Meet Strava, the best friend of runners and cyclists

Meet Strava, the best friend of runners and cyclists

What do you think about when you hear „Strava“? Is it just some weird, funny-sounding word? Well, it’s also one of the best fitness tracking app out there. Especially if you are into running or cycling. 

The name comes from the verb „sträva“, which in Swedish means „to strive“. In this case, the striving is connected to improving your results in your favorite activity, see your statistics and even compare yourself with others.

Author Hanka

What can Strava do for you?

The Strava app was created to allow you to record your workouts, runs and cycling training and help you to analyze them later.

It is useful even during the training itself because it gives you information not only about how much time passed, how many kilometers you already run or your average tempo but also a detailed map.

You can also make your workouts better by using detailed analysis and easy-to-read statistics.

 
There are some other features that make Strava the favorite app of many runners and cyclists. One of them is the popular „heat map“, that will help you to assess the situation and plan your route even in an unknown location because it shows you the roads other athletes use the most.

And, of course, did your workout even happen if you didn’t post about it on social media?

You can easily connect your Strava account with your Facebook profile or share your cool photos from the run on Instagram.

 

Do you need a push? Compete with others on Strava!

Another feature of Strava, that can help you to push yourself to better results (or make you feel anxious and not good enough, it depends) is the possibility to compare your results to other users on different route segments. You can see who is running the same or similar segments as you and how they are doing.

If you believe that the only person who you should strive to be better than is yourself from yesterday (or the previous cycling training), so you can also focus on beating your own records.

The segments of routes on which you can compete with others are added by the users themselves, and often they lead through interesting places or they are really challenging.

So even on your holidays, you can find a nice route to help you keep your fitness up. If you will break the record on one of the segments, Strava will tell you with a celebratory e-mail.

Strava for amateurs and professionals

Today there is almost an infinite number of apps allowing you to record your workouts and other sports activities.

But Strava seems to be the number one for runners and cyclists, both amateur and professional. There are many reasons – simple and functional layout, easy-to-see statistics, fun ways to keep up your motivation and comparing results and competing.

Strava is also very precise and can tell whether you are running, cycling, or having a break, so your data will not be so distorted by the few minutes you spent shooting that awesome selfie.

Cooperation is the key to success also in the case of Strava. You can connect not only your phone with Android or iOS but also other devices from popular brands such as Garmin, Suunto, Timex, TomTom or Soleus.

Get to the next level with the premium version

If the basic functions are not enough for you, there is the option to invest in a premium version of Strava. You will be able to see the results from different comparison segments in real time, see the leaderboards based on different characteristics, such as age or weight, and share with other premium users of the app your achievements.

Strava premium is also recording more data like your heart rate or pedaling rate.

Strava is able to analyze your data, use the data from other users and knowledge from cycling and running experts. If you will fill in your goals, it will give you also advice and suggest training plans for you, so basically it will become your personal coach.

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