Here’s How Much Women Worked Out In 2020 Compared To Men

Who run the world? Girls, that’s who, at least according to exercise tracking and social media platform Strava. Per Strava’s 2020 Year in Sport data, women led the workout charge this year, with a greater increase in the median number of activities uploaded to the platform.

Between April and September, women aged 18 and 29 saw a 45.2% increase in activities uploaded compared to 2019, while men logged a 27.3% increase. Women in their 30s recorded a 37.5% increase, compared with men's 24.4%.

More American women also took up cycling in 2020, with a 72% increase in uploaded rides compared to 2019. For men, there was a 41% increase in logged rides compared to last year.

What else changed for fitness this year?

Runners and cyclists on the whole really diversified their workout routines this year. Cyclists on the platform took to outdoor walks, with 8.5% logging them for the first time.

It was a similar story for outdoor runs, with 5.6% of cyclists uploading them for the first time, as well indoor rides, hikes, indoor workouts like yoga and weightlifting, and indoor runs.

On the running side, the report showed that outdoor bike rides were the top alternative activity for runners. Other popular activities among runners were indoor workouts, hikes, indoor runs, and indoor rides.

The data paints an interesting portrait of how people worked out — and logged their workouts — during the pandemic. Between April and June alone, outdoor walks were logged three times more often than the same period in 2019. People also hiked nearly twice as much as last year.

With organized races largely cancelled due to the pandemic, more than one million athletes joined Strava’s monthly 5K challenge in May, per the data, and there were three times as many solo marathons run compared to 2019.