Forget distance covered, these are the key stats to note in your Strava Year in Sport

From today, Strava members can access their Year in Sport, a personalised summary of all of their fitness stats recorded on the platform this year.

The recap is accessed through the phone app only, and users must perform an update to view it. Once done, they can see all of their data from the year, including distance covered, days active, total elevation and time spent exercising.

For many, the Year in Sport offers a fun look back on their activities from the past year. But the information can also be a valuable training tool, according to Andy Turner, cycling coach and founder of ATP Performance Coaching.

“It’s useful to see where you’re fitting in most riding,” Turner told Cycling Weekly. “For most people who are training, it can be useful working out what their distribution is like – if they’ve got events, are there points of the year where they could probably fit in a bit more realistically?”

When looking at their Year in Sport, most people tend to concentrate on the flagship figure: overall distance covered. This year, Strava presents this with a percentage comparison to last year, allowing users to see whether they have improved.

“Some people might look at their total distance and be a bit disheartened,” Turner said, “compared to someone living in South Wales who just rides the Newport flat roads all the time with zero elevation. But they live in the Peak District, where it’s 2,000m for every 50km almost."

According to Turner, there is more value to be found focusing on elevation and amount of time spent riding, which can give a better picture of the efforts.

“Average speed tends to be quite a big metric that people look at, but if you’re living in a hilly area, climbing a lot and getting a lot of hours in, that’s going to be a good number to focus on as well,” he said.

“Don't let yourself get disheartened if your distance isn’t as high as you perhaps wanted it to be, but you’re putting in the hours and potentially getting a lot more climbing in.”

As a general rule, Turner suggests that an elevation of 100m for every 10km ridden is standard, with anything more than that constituting “more grippy terrain”.

Still, the coach made clear, it’s important to not lose sight of the enjoyment of cycling when analysing data.

“One issue Strava sometimes has is it can focus you on chasing more, regardless of where you’re at,” he said. “It’s like, ‘How does this week compare to last week?’. Unless you’re increasing [your volume], week on week, it’s always going to show that you’re a bit below. And there’s a sort of psychological element of more is better.

“[The Year in Sport] is more just an interesting snapshot of what you’ve done,” he added. “It’s more useful if it’s taken from a sort of fun, cycling for the joy of it [perspective], and getting into a greater exercise routine. That’s where it has a bit more potential.”