Treadmill distance differs from surge

alida1walsh

I hopped on the treadmill at the gym yesterday and started my treadmill run on my Fitbit surge at the same time. I stopped when the treadmill showed 3.5 km but my Fitbit only showed 2.6 km. Any advice regarding the discrepancy would be useful.

I usually do a free run so have never had a distance comparison before. I'm going to do the treadmill once a week now while kids are in swimming lessons. Should I try another treadmill in case the one I was using wasn't accurate? Might my Fitbit surge not be accurate?

glassyo

Did you set your stride in fitbit?

NancyN795

You probably need to adjust your stride length. Fitbit uses a standard formula for stride length based on height and sex. However, it can be off by quite a bit, as it is based on averages. I would recommend that you read the FAQ found in the stickies for the group. Here's a link:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1

It has instructions on setting stride length using a treadmill. It will never be completely accurate, and with the Surge's heart rate sensor getting it really close is less important that with a Fitbit that doesn't have a heart rate sensor, it's still nice to have set it as accurately as possible.

alida1walsh

Thanks for the advice! I'll try adjusting the stride on my next treadmill run.