FAQ: How to make Strava show elevation from trainer / indoor workouts (solved)

[a5yyc]

My sport watch does not have barometric altimeter and so not recording the elevation when I climb stairs indoor (without GPS signal). I tried override the elevation with the actual figure, but when I uploaded the merged FIT file to Strava, the elevation still showed as 0m. I re-upload the merged FIT file and verified the overridden elevation was there and the checkbox for the stream was checked. In fact out of the 6 different FIT files, I got one working after multiple attempts. Any advise on this behavior?

[fulmar2]

Strava has a few rules with regard to elevation. Those rules can be found here: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/art ... trava-FAQs

As you can see, if you tell Strava that you are using a non barometric device, they are going to override my override. So, the only way to force Strava to use the elevation override is to use my override tool AND tell Strava that this is a barometric device.

On top of that, there is also the issue of virtual (indoor) rides. People have been able to “trick” Strava into accepting virtual elevation, but that requires 3 things: A ride with a map (Zwift does this), telling Strava you used a barometric GPS, and lastly the act of overriding the elevation using my tool. If you tell Strava that it is a virtual ride, the elevation will not count for things such as challenges - which is technically fair if you ask me.

Keep in mind that when you produce the FIT file with my tool and overridden elevation, the total climbing IS in that file. It’s simply a decision on Strava’s part to ignore the data that we embedded. Strava has their reasons for overriding the override (and they are good reasons), but you can outsmart Strava if you follow the instructions above.

Hope that helps resolve the issue!

[fulmar2]

OK, I looked at your file, and I see that this is a good question!

Your file does not have position points (latitude / longitude) OR elevation points.

There are two basic types of activities that you can upload to Strava: Indoor and Outdoor workouts.

Strava knows if an activity was indoors or outdoors based on the simple fact of whether or not it has a map. Since your activity did not have position points (latitude / longitude), Strava automatically deemed it as an indoor activity. If you do an indoor workout such as a treadmill or on a trainer bike, Strava will NOT show the total ascent (especially if there isn't any elevation data in your file at all). The reason for this is because Strava believes that elevation computed by indoor machines cannot be trusted. Whether or not that is true is up for debate... but that is how Strava processes the data.

Therefore, in order for you to "trick" Strava into accepting the elevation that you type into the "override elevation" box, you will need to add in some type of map. If you have ever used Zwift, you may notice that this application generates a fake map (sometimes in the South Pacific over a random island). This fake map "tricks" Strava into thinking that this is an outdoor workout. Then, the user can override the elevation if needed using my tools.

Your question inspired me to add a new feature: A checkbox called "Make a Fake Track"

How to override elevation on Strava when you have an indoor workout.

You will only see the "Make a Fake Track" checkbox if the files you uploaded have distance data. This is because GOTOES needs your distance to compute your position over time. If you do not have distance, but your files do have speed, you can click the "Use Speed" instead of "Use Distance" and the page will refresh - backfilling the distance field for you.

If you check the "Make Fake Track" box, by default, the tool will create a track which is a 1 kilometer circle out in the South Pacific. You will continually go around and around the circle, depending on how much distance you accumulated in your activity. The elevation plot will be flat if the elevation is missing from your file, but you can now enter a number in the "override elevation" checkbox to get a total ascent value in your final file. You also have the option of uploading a custom GPX file to substitute and back-fill position data for your GPS activity file.

Here is what it will look like if you use the circle (default) method:

Uploading a virtual activity or treadmill activity to Strava may not show elevation / total ascent. This is what it looks like before modification with the "fake track" tool.

Here are the recommended steps / settings if you need to override the total ascent from your virtual ride / run

What your upload to Strava will look like after you have made the modifications above.

How to fix if Strava did not respect your elevation override

IMPORTANT NOTE!! Even after using GOTOES Elevation Override, Strava Might Override Your Elevation Anyway!

Step 1: Make sure that you exported from GOTOES as FIT and not TCX or GPX (GPX does not support total ascent, and TCX is not "trusted" by Strava). Also, make sure that the device you selected when exporting from GOTOES is a barometric device. For example, the "Garmin Fenix 6" has a barometer and is "trusted" by Strava. The "Garmin Edge Touring" is NOT a barometric device, and will therefore have its elevation overridden by Strava no matter what.

Step 2: Go to the 3 dots and select "Revert Elevation"

Select Revert Elevation. If you have the option to Revert Elevation, that means Strava did an override anyway.

Step 3: Click the button that says "Revert Elevation"

Next click the button to accept the elevation reversion.

Step 4: Now you will see that Strava will display the GOTOES assigned elevation. Strava is always eager to override your elevation, so this is how you can overcome that.

Back to 82 feet of climbing after Strava calculated it to be 297 feet.

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[Sebastian03887]

Thank you for the great explanation, however I don’t have an option to „Revert Elevation“.
I simply downloaded files from Strava and reuploaded them jointly loosing elevation. Hence I would like to reset.

[fulmar2]

Good question about the "Revert Elevation" What device are you using/specifying when you do your upload? Strava treats devices differently. If you tell Strava that you're using a device with a barometric altimeter (Say a Garmin Fenix 6 for example), then Strava should give you the option to "Correct Elevation" as well as "Revert Elevation." If you use a non-barometric device (Say a Garmin Edge Touring), then Strava will always override any elevation supplied by the device and re-calculate. This is because Strava has decided that non-barometric (GPS based) altimeters cannot be trusted. Most phones are "not trusted" for example. Anyway, you can use GOTOES to tell Strava that you're using a barometric device. This is called "spoofing" the device type. If you do that, and export from GOTOES as the FIT format (not TCX or GPX), then I would expect that Strava will respect your wishes and elevation changes rather than override them.