Anyone ditched wearable tech?

[Garmindecisions]

For the past 4 years I’ve had a garmin for all my runs and an Apple Watch for other exercise & just for all the useful features (Apple Pay, controlling Spotify etc)

Anyway I’m running fine but my pb days are probably behind me.

I stopped posting anything to strava about 2 years ago. This helped comparison being the thief of joy. Garmin connect has been useful but I’m wondering what the point is really.

I was looking on eBay and could sell both watches easy enough.

Has Anyone done this? Why am I tracking my stats? What am I doing with this info? Is it helping my mental health really??

Good for you! No all those statistics are rubbish for your mental health. Exercise because you love it not because you want to be in constant competition with yourself! Chuck it all away i say.

I got a normal bog standard watch that I loved the look of last summer, after my Garmin died on me. Best decision I’ve ever made. Every now and then after a long walk I wonder how many steps I’ve done but now I exercise for myself rather than for the ability to share it on Strava, I don’t feel bad not getting up and moving every hour, and I’m much more content with my activity level (but I’m generally pretty active anyway - I’m sure for some it’s a good motivator if they need to get a kick up the butt to move)

If I feel like tracking a run or whatever I just use the GPS on my phone in Nike Run Club for example. :)

I was given a watch by a friend who had replaced theirs with a more up to date one. It counted my steps and monitored my sleep. I got rid after about 3 months. Getting stressed that I had only 5 hours of sleep which is quite usual for me as I rarely sleep really well and that I had only done 5000 steps that day really did not do me any good at all. Am I sleeping better? No. Do I have days when I still do 5000 steps? Yes. Am I stressing about it now? No

Ooh interesting. Yes I’ve never tracked my sleep. What a horrible metric.

a friend of mine was woken by an alert about a heart rate change. It was just a glitch but really scared her (and ruined that nights sleep!)

Why am I tracking my stats?

Successful marketing?

I put my fitbit in a drawer about a month ago. I can be very stop start with fitness, but right now I'm really enjoying getting back into couch to 5k and swimming. I have usually given up couch to 5k by now because of getting disheartened by not seeing progress on my fitbit, but this time around I have stuck at it. It's been nearly three months now; I have repeated weeks a few times, so definitely taking a slow and steady approach.

I've not stuck with it for this long for a while, but my legs definitely feel stronger. I have a spring in my step and more energy. I've never noticed stuff like that before when I've been on a fitness kick; probably usually too busy obsessing over my heart rate etc!

I’ve just been googling articles about giving it up and not going back. Interesting stuff.

I think my first step is to just put it away for a few weeks and see how that feels.

maybe keep a diary of runs? Time on feet, kit worn. That could be helpful but not anxiety inducing with VO2 max/pace etc.

I think it's worth bearing in mind that a lot of these things are deliberately designed to be addictive - because they're trying to make money from you.

Keeping a traditional diary as a stepping stone to wean yourself off might not hurt. It will let you test out whether it's the data you're craving or the device.

I love the stats….but also I don’t take it too seriously. And mine are currently on the up, so it’s all feel good.
When I was recovering from radiotherapy earlier this year I just didn’t charge my watch. I did the best I could do, it was enough to know I had done that.

Exercise is surely about strengthening your body and relaxing the mind, anything that’s preventing this has to go.

Just the battery run out….

I find them too stressful I don’t wear anything

I love mine, and find it v useful to try to close all my rings each day but don’t worry if I don’t.

also find the heart rate stuff useful if I am being a bit lazy.

also love all the other features like paying, music, date and time and messages. Could not take it off !

I only use mine for tracking my distances, intervals etc. Sometimes I'll check how much effort it thinks I've used if a run felt really tough/easy, or to look at the elevation or route. But only for curiosity.
Never connected to Strava. Never bothered with heart or sleep info.
My husband loves checking all the stats, sometimes it feels like he hasn't finished until he's strava'd!

