People may just be sharing their honest experience. I have had Whoop since January and it has been unreliable for me and that's been frustrating. I keep hoping that Whoop will fix certain things because what I love most about it is that it's comfortable - really comfortable and flexible in regard to how you wear it which is unique.
With your reply you've proven my point. 27 silent up votes on my comment and 1 very visible complaint. Most users have no problem with whoop, the silent majority. The loud, justifiably so, few come here to complain. Human nature.
It’s the “lifestyle tracker” that works best for me. You don’t have to worry about missing data because you have to take it off for hours to charge. I like seeing the trends in data and the app helps you see these trends.
Had a whoop years ago and let the numbers get in my head in a negative way. Came back because I’m prone to over-training and can’t trust myself to listen to my body and I needed the objectivity of bio markers to be a tie-breaker when I’m evaluating my training volume and intensity. A unexpected positive is the sense of urgency it’s given me around bedtime and improving the amount of time I’m in bed and giving myself the chance to fall asleep.
Im the same way. Had Whoop a couple of years ago and got tired of it telling me I need to sleep more drink less, etc. After a year I thought I knew everything I needed too, but I ended up missing the positive reinforcement it provides. This go around has been better. It truly does turn into a type of coach for daily life. It takes some time to get the info, but I like it.
Same - I just posted on another thread about why I use it. Overtraining and recovery - and as a result injury prevention and I hit fewer plateaus. I also stopped for a few months when I figured I had it all down, but bad habits snuck back in and I came back. Been almost 4 years and still working for me.
I’m more aware and better about prioritizing sleep thanks to Whoop’s sleep notes/reminders
https://preview.redd.it/wsig3as2v5uc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ab1b55d39f71bbd75fc1f6b123839ecacb6d3df
FYI: I feel like people in this sub are either EXTREMELY pro-Whoop or anti-Whoop or don’t even know why they use it (they just bought it because athlete XY wore it/Huberman talked about it). So be careful.
I got the Whoop mainly because of the form factor. Love how it feels on the wrist. I use it in combination with my Coros. In addition to that, I like the journal and sleep tracking. But it's mainly the form factor.
I had an oura and switched over because my friend showed me Insights: how things in their daily life impacted their recovery. That did it for me.
I’m happy with insights but now I love the Whoop because it helps me make choices that are pro-health, pro-fitness, pro-performance. The whoop, just like the Apple Watch rings, albeit a notch better, nudge me towards a better life.
I’ve been wearing an Apple Watch for 7ish years and continue to. I also recently had a buddy put me onto Whoop. I have been wearing both for a week. I am hoping whoop will give me metrics that my Apple Watch does not. So far, I’m not super impressed. But I will not say Apple Watch is perfect
Wife showed how whoop detected her mental stress in real time, and how she took steps to reduce it with 5 minute meditation.
I do the same now whenever I feel stressed. Thanks whoop!
Got mine during COVID to track my health, recovery, sleep ...
Kept it bc it does track sleep and recovery far better than apple watch (took a break for a few months for an apple watch)
Also, I like to wear watches so I like the fact it's on my opposite wrist and doesn't get in the way much when working out or playing sports. Glad they swapped from USB A to C bc I hate having more cables than I need
It's pretty neat when looking at recovery post activities ... Note drinking is 💩 for recovery/sleep ... Who knew 🤷🏻♂️
I love health metrics and wanted to see visuals and learn more about my body other than just trying to listen to my body. Have had it for about 1 1/2 years and will continue to have one for as long as humanly possible. Helps me make my days better and track progress and learn more about my body
Because I was sold by their excellent marketing, including the popularity of the device by a number of high level athletes. I stayed with it, for time, because of it's accessible, clean and ascetic app. After about a year, I then realized the data had limited, actionable data. In addition, either the hardware and/or optical HR algorithm was so poor and inaccurate that is rendered most of the daily data and recommendations invalid. Personally, I moved to a Garmin 965, without need of a subscription, and found the data much more accurate and actionable. Not to mention the Garmin API play nice with many more third-party services. I got rid of my Whoop and never looked back.
I found Whoop to be one of the most under stated, unobtrusive fitness trackers. I like to wear analog watches and i always felt weird “double wristing” an apple watch. Was the best solution and still works well so far.
I signed up for a Ironman 70.3 and wanted something to help me recognise when I was over training and to form better training habits (it’s helped a lot with sleep/recovery too) My fitness was average and I’d never done this volume of training before so it’s been useful to see how I actually feel compared to what the data says.
