The folks at Strava get a lot of data on users’ exercise habits and trends. Every year, it compiles all that information, assesses and analyzes it, and releases its “Year in Sport: Trend Report” announcing the findings. This month, it released the report for 2024. Many of the findings caught us by surprise — and in a good way.

“This year’s report underscores that fitness is becoming more inclusive, social, and sustainable,” Brian Bell, VP, communications and social impact at Strava, told GearJunkie.

To compile this report, Strava analyzed activity data from September 1, 2023, to August 30, 2024, for more than 135 million people across 190+ countries. It also pulled insights generated from a global survey of 5,068 active people both on and off Strava.

Here are some of high-level highlights we took away from reading the report. If you want to dive into the full report yourself, you can download the Trend Report for the U.S. from Strava’s website. The full report is 25 pages, and it has a lot more information than you’ll find here. These are just some of the findings that stuck out to us.

Let’s dive in.

Strava Year in Sport: Trend Report 2024

According to Bell, the most prominent themes from 2024 were the rise of social connection in fitness, the prioritization of “balance over burnout,” and greater participation. 

“People are leaning into group activities, shorter workouts, and recovery as part of a more sustainable approach to fitness,” Bell said. “People are coming together on the platform to celebrate and achieve personal fitness milestones.”

Running Club Boom

Strava saw a 59% increase in running clubs this year and 18% more runs logged by users running in groups of 10 or more. Running clubs are blowing up right now. It is the fastest-growing sport on Strava — and one that people apparently like to do together.

Over half of those who responded to Strava’s survey said they made new friends through fitness groups. Walking clubs are hot right now, too. Strava reported a 54% growth in walking club participation.

Overall, it seems that females are more inclined to run in groups. And, surprisingly (or perhaps not, considering the Strava user base), four times more people said they want to meet new people through a fitness group, rather than at a bar.

Apparently, this social aspect of group fitness isn’t just appealing to people because it’s fun, either. Of those who responded to Strava’s survey, 34% said that exercising in groups helps keep them accountable to their training.

“This connectivity extends beyond the app,” Bell said. “[It’s] facilitating real-world relationships and building a healthier social ecosystem where people motivate each other to stay active.”

Balance Over Burnout

While Strava often seems to be full of manics running ultramarathons and pushing the limits of the human body, more people are starting to prioritize balance, according to this year’s Trend Report.

Most survey respondents (57%) said the ideal workout is between 45 and 60 minutes. The median activity duration recorded on Strava in 2024 was 53 minutes.

“People are redefining what it means to be active,” Bell said. “[They’re] prioritizing consistency, mental health, and meaningful connections over extreme training. 

And check this out: The median speed of runners on Strava in 2024 was a 10:15-minute mile. Considering that the average mile speed for runners in the U.S. is 9-10 minutes, that is a fairly leisurely median pace.

Rising group activities also play a role in greater resting periods during workouts. Strava found that large group activities had three times more downtime than when users were exercising solo.

Despite the greater emphasis on rest and shorter workouts, Strava claims people still hit their fitness goals in greater numbers than last year. And 79% of users hit their goals for 2024; specifically for runners, that number was 77%, and for cyclists, it was 72%.

Women Working Hard

In 2024, there was an 11% increase in female cyclists on Strava. Women were also 20% more likely to earn a crown for “fastest time on a Strava Segment.”

Women are also taking to weights. According to Strava, weight training was the fastest-growing sport among female users, seeing a 25% rise in training session uploads.

The Year’s Greatest Gear

This being GearJunkie, we were immediately interested in what kinds of gear data Strava was able to compile for 2024. We were not disappointed.

The top three running shoes of 2024 were the Nike Pegasus, HOKA Clifton, and the Asics Gel Nimbus. The top running shoe specifically for a marathon? That would be the Nike Alphafly.

And 44% of marathon runners who uploaded did so with carbon-plated running shoes — a 14% increase from 2023.

The report also breaks down the top bike brands for road biking, gravel biking, and mountain biking. Specialized took top honors, and then Trek was number two for both gravel and mountain bikers. Road bikers, by contrast, preferred it the other way around; Trek was the number one bike brand, and Specialized followed.

Garmin swept the top two spots for the top tracking device for cyclists with its Edge 530 and Edge 830 watches. For runners, however, the top two tracking devices were the Apple Watch Series and Apple Watch SE.

A lot of Strava users (72%) simply use their phones and the Strava app to upload, instead of a watch or bike computer. The exception to that pattern was in the context of races. Whether it was a 5K or a marathon, most users left their phones at home when they’re in a race and upload their results with GPS watches instead.

And if you’ve ever wondered how many people wear jewelry when they work out, Strava has an answer for that, too. According to its “Year in Sport: Trend Report,” 37% of Gen Z users and 26% of Millennials surveyed reported they wear jewelry while working out. It’s a thing.

Creating Camaraderie & Competition

Bell speculated that several factors could be driving the trends Strava observed in the 2024 Year in Sport: Trend Report. Following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the brand noticed a renewed emphasis on maintaining mental health and well-being. That may have in turn encouraged a more balanced approach to fitness, he said.

Gen Z also seems to be driving some of the social trends, prioritizing community and connection over competition, according to Bell. Forty percent of Gen Z Strava users said they want to exercise with friends more often in 2025, and over half of the Gen Z survey respondents said that social connections were the main reason they joined a fitness group in 2024.

Finally, Bell pointed to apps like Strava that are encouraging people to live more active lifestyles.

“Strava fosters running communities through features like clubs, leaderboards, and activity sharing, which create a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition,” he said. “We’ve seen the impact that Strava has on active people globally who are looking for ways to track progress, connect with others, and stay motivated.”