Train the way you want

Workouts are hard. So too is settling on what form your workout should take. Do you pick up your trainers and head out for a run, grab your helmet and go for a cycle or don your swimsuit and hit the pool? Decisions, decisions.

While picking an activity can be tricky, choosing an app to accompany your exercise session is pretty straightforward. Whatever exercise you opt for, whether you’re a hiker, snowboarder or wheelchair user, Strava’s GPS-tracking, exercise-recording (and performance-improving) features won’t just help you train better, they’ll help you train in a way that suits you.

Are you a creature of habit, sticking to the same route every time you head out for a cycle, run, wheel or walk? When the novelty has worn off and the boredom starts to creep in, Strava keeps things fresh by breaking your route down into ‘segments’.

Adding a new layer of competition and excitement to your sessions, these bite-sized sections mean you’re not just striving for one personal best, but dozens of them. Beat your previous top segment time and you’ll earn a medal, best the times of other users covering the same segments and you’ll unlock a trophy.

Sure, you might not be the fastest runner on your street, but with Segments you can try become the fastest runner down your street. Or at least that segment between the newsagent and the big tree.

Forget your burning lungs and aching legs, when it comes to working out, motivation can be the biggest challenge. Fortunately Strava can help, especially if those Segments have got you clamouring for competition.

Strava’s regular Challenges let you work towards both individual goals – like a 5K run to 7,500 metres of cycle-based climbing – and broader competition.

With many of these challenges boasting tens of thousands of participants, you can see how you shape up against others. Competition rewards are available for all; bragging rights, however, are reserved for a select few.

If you’ve got a more specific goal in mind, signing up to a Strava Summit subscription lets you benefit from a range of customisable training plans. Marathon PB here you come.

Pushing yourself with every session can help expand your limits, but if you’re not seeing the gains you want, it might be time to work smarter rather than harder. Giving context to your sessions Strava offers enough top-line data to keep enthusiastic amateurs satisfied.

Want more detail? With Strava Summit you get fitness and freshness insights, helping you see the impact your training is having on your overall energy – including when it might be necessary to squeeze in a rest day.

You can see how your relative effort compares across different activities and different days, and if you’re tracking with your Apple Watch, your heart rate data will add increased accuracy and insight to your metrics.

Even when you’re training on your own, your workouts don’t need to be a solitary experience. As well as being able to compete against strangers, Strava lets you join communities with shared goals and interests or follow your friends to see how they’re getting on.

With millions of global users, following friends, acquaintances and communal groups will transform the Feed tab into a bespoke social stream of shared interests.

The more people, groups and communities you follow, the more content you’ll be served to engage with and draw inspiration from. It will help you set your goals and place your standards within a bigger picture. Why hadn’t you thought of completing the Three Peaks Challenge before?

Strava: Run, Bike, Hike

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