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An atmosphere of building tension. Apparent is the frosty air emanating from my competitors as they execute the "pre-race" wiggle on the starting line.

A quick flick of the hips.

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

Hold on. I must sort my tracker. So does the guy next to me.

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

Amidst the crowd, it's challenging to find a wrist without a wearable on it. And this isn't only us athletes who rely on them.

We're witnessing a explosive, multi-billion pound market. Companies like Garmin are prevalent, each with an broad selection of various models to suit a spectrum of needs. Based on how feature-packed the watch you select, prices can start from a hundred pounds to a small fortune.

"It makes me crazy, I can't relax."

"It comforts me… It's like a friend supporting me."

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

Just some of the reactions I've received from like-minded tracker enthusiasts when I question what they their opinion is on theirs.

The Data Dilemma

My current opinion on mine? Currently, frustrating. It's indicating I'm not hitting my target, making me wonder whether the overhead branches along my route are blocking my satellite signal.

Millions of us fasten these compact devices onto our wrists and keep them on constantly, seemingly unconcerned with the fact they're perpetually monitoring us.

Long past are the days when we depended on them exclusively to give us an estimation of our daily steps. Now, they can measure our sleep patterns, stress levels, glucose levels, our body battery.

It's a challenge to find a physical metric they fail to monitor.

But do they do what they say they do? And are the statistics we analyse a faithful picture of the truth? Do they boost our daily wellness, or do the avalanche of measurements and constant notifications just add to our everyday anxiety?

Addiction or Aid?

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

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

Before she realised she could change its configuration, her smartwatch repeatedly informed her she was failing to be active enough. Now, the watch keeps telling her she's had a restless night.

"I've got a six-month old, there's no point to be informed I'm tired," she says. "I'm acutely aware perfectly well."

Why doesn't she just take it off?

"I suppose I could, perhaps, but I've got this love-hate relationship with it," she says. "I love it for its exercise data, I sometimes question whether the myriad other functions it can now do is perhaps too much for me."

How Do They Work?

Different brands of smartwatch has its own unique way of monitoring your health metrics and interpreting your data, but the vast bulk use detectors on the reverse of the watch.

They typically project small, green LED lights onto your arm which can monitor blood flow, identifying your heartbeat. Sophisticated devices analyse changes in the skin conductance that passes over the skin to get an idea of your recovery state.

A Fine Balance

One expert says that overall for smartwatches, it's a "difficult line" - while the rapidly advancing tech could potentially prevent illness, "identifying issues before we notice anything", it could also turn us device users into the "concerned but fine".

He points out that the most advanced wearables can carry out tests like medical-grade monitoring, which regularly monitor how normal the heart is. They can flag if someone is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF), where there is abnormal signals in the heart causing an irregular heartbeat.

This does not mean someone is imminently going to suffer a heart attack, but it can give an advance notice they might be more at risk of a stroke in the future.

But how to understand these numbers is not straightforward. The expert fears that as additional features are introduced, people may find it hard to fully contextualise their data.

"I'm not entirely convinced that the ability to monitor so many things is such a positive development," he says.

A clinical psychologist studying patient behaviour concurs. Research into the impact of wearable tech on a specific group of heart condition patients suggested a significant portion of those who were given devices to monitor their heart health experienced increased anxiety and were "more inclined to use doctor's time".

She observed a vicious circle with her patients - they spotted a worrying figure on their watch. They grew concerned. Their heart rate went up. They got increasingly anxious. They re-examined the data, and their heart rate went up again.

"If we see data about ourselves that we can't properly interpret then, of course, we are going to become concerned," the psychologist says. "We look, we check again - it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."