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Strava can store exercise names, individual sets, repetitions, weight, and working time in a strength workout. In the mobile app, create or upload a Weight Training, Workout, HIIT, or CrossFit activity, tap Add exercises, select each movement, enter its sets, reps, and weight, and save.
Strava’s native workout log does not currently document a separate field for rest between every set. If precise rest intervals matter, log the session in a connected strength app with a rest timer and share its exercise-level data with Strava.
What Strava records for a strength workout
The strength workout log is an ordered list of exercises. Each exercise can contain set-level information rather than only a total duration. The fields Strava documents are:
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|---|---|---|
| Exercise | A movement selected from Strava’s exercise library or supplied by a connected app | Builds the workout log and muscle map |
| Set number | Each set in sequence | Keeps the workout in the order performed |
| Repetitions | The number completed in that set | Contributes to set totals and volume |
| Weight | The load for that set, displayed in pounds or kilograms | Contributes to total volume; units are converted when the source uses another unit |
| Working time | Duration for a time-based movement | Records work performed when repetitions are not the useful measure |
| Elapsed time | The activity’s session timeline | Appears in the workout summary rather than as a per-set rest field |
The summary can also show total volume, total sets, calories, and average heart rate when heart-rate data is available. Total volume is calculated from the weights, repetitions, and sets entered in the log.
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Log sets, reps, and weights manually in the Strava mobile app
Manual entry is the dependable option when your watch or another app recorded only a generic strength activity. You can add the details after recording or uploading the activity.
1. Create or upload the right activity type
- Open the Strava mobile app.
- Create or upload the strength session as Weight Training, Workout, HIIT, or CrossFit.
- Open the resulting activity. If the activity was recorded on another device, let the initial synchronization finish before editing its workout details.
These are the activity types for which Strava’s strength log is designed. Choosing one of them gives the activity the exercise-entry workflow; a generic activity may not expose the same controls.
2. Open Add exercises
On the activity page, tap the prompt to Add exercises. This opens Strava’s exercise library and the workout-log editor. You can add movements one at a time and keep them in the order you performed them.
3. Select each movement
Search the library for the exercise and select the matching movement. Use the closest available name consistently—for example, select the same variation for every set rather than creating several nearly identical entries. The selected exercise becomes a parent row for its sets.
4. Enter every set
For each exercise, enter the repetitions and weight for each set. If your sets used different loads or rep targets, record those values on their respective rows instead of entering one average. For a timed movement, enter working time rather than forcing a duration into a repetition field.
Check the unit shown beside the weight. Strava displays the preferred unit set for the account, either pounds or kilograms, and can convert a value supplied in the other unit.
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5. Repeat and save
Continue until every exercise is represented. Tap Save. Strava generates the workout summary and muscle map from the exercise and set data you entered. Review the first saved view for obvious mistakes before leaving the activity.
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Automatic synchronization avoids retyping a long workout, but the source app must send exercise-level information. A watch that sends only an activity type, duration, calories, or heart rate cannot create missing set rows in Strava.
Connect the partner in Strava
- In Strava, open Settings.
- Choose Connect your App or Device.
- Tap Connect beside the partner you use.
- Authorize the connection and accept the permission that allows exercise-level data sharing.
- Record and save the workout in the partner app or device, then allow it to synchronize to Strava.
Strava lists Amazfit, Caliber, COROS, Fitbod, Garmin, Hevy, JEFIT, Life Time Fitness, Liftoff, Motra, REMAKER, Runna, iFIT, and WHOOP as partners that can send exercise names, sets, repetitions, weight, and working time. The exact fields depend on what the partner records and shares for that activity.
Garmin smartwatch workflow
A Garmin smartwatch can be useful when you want to record the session without handling your phone between sets. Verify the exact watch model and the current Garmin-to-Strava sharing behavior before relying on it for set-level data. Some workouts arrive with exercise names and sets; others arrive as a basic strength activity if exercise-level sharing was not enabled or the source did not include set messages.
After the activity appears in Strava, open it and inspect the workout log. If exercises, repetitions, and loads are present, no manual transcription is needed. If only duration, calories, or heart rate appears, use the troubleshooting steps below rather than assuming the values were lost during display.
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How to record rest between sets
Strava’s current help documentation describes working time for time-based exercises and elapsed time for the activity summary. It does not identify a dedicated input for the rest duration after each individual set.
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What the native log can preserve
The activity timeline can show how long the whole session took. That gives you a session-level elapsed time, but it does not create a separate, labeled value such as “90 seconds rest” between set one and set two in the native workout log.
When you need explicit intervals
Record the workout in a connected strength app that has a rest timer. Start the timer after each set, let the app store the interval, and enable exercise-level sharing before syncing to Strava. This is the practical way to manage rest while training. Do not assume that every partner’s timer is imported as a dedicated rest column in Strava; Strava’s documented set fields and the partner’s exported fields determine what appears.
Timed exercises are different from rest
For movements performed for time, enter the movement’s working time. Working time describes the effort itself; it should not be used as a substitute for the recovery interval that follows it.
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Edit a workout after saving
You do not have to delete an entire activity to fix one mistaken load or repetition count. Open the strength activity and use its workout-log edit control.
- Swap an exercise: replace the selected movement with the correct library entry.
- Correct a set: change repetitions or weight for the individual set that is wrong.
- Change working time: adjust the duration for a time-based exercise.
- Delete an exercise: remove the movement and its associated sets.
