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There's a feeling of anticipation. Visible is the cold breath emanating from my competitors as they execute the "about to run" jiggle on the starting line.

A rapid movement of the hips.

I'm at my local weekly parkrun event and I'm focused. It's almost time...

Oh, hang on. I must adjust my tracker. So does the person next to me.

The person in the line sighs. I won't start until… yes! GPS ready, and I'm running.

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to see a person without a smartwatch on it. And this isn't only us participants who use them.

It's a explosive, massive market. Brands like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, featuring an extensive range of various models to suit a range of needs. Based on how advanced the device you select, price tags can start from an affordable sum to a small fortune.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to stop checking."

"It reassures me… It's like a supporter encouraging me."

"I wish it wouldn't say I've had a poor sleep."

A small sample of the responses people have shared from fellow tracker enthusiasts when I inquire what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My feelings on mine? Currently, annoying. It's reporting I'm not hitting my target, making me wonder whether the trees I'm running below are interfering with my location tracking.

A vast number of us attach these small monitors onto our wrists and keep them on all day and night, seemingly comfortable with the fact they're perpetually monitoring us.

Gone are the days when we relied on them solely to give us an rough count of our pedometer reading. Now, they can measure our nightly rest, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our VO2 max.

It's tricky to find a health indicator they don't track.

But are they able to do what they advertise? And are the statistics we obsess over a true reflection of the truth? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the avalanche of metrics and constant notifications just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I find myself getting a bit obsessed with mine," an individual reveals.

While she values how her device records her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "excessive" at times - a feeling first discovered during a pregnancy.

Prior to discovering she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be energetic enough. Later on, the watch insists her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I am caring for a six-month old, there's no point to be told I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware only too well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"It's possible, perhaps, but I have this complicated dynamic with it," she continues. "I appreciate it for its workout tracking, but I'm unsure whether the additional features it can now do is possibly too much for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Each model of smartwatch has its own novel way of tracking your bodily functions and interpreting your data, but the most use sensors on the reverse of the watch.

They usually shine tiny, coloured LED lights onto your arm which can observe capillary action, recording your pulse rate. More advanced devices measure changes in the skin conductance that flows through the skin to assess your recovery state.

Expert Perspectives

A data scientist says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the rapidly advancing tech could actually prevent illness, "detecting disease before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can carry out tests like heart rhythm analysis, which continuously monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is abnormal impulses in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is about to have a heart attack, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more vulnerable of a stroke in the long term.

But how to understand these readings is not straightforward. The expert concerns that as more functions are added, people may not be able to fully understand their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that being able to monitor so much data is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A clinical psychologist studying cardiology concurs. Research into the effect of wearable tech on a specific group of individuals with health issues suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced greater stress and were "more inclined to use healthcare resources".

She noted a vicious circle with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They grew concerned. Their pulse went up. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their anxiety went up again.

"If we see data about ourselves that we don't really understand then, of course, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we re-check - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."