What is your running stride length?

[vupson]

I am trying to figure out if my running stride length is accurate. I can find average stride lengths for walking on the internet but not running (unless it's for a sprinter). I think that my running stride length is about 40 inches, so about 3 feet and 4 inches. Is that reasonable for a 5'6" woman?

[SteveH]

This help article discusses how to measure your stride. I'm sure it will work for both the walking and running stride.

https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176045-how-do-i-measure-and-adjust-my-stride-length...

[vupson]

Thanks I know how to measure my running stride I'm just wondering how it compares to others (ie, I'm hoping I did the math right and I'm thinking my stride may be on average longer). So that is why I asked for other people's stride length.

[Dominique]

I'm 174 cm (which would be 5' 8.5") and my running stride length is about 95 cm (37.4"). I'm therefore a bit taller than you, but my running stride is slightly shorter. It's not impossible: my legs may be shorter than yours (in relation to our torso), we may have different running styles (and speeds) etc.

[Heybales]

5' 10" height.

3' 9.1" stride running.

But I do midfoot strike, aka minimalist or barefoot running style.

And that's why trying to compare is really going to be useless for your figures.

And unless you have some inkling your stride form is terrible, like bounding up in the air like a gazelle with each step and doing about a 120 turn-over, or scuffling your feet on the ground and almost tripping on every step, knowing average length just isn't going to tell you much.

If you want to confirm your math, run a longer distance at normal pace counting just right food landing.

Don't start out, run to start line and then start counting, don't slow or stop at end either, just stop counting.

Then do the math by doubling your single step foot count.

If you want to know what Fitbit was defaulting to, set your values back to 0, then go create a run activity of 1 mile, and see how much your step count increases by.

Bam, divide that by 5280, you got the stride length they used from formula based on study.

[BajanBrit]

OK.

I am trying to calculate my running stride length. i have had a number of runs on a treadmiill and the difrence in distance between the treadmill and Fitbit is about a mile. I have followed the advice to calculate my stride: measure a known distance run and count your steps...... Divide distance in feet by number of strides

528 Feet ( 1/10 mile ) / 94 Number of steps = 5.61

Now surely that cant be right......................

[USAF-Larry]

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@BajanBrit wrote:

OK.

I am trying to calculate my running stride length. i have had a number of runs on a treadmiill and the difrence in distance between the treadmill and Fitbit is about a mile. I have followed the advice to calculate my stride: measure a known distance run and count your steps...... Divide distance in feet by number of strides

528 Feet ( 1/10 mile ) / 94 Number of steps = 5.61

Now surely that cant be right......................

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Sounds like you may have counted 1/2 of the steps, i.e., you only counted the number of times one foot hit the ground instead of both feet.  If you multiply the number of steps counted by 2, that comes to 188 steps. Divide that into 528, and you arrive at 2.8', or 2' 9.6".  That sounds a lot closer.

[BajanBrit]

Cheers Buddy. That sounds about right. Have a great weekend 👍🏽😎

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[Owiella]

I typically do 100 steps per minute for a 20 minute mile (walking), so that's 2,000 steps a mile on the treadmill.  The fitbit, however, tells me it takes about 3,500 steps for a walking mile, so I know it is way off the mark.  When I checked the what the stride length was set at on the app, it was far below what it should have been.  Considering there are 63,360 inches in a mile, divided by 2,000, that gives me a stride length of 31.68—much longer than the 23.8 that the fitbit assumed.  My advice is to walk/run a mile, count your steps along the way, then divide 63,360 by the number of steps to get your stride length.

[Owiella]

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@USAF-Larry wrote:

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@BajanBrit wrote:

OK.

I am trying to calculate my running stride length. i have had a number of runs on a treadmiill and the difrence in distance between the treadmill and Fitbit is about a mile. I have followed the advice to calculate my stride: measure a known distance run and count your steps...... Divide distance in feet by number of strides

528 Feet ( 1/10 mile ) / 94 Number of steps = 5.61

Now surely that cant be right......................

---

Sounds like you may have counted 1/2 of the steps, i.e., you only counted the number of times one foot hit the ground instead of both feet.  If you multiply the number of steps counted by 2, that comes to 188 steps. Divide that into 528, and you arrive at 2.8', or 2' 9.6".  That sounds a lot closer.

2.8' is still a bit short for a running stride length. 

[USAF-Larry]

@Owiella- You have to count,  measure, and calculate your own stride lengths, both walking & running, using the technique described, not the fictitious numbers I used in the example.

[Heybales]

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@Owiella wrote:

I typically do 100 steps per minute for a 20 minute mile (walking), so that's 2,000 steps a mile on the treadmill.  The fitbit, however, tells me it takes about 3,500 steps for a walking mile, so I know it is way off the mark.  When I checked the what the stride length was set at on the app, it was far below what it should have been.  Considering there are 63,360 inches in a mile, divided by 2,000, that gives me a stride length of 31.68—much longer than the 23.8 that the fitbit assumed.  My advice is to walk/run a mile, count your steps along the way, then divide 63,360 by the number of steps to get your stride length.

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Just make sure that the stat you use for walking (doesn't matter for running) is your daily average walking pace - not grocery store shuffle, not exercise level pace.

Since your daily steps and therefore calorie burn are based on Fitbit figuring out the actual stride length for each step (starting with the static stride length figure) - if it's starting at a fast exercise pace, it may not adjust down accurately to your 88% of the time daily pace.

So while you could get your distance dead on correct for that 1 hr of exercise pace walking - you are inflated for distance and calories by a small to great amount for the walking for all the other hours of the day moving.

