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Strava: the « user friendly » app to keep track of your fitness

15 Jun 2020

Why are sports app becoming so popular during this particular period? Is isolation pushing people to be more active? Are active people in desperate search of feeling a part of a movement? Or is it simply that the sport universe is naturally becoming more and more digital everyday?

Motivational support during the pandemic

First, it is known that sport reduces your stress levels and helps your immune system do a proper job at protecting yourself. Especially now, you might find it difficult to motivate yourself to go outside for a bike ride because of the simple fact that you might be exposed to a lot of people. It is definitely unusual, but we are all in the same situation together. However, there are some great ways to help you get your motivation back on track in order to stay active and set healthy goals.

Stravais a free appwhich allows you to keep track of your general health by recording your activities/performances using the GPS signal on your phone or your smart watch. This app is also a gathering of athletic people (with different levels of fitness) who encourage, inspire and support each other through their performances and experiences. Strava offers a total of 37 activities. Adapting to the current situation, they also encourage 7 types of solo activities you may practice home. If you miss giving high fives to your cycling buddies, try “kudos”! It’s how people encourage and congratulate each other on this platform. Moreover, the advantage of downloading Strava is that you can easily connect it with other applications which simulates bike rides or trainings. The pairing is very user friendly and you may win sports gear thanks to the partnerships they built with brands.

- Zwift, Rouvy, TrainerRoad etc.

If you are one of the many athletes that just recently downloaded the app on your phone, you did it for a very personal reason! Maybe you wanted to be healthier? You had time on your hands? Your friend invited you to join? This application has the distinction of being used for very different reasons, yet we all perform the same actions. What profile do you fit into?

Profile 1: The Passionate/Social Athlete

The passionate athlete uses Strava to get a general picture of her/his daily activities and build herself/himself a profile she/he is proud of! They motivate themselves with the very action of recording their efforts to stay healthy and by being an active part of the social activities of the app. They perceive Strava as a more serious social network which allows them to share statistics and trails with their community without fear of judgement or pressure. No matter the distance they intend to do, they use this tool for every ride and are genuinely interested in their progression and those of their friends.

Profile 2: The Performer

On the other hand, the performer downloads Strava as a personal performance analysis tool rather than as a social network. She/he sets themselves personal challenges and seek to assess their level of overall fitness. They are rather focused on their performance than building themselves a community of riders and keeping track of their activities. The performer is curious about her/his personal records and those of others on the same segments (option which is only available on the paid app) to compare and motivate themselves to do better next time. In short, they find the application more practical than an odometer during physical outings and complete in terms of statistics.

Finally, Strava has many cycling benefits

On your next rides, you will be able to find out: