Strava stats reveal pandemic sparked enormous exercise boom and huge surge in number of women using the app

Strava stats have revealed the extent of the exercise boom during the coronavirus pandemic.

The social media app for athletes has published its stats for 2020, which show women have led the charge in the activity boom as there has been a huge boost in the numbers using Strava. 

According to the review of the year, the UK saw the biggest increase in people logging their activities on Strava, with an 82 per cent increase in outdoor activities, followed by Germany and the US. 

CEO and co-founder of Strava, Michael Horvath, said: “During a challenging year, it has been a privilege to connect athletes to what motivates them and help them find their personal best. 

“Community members shared more than a billion activities including nearly 400 million photos with each other, from solitary virtual marathons and Everesting bike rides to midday walks while working from home. And through it all, athletes from around the world cheered each other on, proving that every effort counts and people keep people active.”

Each year Strava launches its Year in Sport review, revealing the activities trends from its 73 million users.

Strava is now seeing 21.5 million activity uploads every week and has two million new users a month, with nine million users now registered in the UK alone.  

The UK has seen the biggest increase in activities around the world, with an 82 per cent rise, while Germany saw a 45 per cent increase and the US 28 per cent.  

Women were the driving force behind the increase worldwide, with a 69 per cent increase in activities across all age groups.

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The biggest increase for women came from the 18 to 29 age group, with a 108 per cent jump in activities, while the 60+ age group increased their activities by 62.8 per cent.  

Strava revealed an increase in all activities types on the previous year, with running increasing by 1.9 times, while cycling was 1.8 times increase.  

But walking saw the biggest jump in activities, tripling on 2019.