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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-17-at-12.27.35.png\")
Can the volume of data from our gadgets weigh us down? Daniel Seex Daniel Seex<\/p>\nSports technology is undergoing unprecedented growth. Where once cutting-edge advancements were the sole preserve of teams with big budgets, now all of us have access to performance data via our smartwatches and bike computers.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also big business, with the wearable technology market alone estimated at $95bn in 2025 and expected to grow to $115bn by 2030.<\/p>\n
Objective data ensures you make the right training and lifestyle decisions for peak riding speed. That\u2019s the theory, but is that the reality? <\/p>\n
Was your latest tech purchase guided by your heart or your head? Let\u2019s investigate whether technology is helping or hindering your performance. <\/p>\n
\u2018To Tech or Not to Tech\u2026?\u2019
\nCan the volume of data from our gadgets weigh us down? Daniel Seex Daniel Seex<\/p>\n
Johann Windt is the senior director of analytics, insights and research at the Canadian soccer team, Vancouver Whitecaps.<\/p>\n
He has a PhD in experimental medicine and a particular interest in the use of data in sport and its usefulness, so much so that he co-authored a 2020 paper in the Journal of Athletic Training entitled \u2018To Tech or Not to Tech? A Critical Decision-Making Framework for Implementing Technology in Sport\u2019.<\/p>\n
Within, Windt and his team reviewed the vision and pitfalls behind technology\u2019s role in sport: \u201cThe paper came out of a talk I delivered at the World Physiotherapy Congress,\u201d says Windt. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the congress, like most conferences, you walk through the halls, and they\u2019re just lined with technologies and manufacturers selling their wares.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many options. Teams and individuals notice that other teams and individuals are buying these new technologies, and do the same. \u2018You got GPS?\u2019 you might ask. \u2018Of course,\u2019 they might reply. \u2018What are you going to do with the GPS?\u2019 \u2018We\u2019re not sure.\u2019 You simply don\u2019t need the technology if you don\u2019t know what to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Windt says it got his team thinking about the process sportspeople go through when buying new equipment: \u201cWith the rate of growth, you just can\u2019t buy everything, so how do you differentiate between competing products in the same space or deciding when there\u2019s, say, five different products in five different spaces and you only have X number of pounds? Which one do you choose?\u201d<\/p>\n
Four-point purchase plan
\n![\"Supersapiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AM9A4698-scaled.jpg\")
Supersapiens grew out of work with diabetics. Scott Windsor \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
To that end, Windt and his team created a four-point framework for the user to tick off before spending their hard-earned cash on the next transformative piece of tech.<\/p>\n
Performance relevance: Does the tech do what it promises, and would that information genuinely help improve your performance?
\nData trustworthiness: Can you trust the numbers it provides, knowing that no technology is perfectly accurate?
\nIntegration and analysis: Can you effectively combine and interpret the data alongside other tools you use, without it becoming a burden?
