How to Use a Fitness Wearable Without Obsessing Over It

Nikkiey: Wearables can be an incredible tool. They can also be another way to be absolutely obsessive, anxious, and disconnected from your own body. And for women especially, women who may already have a complicated relationship with food or with a scale or with their body or with performance or their perfectionist mindset, if that's you, we need to take this seriously. Orthosomnia: researchers have coined this term for people who have become so obsessed with getting a perfect sleep score that the anxiety around it starts disrupting their sleep.

You're lying in bed and you're stressed out about whether you're going to hit your deep sleep number or not, your deep sleep quota. And that is the opposite of what this is supposed to do for you. If you're doing these things as a punishment, that means that these tools aren't helping you in your journey.

Hey, hey, everyone. What's going on? Welcome back to another episode of The WarriorBabe Show, where we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I'm your host, Nikkiey Stott. And welcome, my friends, to episode number 344.

Today we're going to get into something that I know every single one of you either owns or has thought about buying or has contemplated your relationship with, and that's your wearables. Whether you have an Oura Ring or an Apple Watch or a Whoop or a Garmin, whatever's on your wrist or whatever's on your finger, that's the topic we're going to dive into today.

Because here's the thing. This technology is literally the number one fitness trend right now. 2026, 2025, 2024, it's number one. Out of everything happening in this industry, this is what the experts are pointing to: the wearables, the trackers, the devices. And I think there's a really important conversation we need to have around this type of technology, especially for women who are doing the work, who are showing up, who are tracking their macros, who are already in the gym and getting it done. Because adding more data to the picture can either be an absolute total game changer, or, for what I think is going to be the majority of the women listening to this episode right now, it can be an absolute spiral show. It can send you into a mental spiral.

So with today's episode, I want to break down what's actually worth paying attention to, what's just added noise, and how to use these trackers and wearables as a tool without letting them ruin your entire life. If you are someone who has a good relationship with these trackers, amazing. I commend you, and encourage those around you in your space. But probably the majority of you listening to this episode let these wearables navigate how you show up for your day. If you look at it in the morning and see how your sleep score went, you have an emotional pull to it, just like I've talked about on an episode where you have an emotional relationship with the scale. The same thing goes with these trackers, okay? They can send people into absolute spirals.

So first, let's talk about how far this technology has come, because it's actually kind of wild when you break it down. I was doing some research on this, and a few years ago a fitness tracker was counting your steps and maybe paying attention to your heart rate. But now these devices are tracking your HRV, your heart rate variability, which I'm going to break down in a second. They're tracking your sleep stages. They're tracking your body temperature. They're tracking your cycles on a monthly basis. And they're so accurate, it's scary. They're checking your blood oxygen, your recovery score, your stress levels. Your watch knows more about your body than most people do, which is wild to think about.

I think it's absolutely wild, but at the same time I also think it's really cool. And it's also very overwhelming, right? So I want to break down the metrics that I think actually matter, especially if you are in the fitness space, if you're working out, if you're going to the gym, even if you're just starting out and you're like, I feel so overwhelmed by all of these things my device does. I think this is a really good "what do I actually need to pay attention to?"

So first is heart rate variability, your HRV. I talk about this all the time. I pride myself on my HRV. Just a little side note: I've shared with you guys that I have been diagnosed with low thyroid, so I have been taking thyroid support medication in the morning, and I recognize, and I've also been talking to my doctor about this, that taking it affects my HRV. And by the way, these numbers are completely individualized to the person, so I'm not going to say my numbers, but I've watched them go from incredibly superhuman numbers to being more on the lower side of things. And that's okay. There's a reason why.

But all of that to say, if I want to break HRV down for you to understand what it is, it's the variation between each of your heartbeats. Having a higher HRV generally means that your nervous system is recovered and it's ready to go hard. The stress levels of your body are being maintained well, and your nervous system is able to recover well. A lower HRV means your body's telling you that it needs more time. So think of it as your body's readiness score. This is probably the most useful metric on any wearable right now. It's basically speaking to how your body handles stress. Is it high? That means your body handles stress really well. If it's low, it means your body doesn't handle stress really well, and it's asking for a little bit more time, or asking you throughout your day to slow down to help improve that number. That's one of the first things that I think matters.

