How to Share a Strava Activity to an Instagram Story

Sharing your latest run, ride, or hike from Strava to your Instagram Story is one of the best ways to bring your community along for the journey. It's more than just posting numbers, it's a way to showcase your hard work, share a beautiful route, or celebrate hitting a new goal. This guide will walk you through exactly how to do it step-by-step, along with pro tips for making your shared activities stand out and genuinely connect with your audience.

How to Share Your Strava Activity: The Step-by-Step Guide

The basic process of sharing a Strava activity is built right into the app and takes just a few seconds. Once you get the hang of it, this will become second nature.

Step 1: Open Your Activity in the Strava App

First things first, finish your workout and save it. Once it's uploaded, open the Strava mobile app. Navigate to the activity you want to share. You can usually find it at the top of your main feed ("Home" tab) or by going to your profile ("You" tab) and selecting it from your list of recent activities.

Step 2: Find and Tap the Share Icon

Once you're viewing the activity, look for the share icon. On iOS and Android, this is usually represented by a small box with an arrow pointing upwards. It's typically located near the top right of your screen, next to the "Edit" (pencil) icon. Tap it.

Step 3: Choose Instagram Stories

After tapping the share icon, a menu will pop up with different sharing options. You'll see choices like sharing to your Feed, sending via text message, or copying the link. Tap the option that says "Instagram Stories." This will automatically generate a graphic (often called a 'sticker') of your activity and open your Instagram app directly into the Story creation screen.

Quick Tip: If you don't use Instagram Stories often, you might need to scroll through the app options to find it. The more you use it, the easier it will be to access.

Step 4: Customize Your Story in Instagram

Congratulations, your Strava activity is now in your Instagram Story editor! At this point, you can post it as is, or you can start getting creative. This is where you transform a simple data output into a great piece of content. You can resize the Strava card with two fingers, drag it around the screen, and add any of Instagram's native elements like text, stickers, GIFs, or music. We'll get into the best ways to do this in the next section.

Troubleshooting: What if it's not working?

If you have any issues, here are a few things to check:

• Update Your Apps: Make sure both your Strava and Instagram apps are updated to the latest version from the App Store or Google Play Store. Outdated versions can cause features to break or disappear.
• Phone Permissions: Check that the Strava app has the permissions it needs to interact with other apps on your phone.
• Restart Your Phone: When in doubt, the classic "turn it off and on again" often solves mysterious tech glitches.

Taking Your Strava Story from Good to Great

Simply posting the default card is fine, but it doesn't tell a real story. The most engaging social media content combines data with emotion and context. Here's how to level up your Strava shares.

Change the Map Style and Stats Display

Before you even tap the "Share" button, Strava gives you a couple of cool customization options to play with. On the editing screen inside the Strava app (just before it sends you to Instagram), you'll see a drop-down menu at the very top. This lets you switch a couple of key things:

• Photo or Map: If you added photos to your activity, you can choose to have one of them displayed instead of the map. This is a game-changer! An epic photo from your ride is almost always more interesting than a squiggly line on a map.
• Map Type: You can often cycle through different map styles, such as Standard, Satellite, Hybrid, or a darker theme. A satellite view is great for showcasing rugged terrain on a trail run, while a standard map cleanly shows your route through city streets.
• Stats Displayed: You can also choose which key metrics are displayed on the card. Maybe pace isn't as important as elevation gain for a hill climb, or you just want to focus on distance and time. Pick the stats that tell the story you want to tell.

Add a Real-Life Background Photo or Video

This is arguably the single most effective way to make your Strava shares more compelling. Instead of using a plain colored background in Instagram, you can use a photo or video you took during your actual workout.

