Please Strava the right way
In 2025, it’s no surprise that running has its own social media: Strava. It’s an easy way to track mileage, paces, heart rate, and a whole slew of data. It’s also a great way to check your friends’ training, spam them with comments, and post those photos not quite worthy of Instagram. And those little orange thumbs aren’t half bad, either.
Yet, the Strava community has gone too far. Everyone’s feeds are flooded with activities — and while I’m all for active lifestyles — are some of these activities actually Strava-worthy? Do you really want people to know you walked to 7-Eleven at midnight for chips? Or did your first push-up in a decade?
To spare all of our feeds, here are my unsolicited rules for Strava:
1. Log forward motion only
While more than just runs deserve to grace our feeds, I believe activities should show a distance. This includes runs (obviously), rides, swims, hikes, and rows, for example. Walks are questionable – more on that below. If some of these are on a treadmill or trainer, that’s okay; there’s still distance to show.
Notice I did not include strength training, yoga, pilates, and other similar activities. I’m a big fan of many of these, but they do not need to be on Strava. I don’t need to know your heart rate in tree pose or doing bench press. There’s the hide activity button for a reason.
2. If you log a walk, make it snazzy
Many folks walk from place to place throughout their day; do we really need to log each stroll? If every person logged every time they walked over 5 minutes, we’d never see any of the runs in our Strava feeds. Keep the feed clean, folks.
If you must log your stroll, give me a reason to give you kudos. Did you see some cool flowers? Snap a pic. Did your dog tackle your neighbor while chasing a squirrel? Spill the tea.
There is a time I’m more forgiving of walks on Strava: injury and illness. If you’re injured or on the slow build back, I get the need to log something (been there, done that). But still, a photo, story, or snappy title goes a long way.
3. Actually, always make it snazzy
The best part of Strava? That it’s social! Share photos. Tell stories and jokes. Use out-of-context quotes from your friends as run titles. Unabashedly comment on friends’ activities. But please, don’t post a mile-by-mile video.
4. Show your stats
When logging your runs, be honest with your data and stats. I’m looking at you, people who hide the heart rate of their “Zone 2” runs. We all have good days and bad days running, and that’s a beautiful part of the sport. Embrace all the days. This way, you will be able to go back and actually see how you were feeling at different points in a training block. You might learn something new about your training.
Plus, it never hurts to show people you’re human.
5. Log your warm up, cool down, and workout in a single activity
In the spirit of keeping our feeds clean, don’t stop and save your run between the warm up, workout, and cool down. Especially don’t save your reps as separate runs. Sure, your overall pace might be slower, but that’s what the lap feature is for. And honestly, no one looks at your pace as much as you do anyway.
6. Your life events are not Strava activities
I shouldn’t have to say it, but mowing the lawn, walking down the wedding aisle, and giving birth are not Strava activities.
7. Be cautious with the DM’s
I’m not saying don’t slide in the Strava DM’s, but no one wants their relationship solely on a running app. Be brave, get their actual number at run club.
Follow these rules, and kudos — you’re the coolest kid on Strava.