How to log a sauna session on Strava

Key takeaways

• Strava has no sauna activity type — use the generic Workout type.
• Manual route: Strava app → add activity → Workout → enter duration and title.
• Strava has no temperature field, so sauna temperature has to go in the activity name or description.
• Degree Daddy fills all of it in automatically and pushes the session with one tap.
• A pushed sauna appears on your feed and counts toward your activity totals like any other activity.

Strava does not have a sauna activity type. If you want your sauna sessions on your feed, you either create the activity by hand or use an app that creates it for you. Both work; they differ in how much typing you do and whether the temperature survives.

Why Strava has no sauna or cold plunge type

Strava is built around activities with GPS traces and moving time. A sauna session has neither: you are stationary, indoors, and the thing worth recording is temperature and duration rather than distance or pace. Strava's activity list has never included a sauna, cold plunge, ice bath, or contrast therapy type, and there is no sensor that would detect one automatically.

The practical consequence is that recovery work is invisible on Strava by default. Someone doing four sauna sessions and five plunges a week has nothing on their feed to show for it, even though that is a real and deliberate part of their training.

The workaround everyone lands on is the generic Workout type, which is what Degree Daddy uses. What Degree Daddy adds is the part people do not want to do by hand: the duration, the temperature, and a title that reads properly, filled in automatically instead of typed in after the fact.

Option 1: Log it manually in Strava

1. Open the Strava app and tap the + button.
2. Choose Manual activity.
3. Set the sport to Workout — this is the closest type Strava offers.
4. Enter the elapsed time of your sauna session.
5. Give it a title that carries the detail Strava has no field for, such as “Sauna - 18:00 at 180F”.
6. Save.

This is fine occasionally. The friction shows up when you sauna four or five times a week: you are re-typing the same thing from memory, usually hours later, and the temperature is whatever you can remember.

Option 2: Push it from Degree Daddy

Degree Daddy is a sauna and cold plunge app that tracks the session and then creates the Strava activity for you, with the duration and temperature already in place.

How the Strava push works

1. Connect Strava once. Open Degree Daddy settings and authorise Strava. The connection persists, so this is a one-time step.
2. Track the session. Start the timer on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Log the temperature and, if you want, the venue and a rating when you finish.
3. Push it to Strava. Tap the Strava button on the completed session. The activity is created on Strava with your elapsed time, the temperature in the title, and a description.
4. Attach the session card. Degree Daddy saves a session card image to your camera roll and deep links to the new activity, so you can add it as the activity photo in a couple of taps.

Recording temperature when Strava has no field for it

Strava's data model has no temperature input for manual activities. The workable convention — and the one Degree Daddy follows — is to put it in the activity name, so it is visible on the feed without anyone having to open the activity:

“Sauna - 18:00 at 180F”

Degree Daddy supports temperatures up to 220°F and toggles between °F and °C, which covers traditional saunas (roughly 150–195°F) and infrared saunas (roughly 120–150°F).

Apple Watch makes this practical

Starting and stopping a timer on a phone in a 180°F room is unpleasant and bad for the phone. Degree Daddy includes a standalone Apple Watch app so you can run the session from your wrist; it syncs back to your iPhone via iCloud, and the Strava push happens from there.

Frequently asked questions

Does Strava have a sauna option?

No. Strava has no sauna activity type. The closest available option is the generic Workout type, which is what both manual entries and Degree Daddy use.

How do I add a sauna session to Strava?

Either add it manually in Strava — tap +, choose Manual activity, set the sport to Workout, and enter your duration and a title — or track the session in Degree Daddy and push it to Strava with one tap, which fills in the duration and temperature for you.

Can I put the sauna temperature in Strava?

Not in a dedicated field, because Strava has no temperature input for manual activities. The practical approach is to put it in the activity name, for example "Sauna - 18:00 at 180F". Degree Daddy does this automatically from the temperature you logged.

Will a sauna activity count toward my Strava totals?

Yes. Once the activity exists on Strava it counts toward your activity totals and appears on your followers' feeds, the same as any other Workout activity.

Is there a sauna app that syncs with Strava?

Yes. Degree Daddy is a sauna and cold plunge app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch that connects to Strava and pushes each session as an activity. It also writes to Apple Health, so Whoop, Oura, and Garmin pick the sessions up too.