How to Connect ErgManiac to Strava
If you use Strava to track your overall training, connecting ErgManiac lets your rowing workouts appear in your Strava feed automatically. Here is how to set it up, what data syncs, and how it looks on the other side.
Why Connect to Strava?
Most rowers do more than just erg. You might run, cycle, lift weights, or row on water. Strava gives you a single place to see all your training in one feed. By connecting ErgManiac, your indoor rowing sessions appear alongside everything else without any extra effort.
Your rowing friends on Strava can also see your sessions, give kudos, and leave comments. It adds a social layer that the erg normally does not have.
Step 1: Open Integration Settings
Log in to ErgManiac and navigate to Settings > Integrations. You will see a list of available connections. Find Strava and click Connect.
Step 2: Authorize ErgManiac
Clicking Connect will redirect you to Strava's authorization page. You will be asked to grant ErgManiac permission to create activities on your behalf. This is a standard OAuth flow. ErgManiac can only write new activities to your Strava account. It cannot read, modify, or delete your existing activities.
Click Authorize to confirm. You will be redirected back to ErgManiac with a success message.
Step 3: Configure Sync Preferences
After authorizing, you can set a few preferences:
- Auto-sync: Toggle this on to push every new workout to Strava automatically. If you prefer to choose which workouts sync, leave it off and use the manual sync button on individual workouts.
- Activity name format: Choose how the activity title appears on Strava. Options include:
- Default: "Indoor Rowing - 10,000m"
- Custom: Set your own template (e.g., "Erg Session - ")
- Description content: Choose whether to include your AI analysis summary in the Strava activity description.
What Data Syncs to Strava
When a workout pushes to Strava, the following data transfers:
| Data field | Synced? | | --- | --- | | Distance | Yes | | Duration | Yes | | Average pace (split) | Yes | | Stroke rate | Yes | | Heart rate (if recorded) | Yes | | Calories | Yes | | Interval splits | Yes (as laps) | | AI analysis | Optional (in description) |
The activity type is set to "Rowing" and the sub-type is "Indoor Rowing" so it categorizes correctly in Strava's activity types.
How It Appears on Strava
Your rowing workout shows up as a standard Strava activity. Your followers will see it in their feed with the rowing icon. The activity page shows distance, time, pace, and any other data that was synced.
If you included AI analysis in the description, it appears as the activity description text. This can be a nice touch for sharing insights with training partners.
At the bottom of each synced activity, Strava displays an attribution link back to ErgManiac: "Recorded with ErgManiac." Clicking this link takes viewers to the ErgManiac website.
Interval Workouts on Strava
Interval workouts sync with each interval as a separate "lap" in Strava. This means you (and anyone viewing the activity) can see each interval's distance, time, and pace individually, just like you would for a running workout with mile splits.
Disconnecting Strava
If you want to disconnect, go to Settings > Integrations > Strava and click Disconnect. This revokes ErgManiac's access to your Strava account. Workouts that were already synced will remain on Strava. Future workouts will not sync until you reconnect.
Troubleshooting
Workouts not appearing? Check that auto-sync is enabled and your Strava authorization has not expired. There can be a delay of up to 2 minutes.
Duplicate activities? If you also sync from ErgData, you may get duplicates. Use one sync source to avoid this.
Heart rate not showing? Heart rate only syncs if recorded during the workout via a chest strap or wrist monitor.
Connecting Strava takes about 60 seconds. Set it and forget it.