The second thing I think matters is your sleep quality, not just your duration. We've all heard get eight hours, get seven hours. But your wearable is now breaking down how much of that is deep sleep, how much of it is REM sleep, how much of it is light sleep, and how long it's taking you to actually fall asleep. And this all matters for your recovery, for your muscle repair, for your hormones, for your mood. Not just in the gym the next day, but in general. This is a big one.

And again, it's not just about your duration. Somebody could get eight hours of sleep but sleep inefficiently, not sleep well, sleep horribly. There could be a lot of disturbances. You only got a little bit of deep sleep and a little bit of REM sleep. You weren't able to effectively stay asleep for that duration. So it's not just about the duration. It's what is the actual quality of your sleep.

Another thing is your resting heart rate. This one is simple, but it's so powerful, in my opinion. As you get fitter, as you increase your athletic abilities, as you get healthier, your resting heart rate typically drops. If it spikes unexpectedly, then that's a signal. Maybe you're getting sick. Maybe you've overtrained. What's pretty crazy is if you eat late at night, you'll see a spike, or it takes you longer to fall asleep. That could be a problem for your sleep quality. I could probably talk about that in another episode. But when you fall asleep and you get to a resting heart rate pretty quickly, that means your recovery is optimal during that sleep period.

Alcohol will also play a huge role. If you have an Oura Ring, it's staring you in the face when you open up the app. If you had a glass of wine and then you go to sleep and you're wondering why your heart rate is elevated, this is why. And that's a signal, okay? Alcohol will do that to your body. Or maybe you overtrained. Maybe it was leg day, you trained late at night, and it's going to take a little while for your heart rate to get back to normal. Or you had a stressful week, right, and your body's holding onto it. Those could be indicators as to why it's spiking unexpectedly, but it's a really good, simple, powerful marker to pay attention to.

Now, I'm pretty sure all of the wearables do this, but I'm not 100% sure. I know the Oura does this. The Oura Ring focuses on a readiness score, or other ones may do a recovery score. Most apps put together everything I just said, your heart rate variability, your sleep quality, your resting heart rate, and they basically say, okay, here's how ready you are today based off of those things. The Oura Ring, like I said, does this really well. I think Whoop does this as well. It's basically saying, here's how ready you are to go tackle life today. And I think that's really cool because it's summing up the three that I just said. So I think that's a really cool marker and I think it matters.

So again: HRV, sleep quality, resting heart rate, and your readiness score. Those are the things I would pay attention to. But some of you may be wondering, do I need to track all of these things? And I would say no. But understanding what they mean will put some power into your hands when you're looking at these tools and these numbers, and you'll be able to understand what's going on behind the data. Because I think it's really important for you to be able to understand, okay, if I'm wearing this, how can I use this data right? Is it genuinely useful?

And this is where I want to give credit where credit's due. I think a lot of people will wake up in a day, they'll feel sluggish, they'll feel like they're getting sick, they'll feel like whatever is going on in their body, and they're unsure what's going on. But if you're wearing this type of thing, it removes the guesswork from your recovery. How many times have you been like, oh my gosh, should I go hard today? Or should I take a rest day? Or, I'm just not feeling it. And then you open up these apps and it's telling you, hey, I need a rest day. Or worse, maybe you guessed, and you pushed through a brutal workout on a day that your body was waving a red flag for you to chill and rest and take a recovery day. And you ended up burnt out or injured, right? So it removes the guesswork from your recovery.

Your wearable is literally answering that question for you. If your HRV has tanked and your recovery score is low, that's probably not the day to go in and do a PR on a deadlift or lift really hard. You could get into the gym and just move your body. It might be a day for some mobility work. It might be a day for a walk, or maybe some extra sleep. And guys, it's not weakness. That's part of the strategy. So I think it's really cool that these things can literally tell you that, and you don't have to guess. You remove that guesswork from the recovery.

