Smart watches and exercise - is it really so smart?
There is growing evidence that wearing smart devices impedes the performance of your body
Recently I’ve come to realise something. Once I explore the logic, it makes total sense, but for the longest time I’d never really explored it. It’s the potential that having our technologically impressive smart watches and Fitbits attached to us 24/7 might not be as harmless as their manufacturers make it out to be. And here’s why...
They’re making us weak…
When someone sees me for a Functional Neurology session, I always do a lot of manual muscle testing - the reason being it allows me to easily show someone which muscle areas are functioning well under load, and which are struggle or simply aren’t firing at all. Through this process we usually try a few different sensory interventions such as eye exercises, assessing scars and tattoos, or stabilising the jaw. But I also look at things like jewellery and anything metallic that is touching or attached to the skin. This is because metal is a conductor of electricity and it can interfere with the electricity that’s already being conducted in our body. Throughout this process, I am constantly retesting after each intervention to highlight to someone which intervention correlated to which muscle area. And what I’ve seen - and I massively appreciate it’s all in my anecdotal findings - is that these watches and monitors have an immediate impact on our ability to use significant muscle groups, particularly our quads, hips, and lower back. In some cases, they may even be impacting on our entire posture which we check through monitoring the height of our legs and shoulders. Interestingly, as soon as we’ve removed these devices, majority of the time the muscles impacted have instantly come back ‘online’ which means they’ve been able to maintain strength under load, when a few moments early, they had failed. The change is literally instantaneous! There’s no question over having to do any strengthening work, stretches, or massage - we take off the watch and they are sorted, simple as that.
But why?!
I’ve tried to find a blend of sources to help explain what I think happens here…
Each individual is a self-regenerating battery. Potentially, the watch conducts his/her natural piezo-electro current away from his/her body - imagine a circuit that has an extra section added to it, but there isn’t quite enough energy to complete the circuit strongly, creating weakness in certain areas.
The light these devices produce to monitor your skin could be impacting your light-sensitive skin cells, throwing a spanner in the works in terms of what information your sensory system provides the brain, and therefore which muscles your brain chooses to be effective for supporting a particular load. This theory links in with how I already manipulate the sensory system for greater strength and mobility in our body through the likes of eye exercises or sorting out scar tissue. It doesn’t however cover off on why a couple of my clients haven’t been impacted by their watch.
The non-native Electromagnetic Fields they produce may be placing a level of stress on the body beyond what it can tolerate for those particular loads in those particular areas. I like this theory as it explains why some people seem unaffected by their smart watches in terms of the muscle testing while others are completely affected. Because everyone is so unique, the system’s resilience for managing stress is also unique and explains why something so impactful for one person doesn’t bother another person at all. If this is true, those who are impacted also need to be careful of how they use other smart devices for the longevity of their health.
So I haven’t got any conclusive evidence yet, but I’ve also got some articles that are worth a read if you’re interested to learn more.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/fitbit-health-concerns/
https://www.vesttech.com/what-you-dont-know-about-wearable-tech-radiation-exposure/
https://blog.amnacademy.com/2018/04/09/a-new-kind-of-pollution-nnemfs/
Thanks for the scare tactics, but I think I’m okay…
…and you may well be! I’m certainly not advocating that you boycott all electronic devices. But what I’m also aware of is that we are exposed to these devices constantly, but there is actually very little research about the impacts they have on our long term health. Can you imagine taking a medication every day and night because you’re told it’s harmless, but not really understanding the impact it has on your body? You may be fine. Or you may be unintentionally causing harm but not notice it straight away. Or perhaps you believe it has no affect, but then you go without it for awhile and feel the impact of not having it?
And that’s my point - if you wear one of these devices, and have concerns over injuries or niggles that don’t seem to go away, or health issues that haven’t been resolved, maybe you can keep doing everything else the same but try and go without your device for a while and see if anything noticeable changes? And if that does, what other electrical devices do you have that you might be able to reduce exposure to?
I’m on the fence - what are my options?
Come and see me and I’ll do some testing of your strength and posture and we assess if your device is impacting your musculoskeletal system. If you don’t think it’s an issue, that’s totally your call. As I said earlier - I haven’t quite confirmed why some people are impacted more than others. I am sure that everyone is impacted by them, but I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to prove what impact that is due to the sheer complexity of the human entity (I say entity as I’m sure there are impacts as far reaching as emotional and energetic bodies - controversial I know!) Ultimately it comes down to how your body handles stress, which is unique for everyone. Stress comes in all forms - diet and lifestyle factors, emotional stress, work stress, family stress - it’s different for everyone but we are constantly compared to the average so it’s important to take some time to figure out what is normal for YOU, not average Joe. Functional neurology treatments can help take stress out of your system, but even they always come with lifestyle recommendations which I’ve spoken about earlier - more sun, regular meditation, exposure to nature, and more sleep.
Ultimately awareness is key, get to know your body and the impact certain lifestyle factors have on it, including your smart watch or Fitbit. Where possible reduce how much exposure you have to digital technology, or balance it out with daily walks in nature and opportunities to ground yourself. Social engagement and laughter is also a fantastic way to balance out some of the adverse affects of stress on your overall health. At the end of the day, its your body and your health, but if you can consciously make choices to significantly reduce stress which may have an impact on your daily function and pain, then I am an advocate for understanding and exploring all of your options, including the use of your personal digital technology.