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An atmosphere of nervous excitement. I can see the frosty air exhaled by my rivals as they do the "pre-race" jiggle on the starting line.

A quick flick of the hips.

I'm at my local 5km community parkrun and I'm serious. Three, two, one...

Hold on. I need to sort my device. The same goes for the guy beside me.

The person waiting expresses impatience. I'm not moving until… done! Connection established, and I'm running.

In the mele, it's hard to spot a wrist without a fitness tracker on it. And this extends beyond us athletes who rely on them.

This is a booming, multi-billion pound industry. Companies like Apple Watch lead the market, all offering an broad selection of different versions to fit a spectrum of needs. Based on how advanced the device you choose, prices can range from an affordable sum to a small fortune.

"It drives me insane, it's impossible to relax."

"It comforts me… It feels like a companion supporting me."

"Please don't notify me I've had a restless night."

A small sample of the reactions I've had from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I inquire what they think of theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Currently, frustrating. It's indicating I'm not hitting my target, causing me to question whether the foliage I'm passing under are disrupting my GPS connection.

A vast number of us fasten these little devices onto our wrists and keep them on 24/7, ostensibly comfortable with the fact they're constantly monitoring us.

A distant memory are the days when we depended on them solely to give us an rough count of our daily steps. Today, they can track our sleep patterns, stress levels, oxygen saturation, our VO2 max.

It's a challenge to find a physical metric they fail to monitor.

But do they do what they advertise? And are the data points we obsess over a faithful picture of reality? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the plethora of measurements and constant notifications just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

Addiction or Aid?

"I do get a bit preoccupied with mine," one user confesses.

While she appreciates how her device monitors her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "excessive" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a significant period.

Before she realised she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch kept telling her she was failing to be productive enough. In a new phase, the watch frequently reports her she's had a restless night.

"I've got a six-month old, there's no point to be informed I've not slept," she says. "I'm acutely aware perfectly well."

Is it not possible to just stop wearing it?

"I suppose I could, perhaps, but I have this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I value it for its exercise data, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is maybe too much for me."

Inside the Device

Each model of smartwatch has its own novel way of measuring your health metrics and analysing your data, but the most use sensors on the underside of the watch.

They commonly emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your wrist which can monitor pulsation, detecting your pulse rate. Sophisticated devices detect changes in the electrical current that passes over the skin to gauge your nervous system activity.

Expert Perspectives

One expert says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could potentially prevent illness, "spotting abnormalities before we notice anything", it could also turn us device users into the "worried well".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which constantly monitor how healthy the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is abnormal signals in the heart causing an uneven pulse.

This does not automatically signal someone is on the verge of a heart attack, but it can give an preliminary indication they might be more vulnerable of a blood clot in the years to come.

But how to interpret these readings is complicated. The expert worries that as more functions are added, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that having the capacity to monitor so many things is such a positive development," he says.

A health researcher focusing on wearable tech agrees. A study into the influence of wearable tech on a specific group of cardiovascular patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced heightened worry and were "had a higher tendency to use healthcare resources".

She identified a pattern with her patients - they noticed a alarming metric on their watch. They grew concerned. Their pulse increased. They got more worried. They re-examined the data, and their reading went up again.

"When people are presented with stats about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."