It also connects the dots between your lifestyle and your performance. I think this is one of my favorite things these devices do. When you start tracking, you start noticing patterns that you never thought you would catch otherwise. Like, oh, when I have that glass of wine or two, my deep sleep drops significantly. Like I said, it's like a smack in the face. You have that, and then you can see the lifestyle pattern of how it's showing up in the data. Or, I always have my best workouts after I've hit my protein goal for three days in a row. You can see that type of data in the app. Or, and I think this is really cool, with the cycle tracking, I can tell you spot on when I'm in my luteal phase because my body temperature increases.

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Which is really cool. So you can tell, the week before your period, that you're in the luteal phase. Your body temperature increases, your heart rate increases a little bit, and that's because you're getting your period soon. Your tracker is probably going to tell you your readiness score isn't the best, and this is your opportunity to maybe go a little bit lighter in the gym or just move your body with some supersets, right? Personally, this information is gold. That's personalized data about your body that no generic program can give you. I'm wearing the Oura Ring, it's right here, I'm showing you if you're watching on video. I had this thing before it was even cool, before it came into the spotlight a couple of years ago. I had it before COVID even hit. This is the only tracker I've worn consistently.

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So those are a few things that give credit where credit is due. Now I want to get to what I really want to talk to you about, because I don't think people talk about this enough. Wearables can be an incredible tool. They can also be another way to be absolutely obsessive, anxious, and disconnected from your own body. And for women, especially women who may already have a complicated relationship with food or with a scale or with their body or with performance, or their perfectionist mindset, if that's you, we need to take this seriously.

I'm going to lean into you a little bit with some love. As I was getting ready to record this podcast, I saw something I want to flag for you. There is a term called orthosomnia, if I'm saying that right, and it's a real thing. Researchers have coined this term for people who have become so obsessed with getting a perfect sleep score that the anxiety around it starts disrupting their sleep. You're lying in bed and you're stressed out about whether you're going to hit your deep sleep number or not, your deep sleep quota. And that is the opposite of what this is supposed to do for you.

It's the same thing as removing yourself from the emotional components of what the scale can do, and recognizing that this is a real thing. If that's you, maybe you only wear your tracker on certain nights of the week until you can develop the recognition that this is just giving me more insight into my body, like some of the points I shared before about why this information is golden. Maybe you can attach your relationship to that type of data instead.

Then there's the rings, or the green score. You've got this tendency to feel like you have to close your rings, you've got to get that green light, and the only way you can walk away from your workout feeling okay is because you did that. That can strip away your autonomy and your intuition about what your body's actually telling you. Some days you don't close it all the way, but you still feel amazing. That's incredible. And some days you're going to close it and feel like you pushed yourself way too hard, and you're going to feel flat. Listening to your body, rather than paying attention to closing your rings, is what matters most. Again, the device is just a data point, not the verdict. It doesn't tell you what you need to do.

Which leads into data as a form of control. I want to name this one gently, but directly. If you have ever struggled with disordered eating or over-exercising or using numbers to feel in control, fitness tracking data can feed those same patterns. If you're obsessively checking your stats, obsessively closing those rings, feeling anxious when the numbers aren't good or you didn't close your rings, punishing yourself with harder workouts, or pushing yourself to exhaustion when recovery is low, those are signs that the tool is no longer serving you. If you're doing these things as a punishment, that means these tools aren't helping you in your journey.

You shouldn't feel punished by a tool. You're the one in control, and you are the one with the intuition to know when your body has had enough or when it can perform at its best. These tools should make you excited to know deeper information about your body, not punish you. If any of this resonates, I want you to hear me say: you are allowed to take that watch off. You are allowed to take the ring off. You are allowed to use the data very loosely. You get to decide what role this plays in your life, not the other way around.

