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A sense of building tension. I can see the frosty air emanating from my fellow runners as they execute the "about to run" shuffle on the starting line.

A rapid twitch of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local Saturday morning race and I mean business. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I need to adjust my device. As does the runner beside me.

The person waiting expresses impatience. I won't start until… yes! GPS ready, and I'm running.

Amidst the crowd, it's hard to find a arm without a wearable on it. And this isn't only us runners who wear them.

We're witnessing a booming, multi-billion pound market. Brands like Samsung Galaxy are prevalent, all offering an broad selection of diverse models to fit a spectrum of lifestyles. According to how high tech the device you select, prices can start from an affordable sum to thousands of pounds.

"I find it infuriating, it's impossible to switch off."

"It provides solace… It's like a supporter encouraging me."

"Stop telling me I've experienced a poor sleep."

A handful of the comments I've had from other tracker enthusiasts when I question what they feel about theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My feelings on mine? Currently, annoying. It's reporting my speed is wrong, causing me to question whether the overhead branches I'm passing under are interfering with my satellite signal.

Countless individuals of us fasten these little devices onto our arms and wear them all day and night, ostensibly unconcerned with the fact they're constantly tracking us.

Gone are the days when we used them solely to give us an estimation of our daily steps. Today, they can analyse our nightly rest, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), our VO2 max.

It's difficult to find a health indicator they aren't designed to measure.

But can they do what they say they do? And are the data points we analyse a accurate representation of the truth? Do they improve our overall health, or do the multitude of readings and cheerleading alerts just add to our sense of overwhelm?

A Love-Hate Relationship

"I do get a a little fixated with mine," an individual confesses.

While she appreciates how her device tracks her exercise, she finds some of its other capabilities "daunting" at times - a feeling initially realised during a significant period.

Until she found out she could change its configuration, her smartwatch kept telling her she was being insufficiently active enough. Later on, the watch keeps telling her she's had a restless night.

"I have a young baby, it's unnecessary for me to be informed I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware only too well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, perhaps, but I'm in this love-hate relationship with it," she says. "I love it for its fitness insights, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is maybe excessive for me."

Inside the Device

Every device of smartwatch has its own proprietary way of tracking your bodily functions and analysing your data, but the most use optical sensors on the back of the watch.

They usually shine small, green LED lights onto your wrist which can observe blood flow, recording your heartbeat. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to assess your nervous system activity.

A Fine Balance

One expert says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could actually prevent illness, "identifying issues before we show symptoms", it could also turn us the tracked into the "worried well".

He points out that some of the latest wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which continuously monitor how healthy the heart is. They can notify if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, 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 early warning they might be more susceptible 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 find it hard to fully comprehend their data.

"I have some doubts that the ability to monitor so much data is such a beneficial thing," he says.

A health researcher focusing on patient behaviour echoes this sentiment. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a cohort of individuals with health issues suggested a noticeable percentage of those who were given devices to monitor their cardiac function experienced heightened worry and were "more inclined to use medical services".

She identified a pattern with her patients - they saw a alarming metric on their watch. They became worried. Their pulse increased. They got even more concerned. They looked a second time, and their anxiety went up again.

"When people are presented with numbers about ourselves that we lack context for then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We look, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."