until the return of warmer weather, the inclusion of Strava Live Segments on Rouvy means that your training and competition can continue all year long.   What is Rouvy? Rouvy is an indoor riding app which allows athletes to ride virtually on real world routes through the power of augmented reality and 3D avatars. Learn more about Rouvy on their website at https://rouvy.com/. What are Strava Live Segments? Live Segments give athletes the ability to compete on Strava se

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-Charles-
Strava
10 months ago
erikaceae
erikaceaeHub Rookie
published in Insider Journal
Running with Children

You are a new mama and everything is evolving, reevaluating and it is not all rainbows and sunshine. You scour the internet for hours, Google searching every little thing, pretty sure my search history for the first few months looked a little alarming. And of course the newborn fog, sleep deprivation, and suffering postpartum anxiety…That being said, getting back on the bike and picking up running again were what helped keep me going.  Bug was born in June of 2018, and the next day I muscled up a half mile walk down to our neighbors house. And no, I do not recommend that to new mamas but please listen to your body! A few days later I was back up to my mile loop and Bug was loving her stroller. But it hasn’t been an easy journey. Running was always my escape but now I felt like I not only had to relearn how to run but also now had this adventure of navigating running with my new little shadow. Our stroller became my freedom. Forcing me to get out of the house and paving the road b

103
erikaceae
10 months ago
Scout
Community Manager
ScoutCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Your Guide to Local Legends

As many of you know, if you want to be the King of the Mountain (KOM), Queen of the Mountain (QOM), or Course Record (CR) holder, you have to have the fastest time on a segment. If you feel that achieving a CR, or QOM/KOM on Strava isn’t in your future but still want to compete in local segments, Local Legends (LCL) is for you! Launched in 2020, Local Legends is Strava’s way to reward dedication. Rewarded to the person that has traveled a particular segment the most times in a rolling 90 day window, you can become the LCL regardless of your pace or speed recorded on the segment. For those who become a Local Legend, a "Laurel" crown iconwill show next to the segment on your activity page as well as on the segment details page.  To earn the Local Legend achievement, you must match to the segment more times than any other athlete in the past 90 days. Some things to note: Efforts older than 90 days will be removed from the overall effort count.  Only activities visible to “

802
Scout
Community Manager
10 months ago
caling
Strava
calingStrava
published in Insider Journal
Staying Motivated by Setting Goals

Reaching My Goals A few years ago I was visiting my family for the holidays. It was cold, snowy, and slightly dark outside. While they were baking cinnamon rolls, I was lacing up my shoes to head out for a 15 mile run. My brother looked surprised and asked why I was doing such a long run on a late December day. “Because I am 15 miles away from my yearly Strava goal,” I said. That motivation to finish my yearly goal, to get out for a run that I would normally not have completed, gave me important and precious time with myself and my family as they walked and biked on the path next to me. Then we ate all of the cinnamon rolls.  While one week I have a goal to run a certain distance, other weeks my goal is just to make it outside. Sometimes my goal is just to make it home safely. With most things in life, having a goal really motivates me. Having something to work towards and achieve drives motivation and consistency in my daily life. The goals feature on Strava is something I retur

93
caling
Strava
10 months ago
L
Strava
lindsayleeStrava
published in Insider Journal
Combining Competition and Collaboration with Group Challenges

Group Challenges When Strava launched Group Challenges in 2021, I was extremely excited -- Up until that point, my friends and I had been tracking monthly challenges in a spreadsheet where we each logged if we had worked out that day and for how long. It was very motivating, though incredibly tedious. That all changed once we were able to make a Group Challenge on Strava (where we’re all recording our activities anyway), and it made our lives instantly better while pushing us toward our individual goals. How to access the feature Mobile: Groups > Active > Create a Group Challenge(Not available on web) How we use Group Challenges I predominantly go on walks, weight lift, and do indoor activities like pilates, yoga, and boxing. So my Strava activities look much different from my friends who cycle, run, or do team sports. This also means that the way that I set goals tends to be different from folks who may have a mileage or elevation goal. Overall, I'd say I’m not a particularly at

142
L
Strava
10 months ago
Mason
Community Manager
MasonCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Strava map types you’ll want to try!