I ditched my garmin once the battery started playing up. Never bothered to get an immediate replacement and just didn’t miss it. (It felt very judgy!)

Yes, my friendship group used to have a really competitive step challenge every week and weekend but one person always ruined it by hoarding her steps and uploading at the very last minute.

My Fitbit stopped being supported through the app and I didn't care enough to replace it. I think they're a bit old hat now are they not?

You don't see people obsessing about them like you did 5/6/7 years ago.

And they're generally not very pretty!

Yea you’re right about them not being very pretty!

Last night I got out my old analogue wristwatch and will get the battery replaced tomorrow.

I think I’m trying to solve too many problems for myself. I never worry about closing rings or step count on my Apple Watch so I’m thinking I’ll switch to the analogue one and see how that feels.

Just a thought but if you generally found the tracking helpful but just don't like the fact that your old PBs are just too good to be realistic, it's possible to wipe your strava stats and start afresh. It's very easy to get into an unhealthy mindset but when handled well it can be fun and motivating to try and push yourself.

Yeah I only use garmin connect that only I can see. I came off strava a long time ago.

Im considering all my options.

what a lovely problem to have!

I find that they can be helpful for self motivation or by trying to beat your last time however posting the stats is just an invitation to either feel bad about your efforts or to prove something to someone.
Kinda feel like it's promoted as a good thing but make people compare and judge.

Yes. Agree about posting being a negative thing for me.

I am stuck wondering what the point in measuring things are. If I’m not ‘improving’ then do I really need garmin telling me so?

Case in point this year I barely scraped under 30 mins for all my parkruns BUT have done trail events which are at least a half marathon every month. Longest being 18 miles in September.

None are fast but I’m finishing them happy, strong and uninjured.

I’ve done a few marathons and ultras which I don’t particularly want to do again as they take up so much time!

This is so interesting. And "happy, strong and uninjured" - yayyyyy 😀.

I have a fitbit and my main thing is strength training so it isn't even especially good at tracking that. I quite enjoy using the step counter and HR stats to make me prioritise being active especially when I'm working, but more as a gentle nudge and bit of structure than something to fret over. I track my runs on Strava because especially on holiday I like to have the record of where I went and also because as a bit below average speed middle aged female runner, I think my data matters in pulling the average down 😂. I am getting slower but it isn't my focus and I am happy, strong and uninjured too!

The thing I do find useful is sometimes fitbit nudges me to rest more or cancel a run or gym session - I realise I've clocked up a lot or RHR is bit up and then take the time to think oooh I do feel a bit tired or yes my throat is a bit tickly and I've sneezed a few times.....I could probably get that by listening more carefully to my body but it is hard when you are busy and also affected by mood etc.

I have a fitbit but use it to track steps/movement. It helps me see where I'm up to!

I've got the heart rate measurement switched off as I find it weirdly stressful! I figure if there was anything wrong with my heart, my body would find a way to alert me.

Interesting that the last two posts have very differing opinions of HR data 😀

Ive just tried a Fartlek session from Nike Run Club. It was brilliant. I really enjoyed it. I wore my garmin and I feel like I ‘need’ it in order to monitor progress on future training sessions.

Maybe I won’t bother but I think I do like data to look back on.

I honestly can’t handle looking at my HR without it inducing serious anxiety. I had it a few times where a machine at the gym goes haywire and the numbers go rapidly up suddenly out of the blue! I do mini check ins - I will hold on the HR bars briefly to check it now and again. A watch would make me stressed

@Garmindecisions it is funny 😀.

I think it is down to personality - when the data isn't going my way I ignore it or scoff at it. When it is, I gaze at it lovingly 😂.

I got out of the habit of tracking, and only use my bike mounted Garmin to effectively map my ride on rare sunny long rides. I use the Garmin app only for its period tracker. HR strap battery died, watch strap broke, never bothered to replace. Do everything on feel now instead. It means when I get in, I get my cup of tea faster as I'm not faffing with apps and uploads!