Figures recently released by Strava claimed that there were 136 million runs uploaded to the system in 2017, over four runs a second. This is before you take into account the millions of cyclists sharing their rides with the world.
With so many users, those looking to get fit have a huge go-to community to share, compare and compete against. Whether they are looking to beat the time recorded on a run by a friend, stranger, or themselves, having a competitive target on the self-styled ‘social network for athletes’ is always good.
Fellow Strava users don’t have to be seen as just competitors though. By pushing clients to use Strava, they introduce them to a community of encouragement and organised events.
For example, the Strava Mile saw 35,789 users share their 1.6km runs with the hashtag #MyMile. Although it wasn’t a single run or single day, the sheer number of those sharing their story and competitive nature saw 47% of users set a new personal best time in the month of June 2017.
What’s more, the sense of community and encouragement coming directly from other users is sure to spur clients to push themselves further. A total of 2.3 billion ‘Kudos’ were given from one athlete to another over the course of 2017 – that’s a lot of encouragement!
The role of the personal trainer doesn’t have to end with the sign up of the app though. By tracing their clients’ steps, PTs can think up new challenges, routes and targets to set their fitness-focused customer.