Map Types are a clever way to enhance your activity’s map appearance in feeds. We’ve enjoyed seeing how our employees have been using them so we’ve captured examples of the different styles below.   What Map Types, also known as Personalized Stat Maps, are a way for you to change the color and shading of your path (we call it a polyline) to reflect statistics, seasonal holidays, or important causes. Athletes can choose from the following styles (note some may be seasonal and not represented in this list): 3d terrain, pace or speed, heart rate, elevation, gradient, power, time, surface type, and temperature. We also have styles to bring awareness to important causes like: Black Lives Matter, Pride, Support Ukraine, and Strava Metro. If another athlete has chosen to apply one of these map types, their path/polyline will be colored and shaded according to the style they selected. You’ll see these styles on feed maps such as the home, club, and profile feeds. Note: The web home feed

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Mason
Community Manager
10 months ago
Jane
Community Manager
JaneCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Getting Started with Strava: Tracking Outdoor, GPS based activities

New to Strava?  Welcome!  Our mission is to help people live their best active life. Our Getting Started with Strava series is designed to help you get the most of your Strava membership and Subscription. In this article, we’ll explain how you can track and sync your outdoor, GPS based activity data to Strava. Depending on the recording tools you have available there are a number of ways to achieve this. Recording your time, distance, and location data and then seeing your activity on a map is fun and motivational.  You can use the Strava App, or a GPS enabled third party device or App.         Record using the Strava App on: iPhone Android phone Apple Watch Android Wear OS watch Samsung Gear Watch Motorola 360 Sport Watch Record using a GPS enabled third party device or App and sync the data to Strava: Strava integrates with a wide selection of third party GPS devices and Apps.  Some of the popular ones include: Garmin Wahoo  Polar

210
Jane
Community Manager
11 months ago
SkippyVasquez
Strava
SkippyVasquezStrava
published in Insider Journal
Matched Activities

Recently, as in one year ago, I decided I wanted to run a 5k. I’ve participated in 5ks before and half marathons for that matter, but I’ve never run the entire route. I mostly walk fast with bouts of a faster shuffle. But I really want to run a full 5k. I worked out a plan to help me reach that goal and I've been using Strava to record my progress. In my quest to run a 5k I have started, stopped, and rebooted a number of times and for a variety of reasons. When I start again usually something changes, new hat, socks, maybe my shoes, but my route always remains the same. I love my route. I’ve done it so many times I know exactly where the easiest parts are and the hardest. I have some uphill and some downhill, but best of all it is close to home in case I need to crawl back. Most importantly by using the same route I’ve been able to capture some pretty interesting information using one of Strava’s coolest features called Matched Activities. Matched Activities allows me to compare my cur

62
SkippyVasquez
Strava
11 months ago
Jane
Community Manager
JaneCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Getting Started with Strava: Tracking Activities

New to Strava?  Welcome!  Our mission is to help people live their best active life. Our Getting Started with Strava series is designed to help you get the most of your Strava membership and Subscription. In this article, we’ll provide a high level overview of how to track and sync your activity data to Strava.   We'll cover: recording outdoor activities recording indoor activities recording virtual/indoor activities recording swimming recording when you don't have a recording device   Recording outdoor, GPS based activities: walking, running, cycling, hiking, skiing and more Recording your time, distance, and location data and then seeing your activity on a map is fun and motivational.  You can use the Strava App, or a GPS enabled third party device or App. View a list of compatible Devices and Apps     Recording indoor activities.   Do you go to the gym?  Complete fitness videos in your living room? Attend yoga or HIIT c

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Jane
Community Manager
11 months ago
Soren
SorenStrava Alumni
published in Insider Journal
To The Peaks & Beyond: Pico Bolívar