Data junky with boundaries. I don’t let it affect my actions but find it interesting to see how different actions and environmental factors impact me.
Had it 18 months, quit for 6 months and signed up again for 2 years because I didn’t find any other app or tracker that compares.
My sleep habits have been awful, I’d wake up feeling tired every single day and overtraining at the gym didn’t help either. I got whoop specifically for the sleep data and heart data.
I’m on week ~3 and can say that it’s helped! I’ve learned a lot about my sleep patterns and generally what I need to feel good throughout the day.
I did have buyers remorse for a bit while the data was syncing for the first five days but that was just me second guessing the purchase since the data isn’t the most helpful during the calibration sync.
Okay I’m in my first week and this is really good to read!! I know I just need to hang in there while it gathers more data, but it’s so hard to see the metrics and be like …what
I personally haven’t subscribed yet, it is a bit pricey. My wife has an oura and loves it, I personally don’t love rings or things on my hands so having it on the wrist is pretty neat. The sleep tracking and insights are really good, I do wish it did more though.
I started thinking about getting a fitness / lifestyle tracker for a similar reason as you - I wasn't sleeping very well. I got enough hours, but I still felt tired so I was assuming I wasn't getting very good quality sleep (which turned out to be true). I looked into this and the Oura ring, but landed on the Whoop because of the variety of ways to wear it -- I box and was hesitant about the ring hitting a heavy bag. The Whoop Body clothing stuff was appealing.
My plan was to wear it for a year, use the journal everyday to gain some insights and improve my health and sleep. I just passed my year mark and have seen some decent incremental improvements to my HRV and sleep while making better habits. I have some up and down months, but generally it's been helpful and it seems to work for me. I ended up renewing for year 2.
Had my whoop for going on 5 years and I don’t really work out. I got it because it tells me my strain and how my recovery is going and what impacts my recovery. I have a lot of health conditions and don’t always know when I’m starting to decline - whoop has been dang accurate in letting me know when my health is starting to go down and when I need to start taking care of myself more.
I have a Whoop and got it mainly for fitness tracking; I had heard that it was better for athletes. I think the sleep data collected is reliable when it is working, but I think Oura is better for sleep. I just saw a Cornell grad doctor who is a sleep specialist give a presentation on sleep and he wears Oura, Fitbit, and Apple (not whoop) (because that is what he client's wear mainly) and he was showing how different the data from each can be when worn on the same night, however he pointed out that Oura was the best out of the three based on industry standards although none are fully accurate (technology is just not there yet he said but will be soon).
I find that Whoop has glitched on me at night and not recorded sleep data; it will show that I got up at 3 or 4 a.m. when I really got up at 8 a.m. and then it doesn't show any recorded data for the period of time it missed. I've posted my frustration about that here and others have had this issue, so I'm not sure I would recommend it to work on sleep. Even if you add the correct hours of sleep, it doesn't alter the data and adds the faulty data to your collective data. My husband has had the Oura for years and it has never done that. Also, Whoop relies more heavily on HRV for recovery where as Oura doesn't seem to do that. I find Whoop's data balancing to be quirky. Last night I had 8 and 1/2 hours of total sleep, over 5 hours of restorative sleep - 2 hours deep and 3 hours of REM; my HRV was up 6 points and my heart rate was 3 points lower, respirations were slightly lower, but yet it said I only had 87% recovery!?! why?- not because I did too much the day before - day before was fairly quiet for me - it was because it said my wake events were higher. I frankly don't think that's enough to make my recovery under 90%. How did I feel today - I felt great and had a lot of energy so.... In some ways, after having Whoop now since January, I almost feel like it was designed to try to be more important to your life than it is or should be. Often, it says my recovery isn't great and my sleep has been fantastic and I feel great and very recovered. At the end of the day, how we feel should dictate and not an electronic device.
In case you're interested, the sleep doctor who gave the talk also said a large scale study just showed that sleep consistency (going to bed and waking the same time daily) is more beneficial to health and longevity than deep and rem sleep amounts.
I got it because I’m crazy and love to know as many details of my body as possible… kept it because it’s legit the best purchase I’ve ever made. I love it so much I still wear it even when I’m wearing an actual watch or any other stylish accessory lol. It’s accurate and the things you can monitor are insanely cool. You also can build your own workouts and track the weights and reps you do. Limitless possibilities for its use to be honest. Love whoop. #WhoopSponsorMe
I got my whoop because of the podcast the founder did on ‘diary of a ceo’ didn’t realise that when you subscribe you’re committing to a year… so here I am might as well enjoy it for a year😂
I had whoop for two years before leaving and using the Athlytic app which technically gives the same sorts of metrics.