\nPractical implementation: Is the technology easy to incorporate into your actual training or practice, without usability or workflow issues?<\/p>\n
Performance relevance<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first point is, if this piece of tech does everything that\u2019s advertised, would the promised information be helpful to my performance?\u201d says Windt. <\/p>\n
\u201cRemember, whoever\u2019s selling you their latest, greatest advancement is literally paid to market this technology. They won\u2019t share the ugly wrinkles underneath the tech.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arguably, the most explicit example of a recent product that nestled high on tech, but less so on application, was the Supersapiens continuous blood-glucose monitor<\/a>, which arose from work with diabetics.<\/p>\n The American company used pharmaceutical company Abbott Labs\u2019 glucose-monitoring patches, which have proved a life-changer for diabetics in managing their blood-glucose levels.<\/p>\n In the cycling sphere, they were also mooted as nutritionally transformative tech that could more accurately help you train and race by knowing your fuelling status.<\/p>\n Supersapiens received several rounds of investment and spent heavily on marketing. Then, in February 2024, they announced they were shutting down.<\/p>\n They couldn\u2019t get approval to operate with US customers, so their market area was limited; the UCI banned their use in competition<\/a>; and arguably it didn\u2019t prove transformative in the non-diabetic market.<\/p>\n That\u2019s down to non-diabetics\u2019 blood-glucose levels being very tightly regulated, so while you were given some interesting information, it wasn\u2019t totally clear what you could do with that information.<\/p>\n Data trustworthiness \u201cThe second part of the framework focuses on trusting the information you\u2019re receiving,\u201d says Windt. \u201cWe know no technology is perfect \u2013 stand on the most high-tech of scales and there\u2019s a good chance it\u2019ll be at least 1g off \u2013 but can you trust the numbers?\u201d<\/p>\n Heart-rate monitors<\/a> (HRMs) are the exemplar here. Wrist-based HRMs are omnipresent in both sports and smartwatches<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the general consensus is that accuracy is somewhat compromised, especially when working hard. <\/p>\n A 2023 study by Spanish authors suggested that \u201cheart-rate estimations should be considered cautiously at specific intensities. Indeed, an effective intervention is required to register accurate HR readings at high-intensity levels (above 150bpm)\u201d. <\/p>\n Chest straps are considered more accurate, but they\u2019re not overly practical.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you comfortable with how \u2018wrong\u2019 technology is?\u201d says Windt. \u201cIf you are, that leads to the third point, which is, can you integrate and analyse the data effectively?<\/p>\n \u201cYou might have five or six technologies on the go already, so how easy is this new tech to use and manage? If you\u2019re having to spend half your waking day downloading Excel files, that won\u2019t be sustainable, and you\u2019ll cease using that tech.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a recreational rider and I\u2019d like to see how the recovery parameters from my smartwatch impact the power outputs from my Rouvy<\/a> and vice versa. Can I integrate these data sources, or do I need to click through each and make a best guess?<\/p>\n \u201cOr how might my overnight HRV (heart rate variability) score relate to my maximum wattage later that evening? Integration and making sense of several data points is important to a cyclist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe fourth and final point is, can you implement the technology in your practice?\u201d says Windt. A recreational cycling example falls back to point two and the application of heart rate monitoring. While chest straps are more accurate, their implementation is minimal because of usability.<\/p>\n \u201cFor professional cycling teams, implementation of technology might be curtailed because there\u2019s a history of mismanagement of data between staff and riders,\u201d Windt adds. \u201cIf there\u2019s not an environment of trust between the coach and the rider, technology can erode an environment, not enhance it.\u201d<\/p>\n If the information\u2019s helpful to your performance, you can trust it, you can integrate it with other data sources and it\u2019s easily implemented, all that\u2019s left to determine is whether it\u2019s worth the spend. <\/p>\n Would remortgaging your home for a series of wind-tunnel sessions, for instance, be worth the cost-benefit analysis when you\u2019re two stone over race weight and cycle twice a week? No.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t let the data rule you So, you\u2019ve bought your spanking piece of latest technology and, like the new manager effect touted so often in the Premier League, you see an uplift in performance through a freshness of ideas and a new motivator.<\/p>\n But as time goes by, things aren\u2019t what they once were. Instead of your performance being liberated by data, you\u2019re now manacled by it. Over to Mike Tipton, acclaimed environmental physiologist, for more.<\/p>\n \u201cI attempt an Ironman triathlon every five years. I\u2019m in my mid-60s now and have done so ever since giving up rugby in my early 40s. The last one, in Austria 2024, went badly for various reasons but I finished.