16 hrs daily awake perhaps, maybe 8 hrs moving total, 1 hr walking / 8 hrs moving = 12% of time correct distance, 88% wrong.

[Owiella]

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@Heybales wrote:

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@Owiella wrote:

I typically do 100 steps per minute for a 20 minute mile (walking), so that's 2,000 steps a mile on the treadmill.  The fitbit, however, tells me it takes about 3,500 steps for a walking mile, so I know it is way off the mark.  When I checked the what the stride length was set at on the app, it was far below what it should have been.  Considering there are 63,360 inches in a mile, divided by 2,000, that gives me a stride length of 31.68—much longer than the 23.8 that the fitbit assumed.  My advice is to walk/run a mile, count your steps along the way, then divide 63,360 by the number of steps to get your stride length.

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Just make sure that the stat you use for walking (doesn't matter for running) is your daily average walking pace - not grocery store shuffle, not exercise level pace.

Since your daily steps and therefore calorie burn are based on Fitbit figuring out the actual stride length for each step (starting with the static stride length figure) - if it's starting at a fast exercise pace, it may not adjust down accurately to your 88% of the time daily pace.

So while you could get your distance dead on correct for that 1 hr of exercise pace walking - you are inflated for distance and calories by a small to great amount for the walking for all the other hours of the day moving.

16 hrs daily awake perhaps, maybe 8 hrs moving total, 1 hr walking / 8 hrs moving = 12% of time correct distance, 88% wrong.

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3 miles per hour is my "average" rate, even in grocery stores.  On the treadmill, or in exercise mode as you put it, it's 15 minute miles.  Jogging is just over 10 minute miles.  My confusion at the very beginning of life on a fitbit was the technical definition of what a "stride" is.  Is it the length between 1 step (distance from left heel down to right heel down) or 2 steps (left heel to left heel)?

[USAF-Larry]

@Owiella- The Merriam-Webster definition of a step is:

(1) :  an advance or movement made by raising the foot and bringing it down elsewhere
(2) :  a combination of foot or foot and body movements constituting a unit or a repeated pattern <a dance step>
(3) :  manner of walking :  stride

So, if you pick up your right foot, move it forward, and put it down, you have taken a step. If you then pick up your left foot, move it forward, and put it down, you have taken another step.

[Heybales]

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@Owiella wrote:

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  My confusion at the very beginning of life on a fitbit was the technical definition of what a "stride" is.  Is it the length between 1 step (distance from left heel down to right heel down) or 2 steps (left heel to left heel)?

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Stride - one step to another step, as defined above for a step.

That's why Fitbit (and others) are attempting to measure impact to represent a step, harder the impact, farther the stride of the step was.

Whether worn on waist or wrist.

And why usually bogus steps from hand motion are minor distance and calorie burn, usually balanced out by other parts of daily activity not moving but burning more calories than getting credit for.

[Owiella]

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@USAF-Larry wrote:

@Owiella- The Merriam-Webster definition of a step is:

(1) :  an advance or movement made by raising the foot and bringing it down elsewhere
(2) :  a combination of foot or foot and body movements constituting a unit or a repeated pattern <a dance step>
(3) :  manner of walking :  stride

So, if you pick up your right foot, move it forward, and put it down, you have taken a step. If you then pick up your left foot, move it forward, and put it down, you have taken another step.

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Hi Larry, thanks for that indepth definition of what a "step" is.  My question, however, is about what a "stride" is—1 or 2 steps.

[USAF-Larry]

As stated in earlier posts, @Owiella, for Fitbit profile purposes, count the number of steps (the number of times your feet, not foot, hit the ground) over a measured distance. Divide that number of steps into the measured distance, and that is your stride length.  This must be done for both walking and running, and I went to the extent of walking known distances five different times over different type of terrain, and then averaged them to get my "average" stride length.

Quite simply, if you take 2200 steps over a one mile distance, the stride length is 5280/2200 = 2.4' = 2'5".   Or, if you take 2000 steps over one mile, your stride length is 5280/2000 = 2.64' = 2'8".

[SuzieQueue]

I'm 5'7", mid 50's, and just measured my stride length. 

Over 1/4 mile, my walking stride is 31.8".

My running stride over 4 200-meter tests averaged 40.5". 

Hope that helps you!

[Zaankali]

Thank you! If it didn't help anyone else it sure helped me. Ha. I'm 5'9" and know Fitbit had too short of a stride length for me. I'm going with yours and see if my pace is closer to my normal pace while using MapMyRun with gps. I don't have gps on my Fitbit. 

[GershonSurge]

@Zaankali,

Be careful about using another person's stride length for yourself as it may be greatly different. I suggest running your normal route at your normal speed  and seeing how many steps it takes on the Fitbit. 

Stride length = miles x 5280/steps. 

Convert the answer to inches.

If you aren't actually running, that is, if both feet aren't off the ground at the same time while running, then your stride length may only be a couple inches longer than your walking stride length.

One of the common errors runners make is consciously increasing their stride length by reaching with each step. If their foot lands ahead of their nose (forward of their center of gravity) it not only slows them down with each step, but it can quickly lead to a knee injury.

One easy exercise to help increase your stride length is to lean on a counter and gently stretch each leg back with the foot at a time. You only need to do about eight a day. This helps your subconscious find your glutes and enable you to lengthen your stride to the back. It will also tighten the muscles at the bottom of the butt.

5'9 is a perfect height for running, so don't feel you are at a disadvantage. Eventually, you will increase the steps per minute and make up for shorter legs.