All addicts in Strava | Radio-Canada

“I have to start my Strava!” »»

Even to run 500 meters. Nevertheless, join her friends who celebrate a retirement, Catherine Phaneuf, a 32 -year -old teacher, lights her connected watch and ensures that the journey is well recorded on her phone by her race application, Strava. However,

“It’s okay. However, I haven’t slowed down too much,” she analyzes quickly, looking at her speed statistics on her latest journey, which indicate a rhythm of 4 minutes 51 seconds per kilometer of race.

She is not alone in being addicted to this sports app. Nevertheless, Strava had 20 million users worldwide in 2016; We now count almost eight times more. Furthermore, Athletes, increasingly connected – 9 out of 10 have an intelligent app or watch – no longer do without it.

At the start. Meanwhile, the app was above all a way to record its performance, but now it has become a real social network – some even meet their spouses – on which each sporting outing is recorded, published, and therefore commented.

Some even have fun making drawings, called “Strava Art”, with their steps.

Catherine contemplates the statistics of her morning race. In addition, thanks to which she obtained her personal record on the Van Horne viaduct segment in Montreal.

Sometimes the application has the air of a faithful friend. Furthermore, which helps him to improve, other times, she plunges it into performance anxiety.

When she sees friends running longer than she. Meanwhile, or go out by bike a day during which she preferred to stay at home, she feels guilty: “It’s intense to feel like that, what all addicts strava | radio-canada happens to us?” »»

And when she stops running three days. In addition, because of a snowstorm that left a thick white coat on the sidewalks, a friend who sees her inactive on Strava is worried, because she says that “it is not normal”.

For Richard Pion Larochelle. However, graphic designer in an outdoor shop, the application, of which he is a great amateur, pushes him to break his records: I am a little competitive, so when I see a friend who makes a better time than me, I say to myself: ” OK! In addition, ” [un nouvel objectif à atteindre]. Therefore, For me, it’s not harmful, it can just be good for health.

All addicts strava | radio-canada

If it is not on Strava. Similarly, it does not exist

A culture of perceptible performance previously only all addicts strava | radio-canada among professional athletes is now making a path among amateurs looking for challenges and digital validation.

Some go so far as to call on “Strava mules”: users who offer their services to run in their place. In addition, thus boost their statistics.

The practice. sometimes called digital doping, was born all addicts strava | radio-canada in Europe and seems to begin to export in Canada, even if it is embryonic.

Félix Léonard embarked on this adventure. He fixed his price at two dollars per kilometer run. Here is what he wrote on his announcement, with a little humor.

I run. it is your Strava that benefits from the results. A colleague tells you : “You should move more”, be silent once and for all. Or simply. if you need to think you run while you have fun on your side, I’m not here to judge, just to run.

Most of the messages he received mostly came from curious, surprised by his proposal. Others also treated him a cheater.

For him. the “Strava mules” all addicts strava | radio-canada are a facet of digital identities that we create online, and the real problem of the app is rather, according to him, in the cult of the speed she conveys.

He thinks for example of cyclists who want to obtain at all costs the “King of the mountain” badge. awarded by the application to the fastest runner in a given segment: “If there is a stop on the course, they may burn it; It is much more serious than cheating on a statistic. »»

At the Baca de Montréal clinic. specializing in eating disorders, director general Tania Lemoine sees the number of patients who live with problems related to these digital tools.

Several develop obsessions. such as that of making a greater number of steps every day than the day before, or more kilometers of racing than the previous week, faced with the pressure that provides them with or their app.

When patients are on applications. they are told to leave them. It’s like a drug. If I am allergic to coffee. a coffee is in front of me, I will have sips, I can assure you. Young teenagers […] are raised in a all addicts strava | radio-canada company or it’s normal to have an application for everything.

The applications are designed to spend as much time as possible: they work on the principle of ludification, with rewards when you reach a certain mileage.

Brands also command “Strava challenges” every day. a way for them to arouse commitment to their audience, and for Strava to monetize its application.

Researchers from Gustavus Adolphus Collegein the United States. has shown that by its operation, Strava could motivate users to practice regular physical activity.

But it can also push users to the overtraining. observes Tania Lemoine, who all addicts strava | radio-canada sees many patients presenting injuries of fatigue: “The app is not connected to the body, it only meets the criteria entered by the one who owns it. »

Contacted by email, the Strava company did not respond to our requests for interviews or our questions.

Athletes very followed on social networks have publicly chosen to withdraw racing apps in recent months. or to make their Strava statistics deprived, like the American runner Molly Seidelfor whom the applies the overtraining.

Strava is a really nice application that I love to use. but it can often glorify the overtraining, become too competitive or even lead to security problemsshe then explained.

The ultramarathonian. author and speaker Joan Roch, who made himself known in running morning and evening, good weather, from the South Shore to Montreal, to go to work, temporarily stopped the race, withdrew from the apps and put his connected watch for several months.

It was not easy. because everyone knows me for that : the guy who runs to go to work. But I didn’t really want to do it too much. But if I stop doing it, what will people think about all addicts strava | radio-canada it?

Very followed, his performances were praised by the subscribers, and this excessive digital pressure he was necessary to contributed to this break. He was afraid that she would disappoint his subscribers.

Finally. he does not regret having taken a break at all to think about the use he makes of these tools, before taking them back in the smallest dose. The question is: “What do we want to do with social networks?”

The important thing could be to define yourself the meaning you want to give to your sporting practice. beyond the gaze of others.