The biometric data I find most useful
I only track three metrics on my watch. Calories burned. Steps taken. And my heart rate during workouts. I don’t feel like I need any more than that to stay on track and be consistent.
I don’t track my sleep because sleep data makes me crazy. I’ve had too many days when I’ve woken up feeling great, only to find out that I slept like shit and should take a day off. And vice versa. Feeling like shit being told to get after it. Nothing fucks up a day for me quite like that. And I just don’t think the sleep data is that reliable. I think there must be other factors that a watch can’t consider to cause me to feel refreshed when I shouldn’t be, and shitty when I’m fully recovered. But I could be wrong.
But I feel like calories burned, steps, and heart rate are accurate and reliable.
Calories burned helps inform me how much I need to eat that day to feel satiated. It helps me distinguish between hungry and bored. Sometimes I’ll look at my watch, see that I’ve actually been pretty inactive, having only burned 2,000 calories on the day, basically my baseline, and realize I don’t actually need that extra snack. There are also plenty of days when the opposite is true. I’ve blown past my baseline and need more food in order to make sure that I sleep and recover well.
I like tracking steps because I feel like there is something magical about 10,000 steps. I can’t explain it, other than to say that on days when I hit my steps I feel better. And on days when I come up short, I don’t. I find that anywhere from 8,000 - 12,000 is a good daily range.
Heart rate during a workout is important because it helps me modulate between the various types of workouts I do, and makes sure I’m hitting my targets. In a 7 day period I try to have one true HIIT style workout that gets my heart rate to 85 - 90 % of max. I aim for three days of zone 2, which typically includes 2 moderate runs and 1 moderate kettlebell workout. And 3 lower intensity days. These are my 2 strength days and 1 low intensity heavy kettlebell day.
And to me following these three metrics in that way is more than enough data to keep it all together. I’ve found that anything more is just not necessary for the average person.