Space Force Tech Sgt. Garry Springle said he would not be alive were it not for a smartwatch that the service issued him for an ongoing fitness study it’s conducting.

Not long after starting the study, Springle noticed the smartwatch consistently told him he was falling short of the Space Force’s fitness standards. Specifically, the watch was saying he was not meeting his required intensity minutes — a measure of heartbeats during exercise.

In order to meet the intensity requirement, Springle needed to get his heart rate up to 70% of the maximum rate for his age. But no matter how hard he exercised, he couldn’t get his heart rate high enough. Other than that, he was not experiencing any physical symptoms that indicated what might be wrong.

“I always thought maybe something was wrong wit

See Full Page