Sunday, November 2, 2014

Stride Length vs Step Length - Stop the Confusion

Stride Length

I think the term "Stride Length" should not be used.  It appears to have morphed from being one's "gait length" now into one's "step length", which leads to confusion.  Poor Pedometer documentation (made in foreign countries?) I think is to blame.

Having been a boy scout and earned my Orienteering merit badge long ago, we all had to calculate out our "stride length" ("pace count", "gait length") and "step length" ("step count").  This is what I have always known these terms to mean.

Google dictionary definitions of "stride length", and they all tend to say:
"stride length: The distance between 2 successive placements of the same foot, consisting of 2 step lengths"
But then you look at calculating your stride length for a pedometer and all of a sudden "stride length" is now calculated the same as "step length".

Even fitbit appears to perpetuate this in their FAQ: How do I measure and adjust my stride length.

This is why I think the term "stride length" should no longer be used.  Thoughts?



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

All this is the way pirate treasure maps keep th'ar secrets matey!

run 3 said...

The length of the stride speaks volumes. I found your post quite interesting