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There's a building tension. Apparent is the frosty air emanating from my competitors as they perform the "pre-race" shuffle on the start line.

A rapid twitch of the hips.

I'm at my local weekly parkrun event and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Wait a second. I need to start my device. The same goes for the runner alongside me.

The person waiting tuts. I won't start until… done! GPS ready, I'm off.

Amidst the crowd, it's difficult to find a wrist without a wearable on it. And it's not just us athletes who wear them.

It's a thriving, massive market. Companies like Garmin lead the market, each with an wide selection of diverse versions to suit a variety of needs. According to how advanced the model you choose, prices can start from a hundred pounds to thousands of pounds.

"It drives me insane, I can't switch off."

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

"Please don't notify me I've experienced a poor sleep."

A small sample of the responses I've received from other device users when I inquire what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Right now, annoying. It's indicating I'm off pace, causing me to question whether the foliage I'm running below are blocking my GPS connection.

A vast number of us attach these compact devices onto our arms and use them all day and night, ostensibly unconcerned with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

A distant memory are the days when we depended on them only to give us an estimation of our step count. Today, they can track our nightly rest, blood pressure, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's difficult to find a physical metric they aren't designed to measure.

But can they do what they claim to do? And are the numbers we analyse a true reflection of the truth? Do they enhance our overall health, or do the multitude of metrics and cheerleading alerts just add to our sense of overwhelm?

Addiction or Aid?

"I become a quite preoccupied with mine," an individual confesses.

While she appreciates how her device records her exercise, she finds some of its other capabilities "daunting" at times - a feeling that became apparent during a significant period.

Prior to discovering she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was being insufficiently productive enough. Now, the watch insists her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I've got a young baby, there's no point to be informed my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware only too well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I could, perhaps, but I've got this complicated dynamic with it," she explains. "I appreciate it for its fitness insights, but I'm unsure whether all the other things it can now do is possibly excessive for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Each model of smartwatch has its own proprietary way of tracking your vitals and interpreting your data, but the most use optical sensors on the back of the watch.

They usually emit tiny, coloured LED lights onto your skin which can detect blood flow, detecting your pulse rate. Sophisticated devices analyse changes in the bioimpedance that flows through the skin to gauge your nervous system activity.

Expert Perspectives

A professor says that for most people for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually save lives, "spotting abnormalities before we feel unwell", it could also turn us watch wearers into the "worried well".

He points out that newer wearables can conduct tests like electrocardiograms (ECGs), which regularly monitor how healthy the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing an irregular rhythm, where there is irregular electrical activity in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not necessarily indicate someone is about to have a cardiac event, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a stroke in the years to come.

But how to understand these figures is complicated. The expert concerns that as further capabilities are added, people may not be able to fully understand their data.

"I remain sceptical that the ability to monitor so many things is such a positive development," he says.

A health researcher focusing on patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. A study into the impact of wearable tech on a set of heart condition patients suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their condition experienced heightened worry and were "far more likely to use healthcare resources".

She noted a vicious circle with her patients - they saw a concerning reading on their watch. They felt anxious. Their heart rate went up. They got more worried. They looked a second time, and their anxiety rose further.

"When people are presented with stats about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."