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An atmosphere of nervous excitement. Apparent is the cold breath coming from my rivals as they perform the "pre-race" shuffle on the start line.

A swift movement of the hips.

I'm at my local Saturday morning race and I mean business. The countdown begins...

Oh, hang on. I have to start my device. The same goes for the guy next to me.

The person behind us tuts. I won't start until… there! Connection established, away I go.

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to see a wrist without a smartwatch on it. And it's not just us participants who use them.

This is a thriving, multi-billion dollar industry. Names like Samsung Galaxy dominate, each with an extensive array of diverse versions to cater to a range of needs. According to how high tech the model you choose, costs can range from a hundred pounds to a significant investment.

"It makes me crazy, I'm unable to stop checking."

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

"Stop telling me I've had a bad night's sleep."

A handful of the reactions I've received from like-minded device users when I question what they feel about theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Right now, irritating. It's reporting I'm off pace, causing me to question whether the foliage I'm running below are interfering with my location tracking.

Countless individuals of us attach these little gadgets onto our arms and keep them on 24/7, ostensibly at ease with the fact they're continuously tracking us.

Gone are the days when we relied on them only to give us an rough count of our daily steps. Currently, they can track our sleep quality, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, our body battery.

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

But can they do what they advertise? And are the data points we scrutinise a faithful picture of reality? Do they enhance our daily wellness, or do the plethora of metrics and constant notifications just add to our everyday anxiety?

A Complicated Bond

"I find myself getting a bit fixated with mine," an individual admits.

While she values how her device tracks her workouts, she finds some of its other functions "overwhelming" at times - a feeling first discovered during a significant period.

Until she found out she could put it into a specific mode, her smartwatch constantly alerted her she was being insufficiently productive enough. Later on, the watch frequently reports her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I have a infant, there's no point to be notified I'm tired," she says. "I know that all too clearly."

Couldn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, theoretically, but I have this push-pull dynamic with it," she says. "I love it for its workout tracking, I just wonder whether the myriad other functions it can now do is possibly excessive for me."

Inside the Device

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

They commonly project minute LED lights onto your arm which can detect blood flow, identifying your pulse rate. Sophisticated devices measure changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to assess your nervous system activity.

A Fine Balance

A professor says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "delicate equilibrium" - while the ever-evolving tech could realistically prevent illness, "identifying issues before we feel unwell", it could also turn us device users into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that newer wearables can conduct tests like heart rhythm analysis, which continuously monitor how stable the heart is. They can flag 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 about to have a heart attack, but it can give an early warning they might be more at risk of a heart problem in the future.

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

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

A clinical psychologist focusing on cardiology agrees. Research into the influence of wearable tech on a specific group of heart condition patients suggested a minority 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 cycle with her patients - they spotted a worrying figure on their watch. They grew concerned. Their pulse rose. They got increasingly anxious. They checked again, and their anxiety increased again.

"If we see numbers about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, understandably, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We monitor, we re-check - it becomes a vicious cycle."