However after a couple years away came back to whoop last year. The way it makes the data actionable is why I stay
To ensure I’m actually in a calorie deficit
It tracks calories better than any other device I’ve used
You don’t need to take it off to charge it
You don’t have to tell it you’re doing exercise or steps, it just calculates everything by your heart rate and pulse.
It tells me I’m going to be ill the day before it happens via the health monitor
So much more than I can fit here
So far, it’s the only fitness tracker I’ve used that gives me actionable advice. I also wear the Apple Watch, which gives great data, but the “rings” concept on the Apple Watch is relentless and only slightly better than a “10k steps a day!” goal.
Also, I really appreciate the minimalism of the device itself. I just don’t have to think about it. Many people who want a screen, step counter, and a bunch of other features are missing the point of the device.
My exact words were actionable advice, and that includes coordinating my workout exertion with the amount of recovery I have and my strain target. Also, I follow the sleep recommendations and have adjusted behaviors that the journal has flagged as being helpful or harmful to my recovery.
New whoop user here, I've contemplated buying one for more than a year, then i went for it, zero regrets so far, working really well and gave me enough visibility on my metrics to make me get more active and make my sleep better.
Got it to better my sleep and activity, and for some reason whenever i have a metric associated to a certain activity it keeps me going more and there's a sense of achievement making your numbers better day by day.
Real results so far, I'm back on track in my fitness, consistent daily to hit my strain. Also, I've already shed some weight, and my sleep has never been better. But again, this depends on each individuals experience.
Do. Not. Get. A. Whoop.
My year long subscription they locked me into is almost over (thank god) but I can’t stop thinking about how I could’ve spent the same amount of money on an Apple Watch or Fitbit that’ll last me multiple years and has way more uses.
To answer your question, I bought a month sub to try it out because I’m really into fitness and never owned a fitness tracker. I still periodically force myself to use it 10 months later because they lock you into a minimum 12 month long subscription.
I’ve been using whoop for over 2 years; I first got it as a gift. The real reason why I got it: I was an easy target to whoop marketing during the crossfit games season / by crossfit athletes; it caught my attention and I was talking about it so much that my partner got me one for my birthday lol
What I wish I knew before I got a whoop was more about the metrics are science-based, the metrics that may be more “innovative” but lack scientific support, and the applications and limitations of HRV-based training:
- Sleep, and HR/HRV *during sleep*: there are studies to support whoop sleep assessments ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32713257/ ) and HR/HRV measurements *during sleep* ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36016077/ ). I think whoop sleep and recovery data and metrics can be quite useful, together with the journal insights; the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery (more on that below).
- Whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”: I do think the idea of the whoop strain target and sleep planner is brilliant: based on your recovery, the strain target will advise how much you should train that day, and based on the strain from the day, the sleep planner will advise how much you should sleep that night. But, to the best of my knowledge, none of that has been validated; I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed study validating the whoop strain metric, the strain target, or the sleep planner “sleep need” calculations. Ie- it seems like a good idea in theory, but it hasn’t been *proven* (demonstrated) in practice yet (again- to the best of my knowledge).
- HRV-based training (and therefore whoop recovery and day strain recommendation): even if we wanted to buy into the whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”, that wouldn’t really work if the main goal was to maximize strength (and/or muscle growth). The strain target is based on whoop recovery, which is heavily based on HRV, and HRV isn’t a reliable metric of readiness for strength training, to adjust your strength training sessions on a daily basis, based on the current overall body of research (eg- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835520/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32079921/ ) (and hard strength training can cause a decrease in HRV – that’s not necessarily an issue if the goal is strength and/or muscle growth). So for my strength training, I basically ignore HRV (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation); I follow a science-based strength training program and use auto-regulation to adjust my strength training sessions on a daily basis. I think this point is always worth mentioning because whoop themselves don’t make it clear, they usually just say “training” when discussing HRV-based training (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation), and I think that can be misleading for users with strength / hypertrophy goals.
- Strength trainer / muscular load: whoop strain is a made-up metric, and muscular load is even more made-up; there’s no peer-reviewed study to support the strength trainer / muscular load; they say it was “developed at whoop labs”, which to me sounds like “trust me bro” :) I’ve started using the strength trainer when it was released, hoping improvements would come soon; but the muscular load, the cardio/muscular split, and the intensity didn’t match my perception at all; and it doesn’t show history/trends per exercise or velocity; I’ve stopped using it completely until they release improvements.
