Strava and Apple Fitness+ Collaborate to Grow Their Fitness Communities
Athletech News spoke with Jay Blahnik, Vice President of Fitness Technologies at Apple, and Strava Chief Business Officer Zipporah Allen about the fitness brands’ collaboration
Strava and Apple Fitness+ have collaborated to drive new value for their respective user bases in 2025. Fitness+ users can now share their workouts on Strava, complete with metrics, descriptions, music genres, and a thumbnail image. Strava users will also gain access to a special trial offer of three months of Fitness+, and Strava athletes will now be featured on the Fitness+ platform.
“Since the beginning of Apple Watch — nearly 10 years ago — we’ve been committed to building an ecosystem designed to be simple to use, welcoming, and inclusive to all of our users,” Jay Blahnik, Vice President of Fitness Technologies at Apple told Athletech News.
“Over the past 10 years, we’ve also hugely admired the impact Strava has had in fitness, especially around community, Blahnik continued. “When we were exploring ideas on how to bring Fitness+ to even more users and help them stay inspired by community, we couldn’t think of a better team to collaborate with than Strava.”
Strava was founded in 2009 by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey to support active lifestyles. Today, the platform serves more than 125 million athletes in more than 190 countries. Over 10 billion activities have been shared on Strava, with 40 million uploaded per week.
The collaboration felt like a “natural fit” into Strava’s larger goals for this year, Zipporah Allen, the Chief Business Officer of Strava told Athletech News. “Whether you’re adding Strength or Yoga to an existing running routine, or giving Pilates a try for the first time, there is so much exciting content on Fitness+,” Allen told ATN.
Strava subscribers also gain access to a special trial offer of up to three months of Fitness+. With the trial, Strava subscribers have access to a large library of 4K Ultra High Definition content, with over 6,500 Fitness+ workouts and meditations across 12 different types of workouts.
“All they need is an iPhone to get started,” Blahnik added. “And of course, those with an Apple Watch can take their experience to the next level with real-time metrics that display on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.”
Strava athletes such as Hellah Sidibe and Kayla Jeter will also be featured in Fitness+ workouts. Sidibe is known for his “run streaking,” or running every day outdoors for at least 10 miles since May 2017. Jeter is a wellness entrepreneur and personal trainer.
“Both of them embody the spirit of Strava and Fitness+ values — they are passionate, inspiring, and committed to sharing and motivating others through their fitness journeys,” Allen noted.
A highlight of the collaboration is the synergies between the two platforms’ user bases. The outdoor-focused Strava users can drive value in rounding out their routines with warmups, strength, and recovery exercises through Fitness+.
“Adding activities like Strength, Core and Yoga via Fitness+ is a fantastic way to round out a routine and support the activities they love,” Blahnik added.
The collaboration demonstrates the consolidation and evolution of the digital fitness ecosystems. As outdoor activities have grown in popularity in recent years, consumers are focused on building the required fitness levels to tackle such challenges in the great outdoors.
“There is so much exciting content on Fitness+ that fits perfectly with the breadth of activities the Strava community loves,” Allen concluded. “We’re looking forward to a new, rich Fitness+ experience on Strava as part of the continued growth of our connected ecosystem.”