Get Stronger After 40

Data Is Useful. Dependency Isn’t.

Wearable technology made a pretty irresistible promise: know yourself better. That’s why I bought my Oura ring almost three years ago. I hoped I’d finally be able to figure out what was causing all of the annoying and not-dire symptoms that were mostly summed up by the vague term “fatigue.”

And at first, some of the insights were surprisingly eye-opening. I discovered I was getting much less deep sleep than I realized. How could I get only thirty-one minutes of deep slumber after spending eight hours in bed? And then I was “inactive” for over eight hours the following day. Really? Seeing certain patterns laid out in front of me pushed me toward healthier choices I probably wouldn't have made otherwise.

None of that is the problem.

The problem is that something very subtle can happen after the novelty wears off. We stop collecting information and start requesting permission. I know I did. Instead of asking, How do I feel today? we start asking, How am I supposed to feel based on my numbers? And not just that but, What should I do based on my numbers?​
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Maybe your recovery score is low, and suddenly you're tired before you've even gotten out of bed. Maybe your readiness score says to take it easy, so you skip a workout you probably could have done. Maybe your sleep score lands at 78, and now you think you should take a nap even though you feel absolutely fine.

The thing is that the numbers themselves haven't changed your body—they've changed your relationship with your body.

Data can be informative, but it can also become oddly authoritative. And once that happens, you're no longer using information to guide your decisions. Instead, you're waiting for instructions. The technology that was supposed to help you become more aware and connected to yourself ends up nudging you toward becoming less trusting of your own experience.

Of course, this doesn't mean your feelings should blindly win every argument either. I can easily convince myself I’m definitely getting enough movement despite sitting for most of the day. Feelings can be useful, but they can also be wildly unreliable at times.

So the answer isn't to throw away your tracker—it's to put it back in its place. A tracker is a dashboard, but you’re the driver. Strength, health, and aging well aren't about becoming dependent on increasingly sophisticated technology. They're about becoming more capable, more aware, and more trustworthy to yourself.

For me personally, this means mostly wearing it at night now because I like having access to my health biomarkers. Occasionally I’ll pick several “normal” days to wear it, too, to confirm I’m not fooling myself about my step count (so far, so good). My Oura has returned to being a helpful tool that supports the process rather than directing it.

Whether you use a tracker or not, one of the best things you can do for your health is to build strength and move regularly. Use my free 8-minute Wonderfulness Workout video to do just that.
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