BBC CrowdScience: Is my smartwatch good for my health?

[Cmoi]

Programme (28 minutes) here: bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5rjd

Plus some very interesting research papers in the related links.

[Tessie66 Half Marathon]

I've always wondered how accurate they actually are

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

Interesting. I have never thought that my watch was 100% accurate. It gives me a “near enough” measure of the length of my runs and the same with run times. It a basis for measuring progress, or lack of it. So that is all I really need from my watch, although it is reassuring that the heart rate measure is pretty accurate; the average does decrease on like for like runs as my fitness improves. I have had to record step counts for a year for the purposes of my pre-diabetes course, but otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered. VO2 max…it currently says 44 “Superior” so that is clearly way off! Off to walk Molly to get some steps in … for her!🙂

[Sax64 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Just listened to the podcast, and they seem to suggest that VO2 max may not be that far off if you've been a watch wearer for a long time, as they have a lot of data going back in time.

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon in reply to Sax64]

I have had Garmin watches for over 6 years, so there will be plenty of data. My score has been stuck on 44 since August, despite injury during that time, so a description of “Superior” doesn’t sit very well with me. “Ok” would do just fine 🙂

[lincolnoldie]

If anyone is interested the BBC sounds Sliced Bread podcast also did an episode on smart watches and how accurate they were by comparing different watches. Https://bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001w...

[RiceAndPeas Marathon]

Great spot, thanks for sharing that link. I stopped paying attention to sleep score, body battery and especially HRV a while ago. Mostly because it stressed me!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

Thanks for this Cmoi . I have a few friends who are almost obsessed about what their watches tell them, and then they worry about some of the stats 💆

I’d hate to have that much data nagging me especially when I already have a very accurate control system already built in. Me!