Stride Length Using Steps and GPS

[ColonelBadger]

Rather than attempting to calculate the users stride length via height etc, or have them manually work out stride length why not have the app use the GPS to work out distance and the step count from fitbit to accurately calculate stride length?

Moderator Edit: Edited title for clarity and labels.

[catmug]

This is so smart. Would love to see implemented. This is easily my least favorite part of the Force...I don't want to deal with calibrating my stride?

[jenkins1967]

Pretty sure none of the fitbit devices contain gps

[ColonelBadger]

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by jenkins1967 2m ago

OPTIONS

Pretty sure none of the fitbit devices contain gps

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Um, I know. That wasn't my suggestion.

I was suggesting using the GPS in the App i.e. the Phone GPS, and the step data from the Fitbit to calculate stride length !!!!!

[ColonelBadger]

Pretty sure none of the fitbit devices contain gps

[withak]

GPS (particularly smartphone GPS) isn't accurate enough.

[wodge]

As many users use the fitbit app on their Android phone or iphone, a good idea would be to use the phone's GPS to calibrate the walking stride length and running stride length based on the distance measured by the phones GPS.

Nike's Sportswatch does this successfully with the pedometer module and GPS in the watch however it shouldn't be too hard to do the same with the smartphone app based on steps for the activity.

[Rich_Laue]

Off you take a couple mile walk, it will be accurate enough, and over several walls can figure the average. Also how consistent ifs your stride throughout the day. I used the gps with map my wall and the trackers count for the walk event

[bendy]

So my stride estimate is out as it's only an estimate.

So when I track an exercise with the iOS app it know the distance I have traveled by using the GPS and also knows the steps I have taken via the fitbit

Could it not then do the math to work out average stride, and update the website dashboard.

Your thoughts please?

Thanks

[m0j0]

I have wondered the same thing. It would be pretty straightforward to add a GPS permission to the smart phone app, and then have the Fitbit compare its distance estimation with the GPS values.

Perhaps make this a fine-tuning feature, where you enable it only while calibrating stride length. In other words, turn it on with your Android or iPhone, and then take off for a walk or run or whatever, and after a couple of miles evaluate the distance the Fitbit thinks its traveled versus the distance measured via GPS. 

It's not as exact as getting a stopwatch out at your nearest school track, but it might be closer than just going on height.

[Sprotrait]

This is a great idea.  Today, the quality of the miles to steps relationship is based only an average stride suggested on a webpage or at best a walk on a track.  Using the GPS with every logged exercise this could be a constantly improving metric that would account for overall averages of stride that are effected by hills or terrain.  

Speed and the run option would help to differentiate between run stride and walk stride.  It could conceivably even help with bikes by measuring average distance to peddle strokes.

[SunsetRunner]

It would be awesome if Fitbit could adjust (correct) your stride by using GPS Distance over time and steps recorded.    

My thinking was that this could happen one of two ways.

1. User hits a button to calculate stride, picks walk or run and then is instructed to walk/run for a set amount of time 3 or 4 times outdoors.   Fit bit would then use GPS to calculate the distance traveled in that time and the amount of steps registered to create an average stride.   

2. Constant correction.    In this mode the users stride is constantly adjusted and should get more and more accurate over time.  It would use GPS to measure distance and speed over time then use the steps registered to calculate stride adjustments.  (the GPS speed info would help decide if the stride was a walk or a run)

Regards,

Tony

[Bluejay]

I was just going to suggest this. It would be a great idea. Many people do not have access to a track.

[RickyFitbit]

Hmm. That's a great idea. We'll look further into this! We'll update this thread once we have a firm answer. 

[mcgoo32]

How about a feature that automatically calculates your stride length for running or walking based on its measured step count? Just a little thing but took me a while to remember to check before and after to measure my own.

[jnhearne]

I think this is done by averaging your height from your account info.

[Draca]

I love this idea.

with the inclusion of the MobileRun feature in the fitbit app i can totally see this happening.

how about.. you log a walk using mobilerun. by GPS you will know the exact distance taken.

the app can then calculate the actual steps taken during this logged walk from your fitbit and calculate a very accurate stride length for the user.

technically the longer you walk the more accurate the measurment would be.

to get an even more accurate measurement you could even have a functions that takes the average value from every mobilerun gps walk taken that would give you an insanely accurate stride length.

then of course you could make it so that you can configure BOTH walking and RUNNING stride length.

[Draca]

this is a great idea.

i posted the same answer in the other "auto stride" suggestion.

with the inclusion of the MobileRun feature in the fitbit app i can totally see this happening.

how about.. you log a walk using mobilerun. by GPS you will know the exact distance taken.

the app can then calculate the actual steps taken during this logged walk from your fitbit and calculate a very accurate stride length for the user.

technically the longer you walk the more accurate the measurment would be.

to get an even more accurate measurement you could even have a functions that takes the average value from every mobilerun gps walk taken that would give you an insanely accurate stride length.

then of course you could make it so that you can configure BOTH walking and RUNNING stride length.

[JHaze]

I agree the idea is a no brainer.  Fitbit uses some number based on height, weight and other variables.  The stride length measurement instructions leave a lot to be desired. Especially since if I run 1 mile on a tread mill 5 times and every time it says .97 miles... you would think the math would be pretty easy to make the .01 or .001 adjustment that will make it 1.0 or so next time.

[Bobert001]

Apparently I read in fitbit somewhere that they now can. if you set your stride to 0 it will automatically do it. I tried it, mine is set to 0 in fitbit, and I still get millage on my dashboard. no clue if it is correct tho.

[kickinmhl]

I was going to add the same suggestion with these ideas.

If it were an option to "Auto adjust stride" for each Run and Walk strides, then you could have the setting adjust based on the average of the last, say 10 recorded runs or walks.  Then as your fitness level changes, so would your average stride length.

Thanks!!

[SunsetRunner]

I'd love for the GPS from your smartphone and app update the average running and walking stride values. Since most phones now have GPS and support a fitbit application, this would seem to be pretty straight forward and would be a great feature requiring on user intervention.  

[SunsetRunner]

iOS, Android or WindowsOS all should support this if the device has GPS.  

[SunsetRunner]

Would it be possible to set stride length using iPhone app - that have a fucntion in the app to record a 1 minute outdoor walk and 1 minute outdoor run and let the app determine stride length taking distance covered from GPS and dividing by steps counted.

[Benjiman]

it would be handy to have the stride length calculated based on speed walked/run. The gps is already capturing distance over time. If the inside leg length was added into info pane there should be enough info for a more accurate step count

[yanyani989]

I was thinking along the same line, since the app's MobileRun is already recording GPS distance, if every instance of those data can somehow be used to "self-learn" each person's stride length, and be better estimated, for different scenario (walk vs run, at what pace, the kind of terrain or whether there's climbing involved), it should make future mileage estimation more accurate.

[Peter_S]

Could use the App GPS or Surge could have this feature natively now.