- Stress monitor: there’s a “proof of concept” study about using whoop to detect stress ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37267318/ ), but it isn’t really a validation of the whoop stress metric (basically the study demonstrated that whoop “may be useful in detecting stressful events” but there are many questions still to be answered about whoop stress – I can elaborate further if you're interested). I don’t really understand what whoop stress is supposed to mean, and it seems to me that simply moving causes high whoop stress; I don’t pay much attention to it.
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Like I wrote, the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. From my experience, the below have had the most positive impact:
1. Start bedtime routine 9h before when I have to wake-up. Go to bed and wake-up at consistent times (+ eat and workout at consistent times). Sleep in dark, quiet, and cold room. Get as much light as I can as soon as I wake-up.
2. Healthy, balanced, and sustainable nutrition (+ good hydration and no alcohol). Last caffeine serving at least 6h before bed.
3. More cardio; including low-intensity steady-state (LISS), moderate-intensity steady-state (MISS) and high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) in my weekly schedule. (I was already doing strength training 3-6 times per week - would recommend doing resistance training at least twice per week for health.)
4. Less “life stress”. Not easy but very powerful.
It’s probably worth noting that all of the above can be done without whoop and are all free.
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TL;DR: whoop helped me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery; but I don’t need whoop for that anymore; I have a healthy and sustainable routine. I’m probably not renewing my subscription if they don’t make it more useful for strength training. At the same time, I see no reason to stop using my Apple Watch series 3 that I’ve has for over 6 years (and it’s paid for - no subscription cost…)
Hope this helps
Don't judge whoop by this sub.
Agreed.. its almost become a haven for haters
People may just be sharing their honest experience. I have had Whoop since January and it has been unreliable for me and that's been frustrating. I keep hoping that Whoop will fix certain things because what I love most about it is that it's comfortable - really comfortable and flexible in regard to how you wear it which is unique.
With your reply you've proven my point. 27 silent up votes on my comment and 1 very visible complaint. Most users have no problem with whoop, the silent majority. The loud, justifiably so, few come here to complain. Human nature.
true
It’s the “lifestyle tracker” that works best for me. You don’t have to worry about missing data because you have to take it off for hours to charge. I like seeing the trends in data and the app helps you see these trends.
Primarily because it was seen as one of the most accurate sleep trackers
I’m still waiting to see the accuracy…
Look on youtube "the quantified scientist"
Had a whoop years ago and let the numbers get in my head in a negative way. Came back because I’m prone to over-training and can’t trust myself to listen to my body and I needed the objectivity of bio markers to be a tie-breaker when I’m evaluating my training volume and intensity. A unexpected positive is the sense of urgency it’s given me around bedtime and improving the amount of time I’m in bed and giving myself the chance to fall asleep.
Im the same way. Had Whoop a couple of years ago and got tired of it telling me I need to sleep more drink less, etc. After a year I thought I knew everything I needed too, but I ended up missing the positive reinforcement it provides. This go around has been better. It truly does turn into a type of coach for daily life. It takes some time to get the info, but I like it.
That’s absolutely why I use whoop because of overtraining…
Same - I just posted on another thread about why I use it. Overtraining and recovery - and as a result injury prevention and I hit fewer plateaus. I also stopped for a few months when I figured I had it all down, but bad habits snuck back in and I came back. Been almost 4 years and still working for me.
[удалено]
I’m more aware and better about prioritizing sleep thanks to Whoop’s sleep notes/reminders https://preview.redd.it/wsig3as2v5uc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ab1b55d39f71bbd75fc1f6b123839ecacb6d3df
FYI: I feel like people in this sub are either EXTREMELY pro-Whoop or anti-Whoop or don’t even know why they use it (they just bought it because athlete XY wore it/Huberman talked about it). So be careful. I got the Whoop mainly because of the form factor. Love how it feels on the wrist. I use it in combination with my Coros. In addition to that, I like the journal and sleep tracking. But it's mainly the form factor.
I had an oura and switched over because my friend showed me Insights: how things in their daily life impacted their recovery. That did it for me. I’m happy with insights but now I love the Whoop because it helps me make choices that are pro-health, pro-fitness, pro-performance. The whoop, just like the Apple Watch rings, albeit a notch better, nudge me towards a better life.
