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An atmosphere of feeling of anticipation. I can see the cold breath emanating from my competitors as they execute the "about to run" shuffle on the start line.

A rapid flick of the hips.

I'm lined up for my local weekly parkrun event and I'm serious. The countdown begins...

Hold on. I have to start my device. As does the person next to me.

The person waiting sighs. I refuse to go until… done! GPS ready, I'm off.

During the scramble, it's difficult to spot a arm without a fitness tracker on it. And this isn't only us runners who use them.

We're witnessing a booming, multi-billion dollar sector. Names like Garmin dominate, featuring an extensive array of various devices to fit a variety of budgets. Based on how high tech the model you go for, price tags can range from an affordable sum to a small fortune.

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

"It comforts me… It feels like a friend guiding me."

"I wish it wouldn't say about a poor sleep."

A handful of the responses I've received from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I inquire what they think of theirs.

A Sea of Statistics

My thoughts on mine? At this moment, irritating. It's telling me I'm off pace, causing me to question whether the foliage along my route are blocking my satellite signal.

A vast number of us fasten these compact devices onto our wrists and use them all day and night, ostensibly unconcerned with the fact they're perpetually monitoring us.

Gone are the days when we relied on them solely to give us an rough count of our step count. Now, they can track our sleep patterns, stress levels, glucose levels, our recovery score.

It's difficult to find a bodily function they don't track.

But are they able to do what they advertise? And are the statistics we scrutinise a true reflection of our actual health? Do they enhance our daily wellness, or do the plethora of metrics and motivational messages just contribute to our everyday anxiety?

Addiction or Aid?

"I become a bit obsessed with mine," an individual admits.

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

Prior to discovering she could adjust the settings, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was being insufficiently active enough. Later on, the watch frequently reports her she's had a poor sleep score.

"I've got a young baby, it's unnecessary for me to be informed my sleep was poor," she says. "I'm acutely aware all too clearly."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, theoretically, but I'm in this push-pull dynamic with it," she continues. "I appreciate it for its exercise data, I sometimes question whether all the other things it can now do is maybe overkill for me."

The Technology Behind the Tracking

Different brands of smartwatch has its own proprietary way of monitoring your bodily functions and processing your data, but the majority use sensors on the reverse of the watch.

They usually project minute LED lights onto your skin which can monitor blood flow, identifying your pulse rate. Higher-end devices detect changes in the electrical current that runs through the skin to get an idea of your recovery state.

A Fine Balance

A data scientist says that in general for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the ever-evolving tech could realistically aid early diagnosis, "spotting abnormalities before we feel unwell", it could also turn us the tracked into the "worried well".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can perform tests like medical-grade monitoring, which constantly monitor how normal the heart is. They can alert if someone is experiencing a heart arrhythmia, where there is erratic signals in the heart causing an arrhythmia.

This does not mean someone is about to have a heart attack, but it can give an early warning they might be more susceptible of a heart problem in the years to come.

But how to make sense of these numbers is complex. The expert concerns that as more functions are introduced, people may struggle to fully comprehend their data.

"I have some doubts that being able to monitor so many metrics is such a positive development," he says.

A health researcher studying wearable tech agrees. Her work into the effect of wearable tech on a specific group of cardiovascular patients suggested a minority of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced increased anxiety and were "far more likely to use doctor's time".

She observed a vicious circle with her patients - they saw a alarming metric on their watch. They became worried. Their pulse increased. They got more worried. They re-examined the data, and their heart rate went up again.

"When people are presented with stats about ourselves that we don't really understand then, of course, we are going to seek clarification," the psychologist says. "We check, we obsess - it becomes a vicious cycle."