And the one last thing I want to say about this is the comparison spiral, especially for those of you in online fitness communities who are paying attention to your friends closing their rings. People share their Whoop scores, their sleep stats, their HRV numbers. That can very quickly become another version of comparing your body to someone else's, or comparing your journey to someone else's. I can't tell you how individualized these scores are. It's just like tracking your macros. Nobody has the exact same macro numbers. They can't. It's physically impossible. Everybody's body is physically different. Hormone profiles are made up differently. Our lifestyles are different, right? Everyone's baseline is different. A good HRV for you might be 80, where for someone else it's 110. Context always matters, you guys.

All right. So how can you actually wear this in a healthy, productive way? This is the framework I would suggest.

Number one, establish your baseline first. Don't freak out about your numbers right away. When you first start wearing a device, just observe it for the first two, three, four weeks. Get a sense of what your normal looks like, because you're not going to put on this wearable and all of a sudden have perfect numbers. Your numbers may look different. So it's about establishing and understanding your baseline.

Then I would say pick one or two metrics that you're actually going to pay attention to or act on. You don't need to obsess over every single number. Just pick the ones that feel relevant to your goals. Maybe it's your HRV and your readiness, or maybe it's your sleep. If your sleep is a weak spot, focus on your sleep quality, right? Simple and sustainable here. Pick one or two metrics that actually matter.

Another step: use it to inform yourself, not to control. The data should be one input among several. Your energy, your mood, your motivation, those are data points too. If your watch says rest and you genuinely feel great and you want to move, you are allowed to train. If your watch says go but your body says no, then you're allowed to rest, right? Use this data to have a conversation with your body, with yourself, not to entirely override it. There are days I've done it too. My readiness score has said, you're at a 71 for the day, what does your day look like, can you take it easy? But I'm like, I feel great, I'm going to go train. So use it to inform, use it to start a conversation with yourself, and then go with what your gut is telling you. Go with what your body is telling you.

And the last thing I would say is check on your relationship with it. Every few months, ask yourself honestly: Is this device making me feel more empowered? Is it making me feel happy? Is it making me feel like I'm learning? Or is it making me feel more anxious? Is it helping me trust my body more, or is it making me trust my body less? If the answer isn't a clear positive, then it might be worth recalibrating how you're using it or taking a break from it entirely. Okay?

So I know you're going to ask which devices. Here's a quick breakdown of the main options and what I would use them for. The Oura Ring is great for sleep tracking. It's great for cycle syncing. It's great for your readiness score. I live or die by my Oura Ring, I'll just be honest with you. I love it. I'm grandfathered in from before the subscription even became a thing, because that's how much I love it.

Whoop, from what I've heard, is great for serious recovery tracking. I think it has strain scores, and it dives into your HRV a little bit deeper, so it's popular among athletes. I know it's subscription-only.

The Apple Watch is great for everyday use. I have an Apple Watch too, but I don't use it for any tracking. I know it's got the ECG in it, which is pretty cool, and it works with your whole Apple ecosystem, which is pretty cool. But other than that, I don't really use it other than starting a workout and paying attention to my heart rate during my workout.

Garmin: I used to be an avid Garmin person. It's great for endurance athletes. It's great for runners. It's got GPS on it and training data, all the more technical stuff. It's less lifestyle-focused, in my opinion.

Bottom line, the best wearable is the one you're actually going to use consistently and that fits your lifestyle. There's no universally best option. For me, it's the Oura Ring. For you, it could be something completely different.

All right, I want to wrap up this episode. I hope this gave you a new way to think about the data you're collecting, or maybe it's inspired you to start paying attention to data if you haven't yet. The goal is always the same, though: to know yourself better. That's the goal with these devices. To train smarter, to build a body and a lifestyle that's actually sustainable for you long term, not just impressive on paper, or having perfect numbers inside these apps.

So if this hit home for you, I would genuinely love it if you shared it with a friend, a gym friend, or left a review. I haven't asked for reviews in a really long time, so if you could take 30 seconds after this episode, go into Spotify or Apple Podcasts and leave a review for me. I would appreciate it. Share this podcast with someone who might need it and help me keep spreading the word. Your feedback not only helps the show grow, but it might just be the nudge someone else needs to kickstart their transformation. Thank you so, so much for your support. Thank you.