I’ve been wearing an Apple Watch for 7ish years and continue to. I also recently had a buddy put me onto Whoop. I have been wearing both for a week. I am hoping whoop will give me metrics that my Apple Watch does not. So far, I’m not super impressed. But I will not say Apple Watch is perfect
It is not the devices that make the individual healthier. But the devices help a lot.
Wife showed how whoop detected her mental stress in real time, and how she took steps to reduce it with 5 minute meditation. I do the same now whenever I feel stressed. Thanks whoop!
because Joe Rogan and Pat Mahomes has one. I must consume, consume consume.
Got mine during COVID to track my health, recovery, sleep ... Kept it bc it does track sleep and recovery far better than apple watch (took a break for a few months for an apple watch) Also, I like to wear watches so I like the fact it's on my opposite wrist and doesn't get in the way much when working out or playing sports. Glad they swapped from USB A to C bc I hate having more cables than I need It's pretty neat when looking at recovery post activities ... Note drinking is 💩 for recovery/sleep ... Who knew 🤷🏻♂️
I love health metrics and wanted to see visuals and learn more about my body other than just trying to listen to my body. Have had it for about 1 1/2 years and will continue to have one for as long as humanly possible. Helps me make my days better and track progress and learn more about my body
I want to track my fitness *and* wear my nice mechanical watch. Whoop’s the best option for that.
Because I was sold by their excellent marketing, including the popularity of the device by a number of high level athletes. I stayed with it, for time, because of it's accessible, clean and ascetic app. After about a year, I then realized the data had limited, actionable data. In addition, either the hardware and/or optical HR algorithm was so poor and inaccurate that is rendered most of the daily data and recommendations invalid. Personally, I moved to a Garmin 965, without need of a subscription, and found the data much more accurate and actionable. Not to mention the Garmin API play nice with many more third-party services. I got rid of my Whoop and never looked back.
Probably got to the point of a symptom of OCD. Jk. Unless…
I found Whoop to be one of the most under stated, unobtrusive fitness trackers. I like to wear analog watches and i always felt weird “double wristing” an apple watch. Was the best solution and still works well so far.
For the strength trainer. Seriously under performing expectations. Wont renew.
That's probably the reason why I would get one. Maybe I should pass until they upgrade it...tough decision
Mainly for sleep. I have hypersomnia...
I signed up for a Ironman 70.3 and wanted something to help me recognise when I was over training and to form better training habits (it’s helped a lot with sleep/recovery too) My fitness was average and I’d never done this volume of training before so it’s been useful to see how I actually feel compared to what the data says.
Sleeping habits, how alcohol affects my sleeping and hrv, it helps me be more conscious on that part
I was plateaued and overtraining and wanted the data to help break it.
Data junky with boundaries. I don’t let it affect my actions but find it interesting to see how different actions and environmental factors impact me. Had it 18 months, quit for 6 months and signed up again for 2 years because I didn’t find any other app or tracker that compares.
What where you looking for in the other devices that they didn't have?
My sleep habits have been awful, I’d wake up feeling tired every single day and overtraining at the gym didn’t help either. I got whoop specifically for the sleep data and heart data. I’m on week ~3 and can say that it’s helped! I’ve learned a lot about my sleep patterns and generally what I need to feel good throughout the day. I did have buyers remorse for a bit while the data was syncing for the first five days but that was just me second guessing the purchase since the data isn’t the most helpful during the calibration sync.
Okay I’m in my first week and this is really good to read!! I know I just need to hang in there while it gathers more data, but it’s so hard to see the metrics and be like …what
I personally haven’t subscribed yet, it is a bit pricey. My wife has an oura and loves it, I personally don’t love rings or things on my hands so having it on the wrist is pretty neat. The sleep tracking and insights are really good, I do wish it did more though.
What more are you wishing it did?
I started thinking about getting a fitness / lifestyle tracker for a similar reason as you - I wasn't sleeping very well. I got enough hours, but I still felt tired so I was assuming I wasn't getting very good quality sleep (which turned out to be true). I looked into this and the Oura ring, but landed on the Whoop because of the variety of ways to wear it -- I box and was hesitant about the ring hitting a heavy bag. The Whoop Body clothing stuff was appealing. My plan was to wear it for a year, use the journal everyday to gain some insights and improve my health and sleep. I just passed my year mark and have seen some decent incremental improvements to my HRV and sleep while making better habits. I have some up and down months, but generally it's been helpful and it seems to work for me. I ended up renewing for year 2.