***If you are wondering why are we talking about some of the world's most famous peaks - this is thanks to our Community member ranks! Every athlete in the community has a rank based on their contributions and ranks are named after prominent peaks of the world. Our series 'To The Peaks & Beyond' aims to bring you the stories and fun facts behind these peaks.Check out the rest of the series here. If you ever find yourself in Venezuela you’ll likely find it hard to resist taking a proper peek at the nation’s most beautiful mountain called Pico Bolívar. In order to do so, you will need to be prepared for the snow, glaciers, and loads of walking. That’s true - this mountain’s majestic summit is permanently covered with névé, a granular type of snow that has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted, as well as three small glaciers, and it can only be reached by foot.  Sounds like: /ˈpi.koʊ/bɔ.li.vaʁ/  “pee·koh | boh·lee·vahr” Choose your own adventure. To reach

31
Soren
11 months ago
Frank11
Strava
Frank11Strava
published in Insider Journal
Understanding how your Goals show up on Strava

On Strava, there are many social features that let you see how you stack up against the community. But did you know there are also many great ways to track your personal progress, like working towards a goal? We want you to get kudos when you hit your goals – and we get that you might not want everyone to see the details. Or maybe you do? Either way, you can use your Privacy Controls to decide what works for you. We also think it’s important for you to know how your goals appear to followers and non-followers across the Strava ecosystem. Read on to learn more. There are a large variety of goals you can set including: Progress goals:  Weekly, monthly, and annual goals: Set a minimum distance, time, or elevation to strive for on a weekly, monthly or annual basis for all sport types. Performance goals:  Segment goals: Set a time to aim for on one of your favorite segments. Power goals: Set a minimum average power to try to maintain for a specified time interval, like 300 W fo

150
Frank11
Strava
11 months ago
C
coral_ngHub Starter
published in Insider Journal
Cyclocross Tips & Tricks

Cyclocross, or CX, is a cross of road cycling, mountain biking and running. Racers spend 45 minutes to 1 hour completing laps of a course that combines the venue’s tarmac, gravel, singletrack, grass sections, and sand pits. Additionally, there are always multiple locations where racers must dismount and carry bikes over barriers or up sets of stairs!          I started racing cyclocross at the end of 2019 when I joined Spokeswomen Racing, a women’s cycling race team in Seattle, Washington just in time for CX season (September to January). I decided to try a beginner cyclocross race and my teammate spent a few hours teaching me the basics of cyclocross dismounts and remounts. On race day she helped me set up my timing chip and bib number, told me when to pre-ride the course, what to look out for during the pre-ride, and advised me to go warm up. When I returned from my pre-ride, I realized I hadn’t brought any water or food with me! Luckily, she had packed

100
C
11 months ago
Mason
Community Manager
MasonCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Profile Privacy Controls Explained

You may know that your activity privacy controls are important, but have you considered how your profile appears in public spaces? How do you appear to those who don’t follow you? On Strava, you have the option to set your profile’s privacy control to “Everyone” or “Followers.”  For those over the age of 18, your profile’s privacy control will be set to “Everyone” by default. Here are some key differences between “Everyone” and “Followers.” Profile set to “Everyone” Strava community members can follow you without any approval request being generated.  *Your profile details will look similar when viewed by your followers and non-followers alike.  A logged out version of your profile will be available on the internet. Profile set to “Followers” You must approve or deny Strava community members before they can follow you. You can find out more about managing your follow requests in our previous tip: How to approve or deny Strava follower requests. Non-Followers who are l

340
Mason
Community Manager
1 year ago
Jane
Community Manager
JaneCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
Using Relative Effort to Analyze your Efforts on Strava

