Just glance at your Fitbit and you’ll immediately see how many steps it’s logged. But have you ever wondered how Fitbit calculates the number of steps you need to walk to reach a mile? We’ll break it down below, and explain how to calibrate your Fitbit to track your distance more accurately.

Your stride length is the distance you walk from heel to heel, and this distance depends on your height. The taller you are, the longer your stride length, and the shorter you are, the shorter your stride length.

To get an idea of your average stride length, multiply 0.413 by your height in inches. For example, a person who is six feet tall (72 inches) has an average stride length of almost 30 inches (72 x 0.413). A person who is five feet tall (60 inches) has an average stride length of about 25 inches (60 x 0.413).

To calculate the number of steps per mile, you need to know that a mile is equal to 63,360 inches. With a little math, we can calculate that: