- Noah Cracknell
- Posts
- Issue No. 3: Too Much Data
August 14th, 2023
Issue No. 3: Too Much Data
Expand the time horizon you measure your output on ✨
Airplane Mode ✈️
Americans love fitness – fitness tech.
While some use these products to get moving, others become too connected and lose the desire to be active.
“Six experiments demonstrate that while measurement increases how much of an activity people do (e.g., walk or read more), it can simultaneously reduce how much people enjoy those activities. This occurs because measurement can undermine intrinsic motivation.”
More than motivation, wearables and health-tracking apps become dangerous when used exclusively and without proper guidance. Analyzing data and understanding the story it tells, especially when it comes to personal health, are two different things.
When a watch or app points out you didn’t recover well, even though you feel great and nothing is wrong, it can breed negative thoughts and emotions (nocebo effect), making exercise feel like a job instead of something to enjoy.
Taking two steps back. Before purchasing an activity-tracking watch or downloading a calorie counter app, consider why you’re enlisting its help in the first place. After all, these devices aren’t perfect.
Fitbit has an average error of 25% for step counts
Heart rate data from Apple Watch can fluctuate by 10%
Calorie trackers misestimate by more than 30%
Don’t lose hope. Despite studies demonstrating the perils of too much data (and their inaccuracy), fitness trackers are still useful – as long as you know how to use them.
A recent NYT article suggests the best approach to wearables (and other health and fitness trackers) is to use the data as a directional arrow rather than a precise measuring tool.
When taken in aggregate with other subjective and objective metrics (energy, body weight, satiety levels, fulfillment, etc.), you can form a practical understanding of where your overall health and fitness are trending.
Be Smart with Your Smartwatch ⌚️
Making daily deposits is one way to keep your health and fitness trending in the right direction and yield a higher ROI from fitness trackers.
Daily deposits are not about shattering a new PR every day but making small efforts in alignment with your long-term health and wellness objectives.
Need some help getting started? Let’s work together 👇️
Looking ahead: Fitness trackers are meant to help people stay active and transition to fitness. But sometimes, they have the opposite effect. Rather than analyzing singular pieces of data, look at your progress over time. Longevity is a long game that requires a long time horizon. Aim for decade gains, not daily ones.
Fitcast
This week in health & fitness 👇️
💰 Neuralink lands $280M led by Peter Thiel
✈️ LAX bans single-use plastic water bottle sales
⚕️ Amazon to offer fertility and reproductive care to 1M employees
📚 Study shows exercising 2 mins per day can reduce cancer risk by 20%
🏖️ Nike Studios makes its way to Hollywood and Newport Beach
🚺 Aavia releases cycle-synced lifestyle planner
🥓 Weight loss drugs frenzy drives big pharma giants to new heights
🏈 Playing American football linked to Parkinson Disease in men
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