Did you know, you can use Strava's Relative Effort feature to analyze your efforts and intensity trends over time?  If you are a Strava Subscriber and collect heart rate data for your activities, you can take advantage of this feature.   What is relative effort?   Relative effort, or RE, measures how much cardiovascular work went into any activity.  You will see your relative effort score (a number) on your activity page on Strava.  Why is this useful? It allows you to track your intensity across sport types, and see how they add up over the week, as well as how they compare over multiple weeks. What does that number really mean? Is higher always better?   This can be pretty confusing, so let's look at a real life example of someone who benefits from using RE - me! Up until a few years ago, my training focused almost exclusively on running and cycling. The metric I used to gauge my efforts was distance, and as a result I shied aw

947
Jane
Community Manager
1 year ago
Mason
Community Manager
MasonCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
What are my default settings when I create a Strava account?

Strava is the place to house your active life. Community-powered features like leaderboards, grouped activities, Flybys, and more showcase your activity data in fun and interactive ways. You can participate in these features with the rest of the Strava community OR you can opt-out and share with friends or just yourself. If you’re new to Strava, welcome! There’s so much to explore and we want to help you get started by understanding your privacy control defaults when you create a new account.    Before we dig in, there are some terms you should become familiar with: These terms refer to your privacy control selections for various features across the Strava platform.  Everyone: Everyone on Strava, and in some cases logged-out audiences, can view this data. Followers: People that follow you on Strava can see this data. Only You: Only you can see this data. No One: Your data will not be present in this feature whatsoever.   The following are places your data may appe

30
Mason
Community Manager
1 year ago
Granola
Strava
GranolaStrava
published in Insider Journal
Shouts Out to the TL (Training Log)

Do you enjoy analyzing your Strava data?  If so, check out the Training Log!   Strava subscribers can access the Training Log to view all of your training in one place, it's visualized to show your progress and highlight important stats. We’ll update your Training Log every time you upload an activity. How to access the feature: Mobile: Strava App > You Tab > Progress > Scroll Down > Training Log Web: Strava.com > Training Tab > Training Log 01 Hi Training Log, Have We Met? The Training Log was a feature I rarely used 😞 Prior to the previous year, my uploads to Strava were fairly simple: Run three or four days out of the week 1 or 2 Strength Training Workouts Basic stuff right? 🤔 🤔 I uploaded only two activity types. This made me feel like I didn’t need to check out my Training Log at all 🙊. If I was to look at my Training Log, it looked the same the entire year and it was fairly simple 😴. Here is a sc

252
Granola
Strava
1 year ago
-Charles-
Strava
-Charles-Strava
published in Insider Journal
Hiding Your Activity Map From Others

When you think of an activity on Strava, you envision a map, right? Right?? Well, it turns out you don’t have to share your map. That’s right – you can control how much of your activity’s map is displayed to other people. You can even hide the entire map!  This is independent of your activity’s privacy control. In other words, you can choose your Activity Visibility to share with Followers only, or even Everyone, while choosing to hide some or all of your activity’s map.  How, you ask? Go to the Map Visibility settings on your Strava account. Each of your Strava activities provide you with this control, allowing you to hide some or all of your map in 3 ways: Hide Start and End Points at a Specific Address: If you choose to hide a specific address: enter an address or GPS coordinates in the text field provided under “Hide the area around your activities' start and endpoints at a specific address”, select the size of the privacy radius, and click “Save Address.”  Hide Sta

2270
-Charles-
Strava
1 year ago
Mason
Community Manager
MasonCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
How do I change the privacy control on all my past activities?

A lot of Strava users know how to adjust the privacy of an activity, but did you know you can adjust the privacy of all of your past activities at once? We recognize that people don’t want to be locked into privacy decisions, so we built in options. Your activities privacy control can be adjusted on a default, individual, and even bulk basis. The same goes for hiding your heart rate on activities. Change your mind? We have you covered! You can make a bulk change to the activity or heart rate visibility on all of your past activities from your privacy controls page. Web: Settings > Privacy Controls >  Edit Past Activities > Choose from Activity or Heart Rate visibilityMobile: You > Settings > Privacy Controls > Edit Past Activities > Choose from Activity or Heart Rate visibility Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process of bulk adjusting the visibility on your activities.                    &nb

1180
Mason
Community Manager
1 year ago
B
Strava
BruceStrava
published in Insider Journal
Plan your next outing with Strava's Trail Routes!