How to do it:

1. Go to your phone’s camera roll and find the photo or video you want to use.
2. Tap the share icon and select "Copy Photo."
3. Go back to your Instagram Story draft (with the Strava card on it). An "Add sticker" pop-up should automatically appear with your copied photo. Tap it to add it.
4. With two fingers simultaneously, press and hold to expand the photo until it fills the entire screen. It will now be layered on top of your Strava card.
5. Tap and hold on your Strava card to drag it to the front, positioning it perfectly over your new photo background.

Now your metrics are overlaid on an actual visual from your experience, creating a much richer narrative.

Use Instagram's Creative Tools to Add Personality

Your Strava card is just one element of the Story. Treat the entire screen as your canvas and use Instagram's tools to bring it to life.

• Text & Fonts: Don’t assume everyone knows what your activity means. Add a line of text for context. Instead of just a 5-mile run, add "First 5-mile run after coming back from injury!" or "Felt so strong on today’s tempo!" Use different fonts and colors to match your personal brand or the mood of the activity.
• Stickers & GIFs: Instagram stickers are brilliant for boosting engagement.
  • Music: Add a song that matches the vibe of your run or ride. An energetic pump-up track for a hard workout or a chill song for an easy recovery day.
  • Polls/Quizzes: Ask your audience questions like, "Morning runner or evening runner?" or "New shoes felt amazing today! Favorite running brand?" This invites people to interact with your content.
  • Location Tag: If you were on a well-known trail or in a scenic area, tag the location so others can discover it.
  • GIFs: A simple animated GIF can add a ton of personality. Search for "tired," "finish line," or "cycling" to find something that fits.
• The Drawing Tool: Use the brush or pen tool to strategically add emphasis. Circle your favorite part of the route on the map, draw an arrow pointing to a particularly impressive stat (like your max speed!), or just add some doodles for a personal touch.

Strategic Tips for Building Your Brand Organically

Done right, sharing your athletic pursuits is a fantastic way to build a personal brand, foster accountability, and connect with like-minded people. Here's how to think strategically about it.

Frame the Narrative: Tell the *Why* Behind the Numbers

A 10-mile run is just a 10-mile run. But a "Training day 25 of 100 for my first marathon" is a story. Let people into your process. Are you training for an event? Coming back from a break? Exploring a new place? This context is what draws people in and makes them root for you.

Tag Relevant People, Brands, and Locations

Social media is about connection. Always tag anyone who was with you on the activity. Also, consider tagging:

• Brands: Wearing your favorite HOKA shoes? Tag them. Using that new Wahoo bike computer? Tag it. Brands love user-generated content and will often re-share your Story to their much larger audience.
• The location: Tag the national park, the city trail system, or local coffee shop where you grabbed a post-run brew. This connects your activity to a place and helps others find your content.

Create an Instagram Highlight for Your Journey

If you're training for a specific goal - like a half marathon, a big climb, or a cycling race - save your best Strava stories to a dedicated Instagram Highlight. Title it something like "Marathon Prep" or "Hike Challenge." This allows new followers to catch up on your entire journey and creates a permanent, very engaging piece of content on your profile.

Use Hashtags Subtly and Effectively

Hashtags help more people find your stories. You can add them using the regular text tool. Consider common tags related to your sport like #StravaRun, #TrailRunning, #CyclingLife, #FromWhereIRide, etc.

Pro tip: You don't need giant hashtags cluttering your Story. After typing them out, you can pinch-to-shrink them until they're nearly invisible and hide them behind your main Strava sticker or another GIF.

Final Thoughts

Sharing your Strava activity to Instagram is more than just a feature, it's a powerful and simple storytelling tool. Now you have a clear blueprint for not only posting your stats, but for creating dynamic, personalized content that tells the story behind your effort and connects genuinely with your followers.

Integrating these spur-of-the-moment fitness stories with a more structured content calendar is something we think about a lot in building brands. We designed Postbase to make the big-picture planning - the Reels, feed posts, and TikToks you want lined up for the week - as simple as posting a story, all inside one clean visual calendar. That way, creating impactful content feels less chaotic and you can focus more on your next adventure.