The early sages taught that one must change his weekday habits for the Sabbath, from the verse “And call the Sabbath a delight…and shall honor it, not doing your own ways” (Isaiah 58:13).
Thus, from the words honor it they taught that a person must honor the Sabbath with fancier clothes than those worn during the week, or, as they put it, “let not your Sabbath garments be as your weekday garments.” Similarly, from the words not doing your own ways they taught that one’s weekday habits should not be one’s Sabbath habits. The scholars asked: In what manner can we express a difference from our weekday manner of walking? One sage answered: If a person is walking on the Sabbath, to the synagogue, for example, and his path is crossed by a ditch, how should he cross this ditch? On a weekday he would simply jump over the ditch, but on the Sabbath he is forbidden to jump. Thus he makes a change in his style of walking on the Sabbath as compared to on a weekday. But if the width of the ditch is small enough that a person could set a foot on either side of it, he may jump over the ditch, even on the Sabbath. One of the sages, Rava, asked what should be done if the ditch is wide. If he went around the ditch it would add to the amount he has to walk, which is not appropriate on the Sabbath. He cannot cross through the ditch, for his clothing would absorb water and he might come to wring them out on the Sabbath, which is forbidden. Rava said that it is preferable to leap the ditch, even if it is wide, even on the Sabbath. So how does a difference in the manner of walking find expression between the Sabbath and weekdays? The scholars answered: A person should not walk with strides covering more than half a meter. In the words of the sages: “one should not take broad steps on the Sabbath.” The sages added that people should also not take large stride on weekdays, for this manner of walking causes loss of vision. The Sabbath kiddush returns the light to eyes which have suffered diminishment as a result of large strides.
(Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Sabbath 113b)