The Quantified Self

"Unless something can be measured, it cannot be improved. So we are on a quest to collect as many personal tools that will assist us in quantifiable measurement of ourselves. We welcome tools that help us see and understand bodies and minds so that we can figure out what humans are here for". - Kevin Kelly, 2007

This component of Sports Informatics and Analytics links back to Theme 3 - Performance Monitoring.

For someone to "Quantify" themselves, they can achieve it by logging their actions. Several common examples may include:

- Recording a run (km travelled, speed, heart rate)

- Recording their food input (calories, time of meal)

- Recording their expenditure (budgeting)

This can also be tracked by utilising wearable technologies. As we explored in "Performance Monitoring" - GPS data, wearable sensors and wireless communication are all used to monitor ones movement.

The owner of the above quote which suitably introduces this topic, Kevin Kelly, spoke of the origins of the Quantified Self in San Francisco in 2012:

What stuck out most to me was his notion that: what we are doing is essentially changing our own perceptions of what is "self".

By tracking ourselves we are altering the normal and if we are going to use information that we, or someone else gather - we are all quantifying ourselves.

A common tool that people use to measure themselves that I see frequently in my own life is the Nike Running app.

Other examples of wearable technology that one can use to Quantify themselves include:

-Fitbit

-Garmin Heart Rate Monitors

- Apple Watch

- Samsung Galaxy Gear

External/Internal Training Loads -

Shona Halson (2014) described it best with external loads: "the work completed by the athlete, measured independently of his or her internal characteristics", and internal loads: "the relative physiological and psychological stress imposed".

What this eludes to is the innate habit of all human beings to quantify their own actions or, furthermore, make their actions relevant (internal). By exerting the effort which can often be out of their comfort zone, they are satisfying both internal and external training loads in the process of quantification.