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A sense of nervous excitement. I can see the cold breath exhaled by my fellow runners as they perform the "about to run" shuffle on the beginning point.

A quick flick of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local weekly parkrun event and I mean business. Three, two, one...

Oh, hang on. I have to start my tracker. As does the runner beside me.

The person behind us expresses impatience. I'm not moving until… done! Signal acquired, I'm off.

During the scramble, it's challenging to spot a wrist without a wearable on it. And this extends beyond us athletes who wear them.

This is a thriving, massive industry. Brands like Apple Watch lead the market, each with an extensive range of diverse versions to suit a variety of needs. Based on how advanced the model you go for, prices can vary between an affordable sum to a significant investment.

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

"It reassures me… It feels like a supporter encouraging me."

"I wish it wouldn't say about a bad night's sleep."

Just some of the reactions people have shared from like-minded device users when I ask what they think of theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My current opinion on my own device? Right now, annoying. It's indicating I'm off pace, making me wonder whether the trees I'm passing under are interfering with my GPS connection.

Millions of us strap these small devices onto our arms and keep them on all day and night, seemingly unconcerned with the fact they're constantly monitoring us.

A distant memory are the days when we used them solely to give us an estimation of our step count. Today, they can analyse our sleep patterns, stress levels, heart rate variability (HRV), our body battery.

It's a challenge to find a bodily function they aren't designed to measure.

But are they able to do what they advertise? And are the statistics we scrutinise a true reflection of the truth? Do they enhance our mental and physical wellbeing, or do the multitude of metrics and constant notifications just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a a little preoccupied with mine," an individual confesses.

While she appreciates how her device records her runs, she finds some of its other capabilities "daunting" at times - a feeling first discovered during a pregnancy.

Before she realised she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was not being productive enough. In a new phase, the watch keeps telling her she's had a bad night's sleep.

"I've got a infant, I don't need to be told I've not slept," she says. "That fact is only too well."

Is it not possible to just remove it?

"I could, perhaps, but I've got this complicated dynamic with it," she says. "I love it for its fitness insights, I just wonder whether the additional features it can now do is maybe overkill for me."

How Do They Work?

Each model of smartwatch has its own unique way of measuring your vitals and processing your data, but the most use detectors on the back of the watch.

They typically emit minute LED lights onto your arm which can monitor capillary action, recording your BPM. More advanced devices detect changes in the bioimpedance that flows through the skin to assess your nervous system activity.

A Fine Balance

A professor says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the rapidly advancing tech could actually aid early diagnosis, "spotting abnormalities before we show symptoms", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that newer wearables can perform tests like medical-grade monitoring, which regularly monitor how healthy the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is irregular signals in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is imminently going to suffer a cardiac event, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a blood clot in the long term.

But how to interpret these readings is complex. The expert concerns that as additional features are added, people may not be able to fully comprehend their data.

"I remain sceptical that having the capacity to monitor so many things is such a good idea," he says.

A clinical psychologist studying patient behaviour agrees. A study into the influence 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 heart health experienced heightened worry and were "had a higher tendency to use medical services".

She noted a pattern with her patients - they spotted a alarming metric on their watch. They felt anxious. Their pulse increased. They got even more concerned. They checked again, and their reading went up again.

"If we see stats about ourselves that we don't really understand then, naturally, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We check, we re-check - it becomes a feedback loop."