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring that race, it became clear to me how detrimental wearable technology can be to many people. Most athletes think that the more they\u2019ve got stuck on them and the more data they collect the better. But that\u2019s not always true.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a cohort of people who begin catastrophising to unexpected detriments in their performance data, caused by internal or external factors, like gastro-distress or the weather. <\/p>\n \u201cIt happened in Austria with a friend of mine. It was a cold and wet day in the mountains, and the numbers emanating from his power meter<\/a> and heart-rate monitor weren\u2019t what he expected.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was used to cycling on much nicer days on less hilly terrain. The computer told him he wasn\u2019t performing, and he spiralled; he psychologically catastrophised the situation and eventually stopped. The technology really didn\u2019t help him.\u201d<\/p>\n Motivation or damnation?<\/p>\n You could argue Tipton\u2019s friend failed to plan, to test the tech in the myriad scenarios you face in a triathlon. <\/p>\n But data-thwarting sporting performance isn\u2019t an isolated incident in the Carinthia Mountains. Armagan Karahanoglu is a design researcher who works on human-centred personal health technology at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. <\/p>\n She\u2019s fascinated by the interplay between sportspeople and technology. Karahanoglu knows that tech and data can provide great motivation for athletes, but has also studied the flipside.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve observed that data can \u2018impair\u2019 your efforts because it\u2019s telling you something that you don\u2019t want to hear or don\u2019t want to know, like you\u2019re performing worse than a week ago or riding slower than the previous year,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n \u201cThis can be especially true in your 40s where, despite your best efforts, data points like VO2 max<\/a> and recovery time tend to be negatively affected compared to your younger years.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a performance perspective it might be useful to see, but from a psychological perspective what\u2019s being projected onto athletes\u2019 screens might not have the desired effect. It can kill your motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n And that is key, says Karahanoglu, who\u2019s undertaken research into sport, technology and motivation, specifically the self-determination theory. <\/p>\n This framework identified psychological needs that drive motivation: autonomy \u2013 feeling in control of one\u2019s actions; competence \u2013 feeling competent and skilled; and relatedness \u2013 feeling connected to others.<\/p>\n \u201cThe theory says that when we fulfil all of these psychological needs, we are intrinsically motivated [doing something because you find it interesting],\u201d says Karahanoglu. <\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re not intrinsically motivated, if these needs aren\u2019t fulfilled, we can identify which need isn\u2019t fulfilled and look to turn extrinsic motivation [doing something for an external reward] into an intrinsic motivation. We thought data, technology, could help here. But the results were mixed.\u201d<\/p>\n Karahanoglu says that cyclists, certainly committed roadies, tend to be intrinsically motivated as they\u2019re passionate about what they\u2019re doing. <\/p>\n However, technology can thwart an athlete\u2019s autonomy and competence if they become too obsessed with data and hitting certain numbers. This is an extrinsic strike that then hits a rider\u2019s intrinsic motivation, knocking their desire to ride.<\/p>\n Then there are those individuals for whom technology holds such a fascination that their training tools becomes dictatorial. <\/p>\n \u201cIn one study that we carried out with track runners, a coach told us a story about a 22-year-old he coached,\u201d says Karahanoglu. <\/p>\n \u201cThe coach noticed that he was constantly checking his data and not \u2018immersed\u2019 in his performance. So, the coach instructed him to stop using his watch for two months so he could concentrate on how he feels. The runner felt liberated and made marked improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n Windt tells a similar tale of an Olympic athlete. \u201cMatt Jordan, one of the best muscle physiologists around was telling me about an athlete he coached on the morning of an important competition\u201d, he says. <\/p>\n \u201cHe looked devastated. \u2018What\u2019s wrong?\u2019 asked Matt. \u2018It\u2019s gonna be a disastrous day,\u2019 the athlete replied. \u2018Why?\u2019 asked Matt. \u2018Because my Whoop score\u2019s terrible. What am I going to do?\u2019. So Matt said \u2018You\u2019re gonna eat your breakfast, warm up and crush your event.\u2019 And he did. When it comes to tech and sport, for most people it\u2019s all about balance.\u201d<\/p>\n And despite Windt\u2019s framework suggestion that accuracy should be on your four-point purchasing guide, that balance doesn\u2019t always have to feature technology that\u2019s statistically spot on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve looked into the area of \u2018derived metrics\u2019,\u201d says Karahanoglu. \u201cThis is when you have several \u2018real\u2019 metrics come together for a derived metric, like your recovery or sleep score, or training load. <\/p>\n “Interestingly, many of the subjects weren\u2019t that interested in the accuracy of these metrics. They knew that it wasn\u2019t necessarily that accurate, but they appreciated the trends, whether things were going up or down. Many simply took this as a confirmation tool. That they weren\u2019t feeling great and the trends reflected that.