A few weeks ago, Stephen Bartlett found himself at the centre of a social media debate after talking about what happened when he drank three glasses of wine after a long period without alcohol.
His point was that he noticed the knock-on effects. His sleep was worse, he didn’t train as well, he made poorer food choices the next day and he felt less productive. His Whoop data backed all of that up.
Some people completely agreed with him. Others thought he’d become the poster boy for optimisation culture, where every decision has to be measured, tracked and improved and – in short – he was being over dramatic for the sake of it or being completely over the top!
Now, I’m going to be honest with you. I’m not really a fan of Stephen Bartlett or Diary of a CEO. I think he’s interviewed some fascinating people over the years, but I also think he’s given a platform to plenty of people selling ideas that are somewhere between overhyped and outright snake oil. In my opinion, that can do more harm than good, because it blurs the line between good evidence and good storytelling.
Do I think alcohol can affect your sleep, recovery and training? Absolutely. There’s plenty of evidence that it can. Do I think we should all start panicking about having a couple of glasses of wine because our recovery score might dip for a day or two? Personally, no. Like most things in health and fitness, context matters, and I think the reaction on both sides became a little over the top.
Recently, another health debate exploded online. Dr Rhonda Patrick appeared on a podcast discussing research into bananas and blueberries, explaining that the enzyme in bananas may reduce the absorption of certain flavanols found in blueberries.
And here’s my question. Before this story went viral, had you ever even heard of a flavanol? Probably not. They’re naturally occurring plant compounds found in foods like berries, tea and cocoa that may have some health benefits. Does that sound like something most people need to spend their lives worrying about? Personally, I don’t think so. Eat the banana. Eat the blueberries. Crack on!
Another example is the advice to avoid coffee for the first 60 to 90 minutes after waking, something that’s become hugely popular thanks to people like Andrew Huberman. Is there some science behind it? Yes. Is it something I’d lose sleep over? Absolutely not. If you enjoy a coffee when you get up and it helps you start your day, have the coffee and get on with your day!
Then there are cold plunges. Yes, there’s some evidence they can reduce muscle soreness after hard training, but they’ve somehow become another thing we’re all apparently supposed to be doing before breakfast. If you love sitting in cold water every morning as it makes you feel great, go for it. Personally, I think most people would get far more benefit from going for a walk, lifting a few weights and eating their vegetables. Far too many people major in the minors!
All these things to me highlight the same issue. We’re surrounded by more health advice, more data and more gadgets than ever before, yet sometimes it feels like we’re becoming less able to separate the things that genuinely matter from the things that make great headlines or viral clips.
That’s what got me thinking. Has optimisation culture gone too far?
I Love Data But It Isn’t The Boss
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you’ll know I like numbers.
I wear an Apple Watch every day. I use a Garmin bike computer whenever I’m out cycling. I keep an eye on things like resting heart rate and heart rate variability when I’m training hard because they can give me useful clues about recovery and fatigue.
The key word there is clues.
I’m not sat refreshing my watch every five minutes wondering whether my readiness score has gone up by two points. I certainly don’t wake up each morning and let my watch decide whether it’s going to be a good day.
The data is there to help me make better decisions, not to make them for me.
The same applies when I use data with clients. Sometimes it can highlight useful patterns or help explain why someone feels the way they do. Other times, it’s simply not necessary. The person in front of you always matters more than the graph on the screen.
We’ve Never Had More Information
Ten or fifteen years ago, most of us had very little information about our health outside of a yearly check-up (if you had one!).
Now we can measure almost everything.
You can track:
- Sleep quality
- Heart rate variability
- Resting heart rate
- Stress levels
- Calories burned
- Recovery scores
- Training readiness
- Blood glucose
- Body temperature
- Daily movement
Add devices like Apple Watch, Garmin, Whoop and Oura into the mix, and it’s easy to see why people have become fascinated by the numbers.
None of that is a bad thing.
In fact, I think it’s brilliant that people are taking more of an interest in their health.
The problem starts when the numbers become more important than how you actually feel.
Social Media Loves Extreme Health Advice
If you’ve spent any time on Instagram or TikTok recently, you’ll have seen the latest wave of optimisation trends.
Apparently we’re all supposed to be:
- Fibremaxxing
- Sleepmaxxing
- Cold plunging every morning
- Waiting 90 minutes before drinking coffee
- Avoiding every blood glucose spike
- Taking a cupboard full of supplements
- Chasing perfect sleep scores
Every few months there’s another trend that’s presented as the missing piece of the puzzle.
