Help with step counting

[cjrmyc]

So I recently began walking again, and I habitually do about six miles in the morning. I have measured myself to have a 30" stride, and would normally get about 10.5-11k on my Fitbit Flex.

After weeks of being disappointed in the count between the Flex and both MapMyWalk and the iPhone Helath count, I purchased a Fitbit Surge to check it out.

This morning, I walked (with its GPS tracker) 6.25 miles. Great ! This compares with the 6.40 that MapMyWalk showed. However, I registered only 9499 steps for the walk, compared to about 12.5k that MMW shows.

Please, can someone help me to learn how to get accurate measures of my steps ? 6.25 miles at 9499 steps (I'm only 5'8") means I'd have more than a three foot stride....

Thank you !

[MarreFitbit]

It's nice to see you around the Community @cjrmyc ! 

Fitbit trackers have a finely tuned algorithm for step counting. The algorithm is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running.  When working at a desk, cooking, or doing other arm movements, the tracker can pick up some extra steps if it thinks you are walking. Many of these situations—such as working or cooking—do include a few steps in-between stationary periods so the tracker tries to give you credit for those steps. For the vast majority of customers, the amount of stray steps accumulated is negligible when compared to the entire day.

For wrist-based trackers, its important to specify whether you wear the tracker on your dominant or non-dominant wrist:

• The dominant wrist setting decreases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any over counting of steps when your body is not moving.
• The non-dominant wrist setting increases the sensitivity of step counting and should reduce any under counting of steps. Non-dominant is the default.

To change your settings, in the Fitbit app go to Account tab and choose your tracker at the top of the screen.

If you feel that your step count and distance are inaccurate, first make sure the wrist placement settings are correct. You may also want to manually adjust the stride length that we calculated automatically based on your height and gender. For more information, see How do I measure and adjust my stride length?

If after taking these factors into account you still think your tracker is significantly undercounting or overcounting steps, please try a step test:

1. Put your wrist-based tracker on your wrist or put your clip-on tracker on your hip or torso.
2. Walk 100 steps, making sure to count a step each time one of your feet hits the ground.
3. Pause, then check your tracker to see your step count.

Fitbit Surge has two ways to track specific exercises. You can tell your tracker when an exercise starts and stops in order to see real-time stats and a workout summary on your wrist. This method, known as exercise mode, also provides GPS. You can also let your Surge automatically detect exercise with the SmartTrack feature. For more information, see How do I track my exercise and activities with Fitbit?

Hope this helps my friend!