\u201d<\/p>\n In the flow<\/p>\n The key take-home here is \u2018feeling\u2019. By becoming too reliant on numbers and data, you not only kill the fun of riding, but also fail to immerse yourself in the subtleties, the minutiae, of the ups and downs of a ride. <\/p>\n Most of our learning, be it in sport and life, is implicit rather than explicit. This implicit learning takes place in the unconscious parts of the brain, including the basal ganglia, which are often able to make faster, more accurate decisions.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this primitive side of the brain isn\u2019t that literate so relies on feelings, hunches and intuition. As a cyclist, you rely hugely on this implicit learning \u2013 say the subtleties of cornering, spatial awareness on the road, when to chase the pack in front of you and when to ease off \u2013 but if you\u2019re always focused on numbers, you don\u2019t cultivate this awareness of feeling.<\/p>\n It’s something Tipton\u2019s become more aware of as the years have rolled by. \u201cThere aren\u2019t many benefits of growing older but one is that experience teaches you to listen to your body more. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in pain beforehand, know that it\u2019s not lying, that this might be a time not to ride whatever your wearable is saying.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other thing I\u2019ve learned to \u2018feel\u2019 is that the start is really hard, so never make any decisions on continuing or not until at least 10 minutes in. <\/p>\n \u201cIt just feels more painful than when you\u2019re 20 but there is a physiological rationale behind it, in that the speed with which your oxygen system cranks up is much slower as you age. It takes you a while to reach steady state. Until then, it\u2019s a bit of a battle.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether that age-related feeling is captured by a training tool\u2019s algorithms is doubtful. It\u2019s the same with female cyclists in that much of the assertions being made by training tools might be based off algorithms devised from research into the impact of exercise on men. <\/p>\n Most sport science studies have focused on young male participants, which is a blind spot in the field as a whole.<\/p>\n In 2016, Dr Anna Saw highlighted the objective shortfall compared to the subjective by revealing that perception of effort \u2013 in other words, how hard an activity feels, gauged on subjective charts like the rate of perceived exertion<\/a> (RPE) scale \u2013 forecast fatigue in exercise more accurately than data emanating from the technologies of the time.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know if you\u2019ve been sick twice that morning. Your computer doesn\u2019t,\u201d says Windt. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say technology doesn\u2019t have a place. But if you slept badly, you\u2019re super stressed and you feel exhausted, how you feel is a much better guide to your ride \u2013 i.e., lowering intensity \u2013 than any Whoop score.\u201d<\/p>\n Feel the data Where does that leave us? Is it time to slip into your Luddite helmet and ride care-free off into the horizon?<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing wrong with that, of course, but you would be missing out on the precise physiological adaptations that come from training by power<\/a> and the motivation of beating your mate\u2019s QOM or KOM on Strava<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ultimately, how much technology you use and how you apply it is an individual choice. What works for one person, one personality, might not work for another. <\/p>\n A blanket prescription is to use training tools for some rides, ride purely on feel for others. This will balance empirical physiological gains with subtler psychological gains to optimise your cycling.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, technology doesn’t win the race,\u201d says Windt. \u201cIt might help you train efficiently and help you monitor your power output for pacing during an event. But it\u2019s your legs that drive the pedals. It\u2019s you that must have the mentality to push through when it sucks, and you\u2019d rather not pedal up that freaking hill! Be judicious with technology and it can really help. But do not forget that you are in control.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports technology is undergoing unprecedented growth. Where once cutting-edge advancements were the sole preserve of teams with big…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-318356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"Heart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/best-heart-rate-monitors-2025.jpg\")
No device is 100 per cent accurate. Scott Windsor \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-17-at-12.47.59.png\")
Gadgets can give you some useful info, but make sure you\u2019re in control of the technology rather than it controlling you. Daniel Seex Daniel Seex<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-17-at-12.49.49.png\")
It\u2019s easy to be seduced by shiny new gadgets, but do you really need it for a casual Sunday ride? Daniel Seex<\/p>\n