The reality is that most people don’t need another hack.
The basics aren’t exciting, which is probably why they don’t go viral, but most people would do better getting the basics right first.
Can Optimising Your Health Actually Make You Less Healthy?
This is the bit I find really interesting because there comes a point where trying to be healthier can actually start working against you.
There’s even a recognised phenomenon called orthosomnia, where people become so anxious about getting the perfect night’s sleep that the anxiety itself starts affecting their sleep. Imagine lying in bed thinking, “I have to get eight hours. My sleep score needs to be above 90.” That’s hardly the recipe for a relaxing night’s sleep.
I’ve seen something similar with training. Sometimes your watch tells you your recovery is poor, yet you feel fantastic. Other days it says you’re fully recovered, but your legs feel heavy and you know you’re not going to have your best session. The technology is clever, but it isn’t perfect, and it certainly doesn’t know you as well as you know yourself.
I think that’s where common sense has to come in. The numbers can be incredibly useful because they often spot trends that we’d otherwise miss, but they should never completely replace how your body feels. At the end of the day, the body isn’t a spreadsheet, and not everything that matters can be measured by a watch.
Don’t Let Your Watch Ruin Your Life
This is where I slightly disagreed with both sides of the Stephen Bartlett debate. He’s absolutely right that alcohol can affect your sleep, recovery and decision-making. That’s well established, and pretending otherwise doesn’t help anyone. He just made it sound like it completely ruined his life!
At the same time, if you spend every social occasion worrying about what a glass of wine is going to do to tomorrow’s readiness score, I think you’ve probably drifted too far in the other direction. Health should improve your life, not become your life.
If you’re skipping birthday meals, feeling guilty about enjoying yourself at a wedding, or cancelling plans because your watch says you’re only 68% recovered, it’s worth asking whether the technology is serving you or whether you’re serving it. Most of us aren’t professional athletes whose livelihood depends on squeezing out the final one per cent of performance. We’re ordinary people trying to be healthier, fitter and happier, and sometimes that means accepting that enjoying life is part of being healthy too.
What Actually Makes The Biggest Difference?
One of the problems with optimisation culture is that it often focuses on tiny gains while ignoring the things that make the biggest difference.
Most people would benefit far more from consistently doing the basics than endlessly chasing the latest biohack.
Again, this is things like:
- Exercising regularly
- Eating enough protein
- Including plenty of fruit and vegetables
- Sleeping reasonably well most of the time
- Maintaining a healthy body weight
- Managing stress
- Spending time with people they enjoy being around
- Not smoking
- Drinking alcohol in moderation
None of those are revolutionary.
None of them are likely to trend on social media.
But together they account for the vast majority of the results people are looking for.
My Rule For Wearables
I genuinely think wearable technology is one of the best things to happen to fitness over the last decade, and I have no intention of stopping using mine. My Apple Watch comes with me every day, my Garmin records every ride and, when my training load is high, I’ll have a quick look at things like my resting heart rate and HRV to see whether anything stands out.
I am going to repeat myself a little here, but it is worth it! The important bit is how you use that information. I see the numbers as the start of a conversation, not the end of one. If my resting heart rate is a little higher than normal, I’ll think about whether I’ve been sleeping enough, whether training has been particularly hard or whether I might be coming down with something. Equally, if my watch tells me my recovery isn’t great but I wake up feeling fresh, motivated and ready to train, I’m not going to let a number on a screen stop me. On the flip side, if it says I’m 100% recovered but my body is telling me otherwise, experience has taught me to trust my body first.
For me, the best use of wearable technology isn’t blindly following what it tells you. It’s using the information alongside a bit of common sense and remembering that no watch, however clever it is, knows your body as well as you do.
FINDING BALANCE
Technology has given us incredible tools to understand our health, and I genuinely believe that’s a positive thing. Social media and podcasts mean that health education – both good and bad – has never been more accessible.
The danger, though, comes when we forget that most of these are just tools.
Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is ignore your watch, go for a run because you feel like it, enjoy a meal with friends without analysing every mouthful, or have a glass of wine without worrying about tomorrow’s recovery score.
Optimise the big things.
Use the data when it’s helpful.
Then get on with living your life.
If you’re looking for coaching that focuses on the things that genuinely move the needle rather than chasing every new health trend, I’d love to help. My coaching is built around practical, sustainable habits, sensible nutrition and exercise that fits into real life, because getting healthier shouldn’t mean overthinking every decision you make. If that sounds like your kind of approach, feel free to get in touch.
