steps in a mile vs feet per mile

[karen1960]

I'm curious after all these years with my Fitbit, it still baffles me how the steps are logged.  My schooling tells me there are 5,280 feet in a mile.  It seems that I'm probably getting AT LEAST a foot maybe a little more with each step.  So, how is it that I've just walked close to a mile but only 600ish steps were logged?  I "get" that this is the only calculation I'm going to get, but it just occurred to me that shouldn't that be more steps than 600??  Just wondering...

[GershonSurge]

@karen1960,

Were you pushing a shopping cart or a stroller?

[karen1960]

No, I wasn't.  I've redone my math and it was closer to 1800 steps so a little better but not the 3 or 4 thousand I would expect.  It may have always been this way and I'm just now actually paying attention!  🙂  When I do 45 minutes on the treadmill, I get in 2+ miles and a lot of times I don't make it quite to 10K.  It just baffles me!  It's definitely a case of "it is what it is" but just wondering if others are seeing this as well..

[GershonSurge]

@karen1960,

1800 steps per mile is a little low, but may be right with your stride length.

I don't understand your 10k remark. You shouldn't be getting 10,000 steps in two miles. More like five miles. Maybe there is a typo.

[karen1960]

Well, the 10k steps are related to my original question of if there are 5,280 feet in a mile, why isn't a 2-mile walk even close to 10k?  But, maybe that's the answer...my stride is a LOT more than a foot...more like 2-3 ft.  I guess I need to go and redo my stride or at least check it.  It's been so long since I originally signed on with Fitbit, I honestly do not remember what the setting was!

[GershonSurge · Accepted solution]

@karen1960, 

Most people have about a 2.5 foot stride for walking.

[JohnnyRow]

Fitbit set your stride automatically when set up, based on your stats such as height. If you do a GPS-enabled walk, fitbit recalculates stride based on number of steps and distance covered.