One thing we’ve gotten exhausted with the last few years is that there are all these health tracking companies, but does a great job at insights and guidance. Recommendations feel sterile with some AI spitting out what it thinks we want to hear. Which leads us to today’s announcement.

Strava just announced a research collaboration with Stanford Lifestyle Medicine and the Stanford Female Athlete Science and Translational Research (FASTR) program, backed by the Stanford Center for Digital Health.

The app that’s tracked your runs for years is now trying to get smarter about what it tells you to do with that data.

What This Is

Strava’s got nearly 200 million user and up to now, the platform’s job has mostly been recording what you did.

The way this partnership reads is that Strava’s next move is to start telling you what to do next, including training load, recovery, progression, based on actual sports science instead of guesswork.

Strava’s Head of Public Policy, Debs Schrimmer, put it plainly: the platform is evolving from a place where athletes log their workouts to one that helps shape what comes next, and partnering with Stanford is about meeting demand for insights that reflect how people actually progress over a lifetime in sport.

The Stanford Angle

Three researchers are leading this charge:

• Michael Fredericson, MD, Director of PM&R Sports Medicine in Stanford’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Founder of Stanford Lifestyle Medicine. Will look to finally close the gap between what sports science knows and what athletes actually get told.
• Emily Kraus, MD, Director of the FASTR program. She’s in charge of fixing the research blind spot around how girls and women train, recover, perform, and avoid injury.
• Eleni Linos, MD, Director of Stanford’s Center for Digital Health. She like the superintendent and will check on rigor, making sure whatever Strava builds is actually backed by science and not just branding.

Strava is funding the collaboration, but are open in saying that any research produced with Stanford faculty will run independently and follow standard academic publication rules.

In theory, this isn’t Strava paying for favorable headlines but hope is a first step in a longer sports science investment. The plan is to expand into supporting independent academic research and broader scientific partnerships going forward.

This follows Strava’s recent moves toward being a more complete training platform. We’ve talked about how they redesigned the Strength Training experience and added Physical Therapy as a recordable activity.

No word yet on which specific features get the Stanford treatment first.

More to come.

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About Stanford Lifestyle Medicine

Stanford Lifestyle Medicine, a program within the Stanford Prevention Research Center (SPRC), is dedicated to translating scientific insights into actionable behaviors that enhance health, performance, and longevity through seven lifestyle pillars: movement and exercise, healthful nutrition, restorative sleep, stress management, social engagement, cognitive enhancement, and gratitude and purpose. Our faculty members uphold the highest standards of practice and transparency in health guidance, ensuring that all shared information is rooted in credible research and expert consensus. Learn more at: lifestylemedicine.stanford.edu.

About FASTR

The Stanford Female Athlete Science and Translational Research (FASTR) Program advances the health and performance of girls and women through research, education, clinical translation, and innovation. Powered by the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, FASTR works to close the gender gap in sports science by translating research on female athlete physiology, injury prevention, REDs and low energy availability, bone health, menstrual health, and endurance performance into practical tools for athletes, coaches, clinicians, and sport organizations. Learn more at: https://fastr.stanford.edu.

About Center for Digital Health

The Stanford Center for Digital Health (CDH), is building a future where innovation meets health in a way that benefits everyone. CDH aims to bring together the brightest minds in technology, academia, policy, and medicine — from Stanford, Silicon Valley, and the rest of the world — to tackle the most pressing questions in medicine and health with scientific rigor and integrity. In addition to publishing new findings in academic journals, CDH aims to solve problems and have real-world impact. One of the key roles of CDH is to build and nurture vital connections between Stanford and the broader ecosystem of industry, government, and research organizations. Learn more at: https://cdh.stanford.edu.