Exploration of the outdoors lives at the heart of trail activity. Every hike, mountain bike ride, or trail run offers the prospect of an evolving landscape. Depending on the day, the same route may offer snow-dusted spruce trees, wildflowers peaking through a field, or wispy clouds painting the sky.  Strava offers Trail Routes to help act as your guidebook to local trail offerings. I’m hoping that you’ll find this community post helpful in planning your next outing! The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. -John Muir How to access the feature  Mobile: Maps > Routes > Select one of the trail sports listed below  Web: Dashboard > My Routes > Create New Route > Routing Preferences >  Select one of the trail sports listed below.  Note: Trail Routes are currently available for the following activity types: Hike, Walk, Trail Run, Mountain Bike Ride, and Gravel Ride  In addition, while the Strava website does

235
B
Strava
1 year ago
Soren
SorenStrava Alumni
published in Insider Journal
To The Peaks & Beyond: Mount Ararat

If you're near the border of Turkey and Armenia you're unlikely to miss Mount Ararat on the horizon, a mountain that has captivated the human imagination for centuries. It's the highest peak in Turkey at 5,137 meters (16,854 feet) above sea level and is a symbol of both natural wonder and historical significance. Sounds like: /ˈæɹəˌɹæt/  “arr·uh·rat”Mount Ararat holds a place of great cultural and religious importance. According to the Bible, it is believed to be the resting place of Noah's Ark after the Great Flood. The association with the legend alone draws countless visitors to the region each year and lends an aura of mystique to the mountain. Geologically, Mount Ararat is a stratovolcano with origins that resulted in its distinctive twin peaks, Greater Ararat (Büyük Ağrı Dağı) and Lesser Ararat (Küçük Ağrı Dağı), so if you're a 2 in 1 kind of person, this one's for you. The snow-capped peaks contrast starkly with the surrounding arid landscape, creating a stu

10
Soren
1 year ago
Mason
Community Manager
MasonCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
How to approve or deny Strava follower requests

People keep people active— on the Strava platform athletes go 21% farther and workouts last 10% longer when in a group. Strava is more fun with friends and we give you controls to help you manage your network.     On Strava, you can set your profile’s privacy control to “Everyone” or “Followers.”  Adjusting your profile to “Followers” will make it so that you can approve or deny Strava community members before they can follow you. Not only does this give you control over who follows you, but it is great for those of you who want to reduce the amount of profile information visible to non-followers. If you want to read more about what this setting does, you can check out this Help Center article. You can find this setting in your privacy controlsWeb: Settings > Privacy Controls > Profile Page > FollowersMobile: You > Settings > Privacy Controls > Profile Page > Followers       Notifications for follow requestsIf you’d li

3270
Mason
Community Manager
1 year ago
Jane
Community Manager
JaneCommunity Manager
published in Insider Journal
How to manage your Gymtimidation - top tips

Do you ever get nervous when you’re heading to a workout?  Do you feel anxious or intimidated when you're in a gym? I’ve struggled with these feelings for years.  Almost every time I’m on my way to workout I get a few butterflies in my stomach and I feel a little nervous.   Typically the thoughts that run through my head are something like: Will I be the slowest/weakest/least experienced person there? Will I do something “dumb” and embarrass myself?  Am I wearing the right clothes to fit in? Etc. etc. etc.   I recently did some research on this and discovered two interesting things: This is common. Experts estimate up to 50% of people experience similar feelings from time to time. It has a name!  Gymtimidation, defined as “the fear of working out in front of others” We’re all social creatures and have an innate desire to fit in.  Working out can make us feel especially vulnerable in this regard, since it can be hard not to judge ourselves against othe

22
Jane
Community Manager
1 year ago

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