- Delete individual sets: remove only the duplicate or accidental row.
Save the edit after making changes. Strava recalculates total volume, total sets, and the muscle map from the revised log. If a synchronized workout is still being processed, wait for synchronization to complete before deciding that an edit failed.
Understand the workout summary
Total volume
Total volume combines the loads, repetitions, and sets in the saved log. A heavier set and a higher-repetition set therefore affect the summary differently. Because the calculation uses the values you enter, correcting one set can change the displayed total.
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Total sets
This is the number of saved set rows across the workout. Deleting a duplicate or adding a missed set changes the count after you save.
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Calories and average heart rate are shown when the activity source provides them. They are separate from the exercise-log fields: a workout can contain complete sets and weights without heart-rate data, or heart-rate data without exercise-level sets.
Muscle map
Strava generates the muscle map from the exercises in the log. Selecting the correct movement matters because substituting a similarly named exercise can change the muscles represented in the map.
Why a synced workout has no sets or reps
A missing set list usually means the source sent a summary activity rather than structured exercise data. Work through these checks in order.
- Confirm the activity type. Check that the source created a Weight Training, Workout, HIIT, or CrossFit activity supported by Strava’s strength log.
- Check the connection. In Strava, open Settings > Connect your App or Device > Connect and verify that the partner is authorized.
- Review sharing permissions. The partner must be configured to share exercise names, sets, repetitions, weight, and working time—not just the activity’s duration or calories.
- Check the source workout. Open the workout in the partner app or on the device. If the source itself has no exercise rows, Strava cannot reconstruct them.
- Allow synchronization to finish. A partially processed activity may initially show only its summary fields.
- Edit manually if the data was never sent. Open the Strava activity, tap Add exercises, and enter the missing sets.
For a Garmin activity in particular, inspect the workout details in Garmin’s own app first. If they are present there but absent in Strava, the issue is likely the connection’s exercise-level sharing or the fields exported for that activity. If they are absent at the source, manual entry is the recovery path.
Structured uploads and developer integrations
Strava’s developer documentation says uploads for WeightTraining, HighIntensityIntervalTraining, Workout, and Crossfit support set messages. A compatible structured file or integration can include an exercise type, repetitions, weight, duration, and start time.
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This matters to developers building a training app or an export pipeline: sending only a total activity duration produces a much thinner Strava record than sending one set message per completed set. The receiving activity must use one of the documented strength-compatible types, and the integration must map its own exercise, repetition, load, and timing fields to those set messages.
For ordinary athletes, this is handled by the partner app. You generally do not need to create a FIT or JSON file yourself; the practical requirement is choosing a partner that exports structured exercise data and granting the required permission.
Choose the best logging route
| Route | Best when | Strengths | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strava manual log | You already have a generic activity or want to correct a small number of sets | Phone-only, no second service required, per-set editing after saving | Every exercise and set must be entered by hand; no documented native per-set rest field |
| Automatic partner sync | You want to record while training and avoid transcription | Can transfer exercise names, sets, reps, weight, and working time | Depends on the partner’s export and permission settings; missing source fields cannot be recreated |
| Watch plus partner app | You want hands-free recording and a device-based timer | Convenient during a session and can provide heart-rate data when supported | Requires compatible hardware and verification that the exact model shares exercise-level details |
| Structured integration | You are developing an app or automated export | Set messages can carry exercise type, reps, weight, duration, and start time | Requires correct activity types and a technically valid export |
Practical examples
Example: a three-exercise session entered manually
Suppose you performed squats for three sets, a press for three sets, and a timed plank. Create or open the strength activity, add the squat movement, and enter the repetitions and load on each squat row. Add the press and enter its own rows. Add the plank and enter working time for each timed effort. Save only after all three movements are present. The summary then reflects the entered sets and loads, while the muscle map uses the selected exercise names.
Example: variable loads across sets
If your first set used 60 kg for 10 repetitions and the next used 70 kg for 8, keep those values on separate rows. Entering 65 kg for 9 repetitions as an average discards the information needed to reproduce the workout and changes the volume calculation.
Example: a workout with timed intervals
Use working time for the exercise intervals themselves. If you also need to know that you rested two minutes after each interval, run the session through a partner app with a rest timer. Strava can retain the overall elapsed activity time, but its documented native log does not provide a labeled rest value for every set.
Requirements and limits to check before you start
- Mobile app access: Manual exercise entry is described for the Strava mobile app.
- Correct activity type: Use Weight Training, Workout, HIIT, or CrossFit for the documented strength workflow.
- Exercise library match: Select a library movement so Strava can build the workout and muscle map.
- Unit awareness: Confirm whether the account displays pounds or kilograms; Strava converts values from another unit automatically.
- Partner authorization: Automatic detail requires an authorized connection and exercise-level sharing.
- Source completeness: Strava cannot infer missing sets from calories, heart rate, or elapsed time alone.
- Rest expectations: Treat elapsed time as a session measure, not as a documented per-set recovery field.
What changed in Strava’s strength logging
In a May 21, 2026 company announcement, Strava described its Workout Log as a purpose-built way for athletes to record sets, repetitions, and weight. The same announcement said Strava had more than 195 million users in more than 185 countries at that time. Those figures describe Strava’s user base, not the accuracy or coverage of any particular partner integration.
The useful distinction for lifters is between a strength activity summary and a structured workout log. The former may contain time, calories, and heart rate; the latter contains the exercise and set details needed to review load and repetitions later.
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