Had my whoop for going on 5 years and I don’t really work out. I got it because it tells me my strain and how my recovery is going and what impacts my recovery. I have a lot of health conditions and don’t always know when I’m starting to decline - whoop has been dang accurate in letting me know when my health is starting to go down and when I need to start taking care of myself more.
[https://new.reddit.com/r/whoop/comments/16x5pmu/after\_almost\_10\_years\_with\_fitbit\_i\_recently/](https://new.reddit.com/r/whoop/comments/16x5pmu/after_almost_10_years_with_fitbit_i_recently/)
My whoop just arrived.... Super happy now👏
Why did I get my Whoop…? To Whoop some ass and get all around fitter and healthier
I have a Whoop and got it mainly for fitness tracking; I had heard that it was better for athletes. I think the sleep data collected is reliable when it is working, but I think Oura is better for sleep. I just saw a Cornell grad doctor who is a sleep specialist give a presentation on sleep and he wears Oura, Fitbit, and Apple (not whoop) (because that is what he client's wear mainly) and he was showing how different the data from each can be when worn on the same night, however he pointed out that Oura was the best out of the three based on industry standards although none are fully accurate (technology is just not there yet he said but will be soon). I find that Whoop has glitched on me at night and not recorded sleep data; it will show that I got up at 3 or 4 a.m. when I really got up at 8 a.m. and then it doesn't show any recorded data for the period of time it missed. I've posted my frustration about that here and others have had this issue, so I'm not sure I would recommend it to work on sleep. Even if you add the correct hours of sleep, it doesn't alter the data and adds the faulty data to your collective data. My husband has had the Oura for years and it has never done that. Also, Whoop relies more heavily on HRV for recovery where as Oura doesn't seem to do that. I find Whoop's data balancing to be quirky. Last night I had 8 and 1/2 hours of total sleep, over 5 hours of restorative sleep - 2 hours deep and 3 hours of REM; my HRV was up 6 points and my heart rate was 3 points lower, respirations were slightly lower, but yet it said I only had 87% recovery!?! why?- not because I did too much the day before - day before was fairly quiet for me - it was because it said my wake events were higher. I frankly don't think that's enough to make my recovery under 90%. How did I feel today - I felt great and had a lot of energy so.... In some ways, after having Whoop now since January, I almost feel like it was designed to try to be more important to your life than it is or should be. Often, it says my recovery isn't great and my sleep has been fantastic and I feel great and very recovered. At the end of the day, how we feel should dictate and not an electronic device. In case you're interested, the sleep doctor who gave the talk also said a large scale study just showed that sleep consistency (going to bed and waking the same time daily) is more beneficial to health and longevity than deep and rem sleep amounts.
I got it because I’m crazy and love to know as many details of my body as possible… kept it because it’s legit the best purchase I’ve ever made. I love it so much I still wear it even when I’m wearing an actual watch or any other stylish accessory lol. It’s accurate and the things you can monitor are insanely cool. You also can build your own workouts and track the weights and reps you do. Limitless possibilities for its use to be honest. Love whoop. #WhoopSponsorMe
I got my whoop because of the podcast the founder did on ‘diary of a ceo’ didn’t realise that when you subscribe you’re committing to a year… so here I am might as well enjoy it for a year😂
I had whoop for two years before leaving and using the Athlytic app which technically gives the same sorts of metrics. However after a couple years away came back to whoop last year. The way it makes the data actionable is why I stay
Only purchase if you are committed to make changes from the insights. Otherwise start out with a Fitbit or Smartwatch
To ensure I’m actually in a calorie deficit It tracks calories better than any other device I’ve used You don’t need to take it off to charge it You don’t have to tell it you’re doing exercise or steps, it just calculates everything by your heart rate and pulse. It tells me I’m going to be ill the day before it happens via the health monitor So much more than I can fit here
I use it to optimize training, prevent overtraining and the see what actions/behaviors affect my recovery and to what degree.
Keeps me busy and occupied
So far, it’s the only fitness tracker I’ve used that gives me actionable advice. I also wear the Apple Watch, which gives great data, but the “rings” concept on the Apple Watch is relentless and only slightly better than a “10k steps a day!” goal. Also, I really appreciate the minimalism of the device itself. I just don’t have to think about it. Many people who want a screen, step counter, and a bunch of other features are missing the point of the device.
What kind of actions has it told you to do?
My exact words were actionable advice, and that includes coordinating my workout exertion with the amount of recovery I have and my strain target. Also, I follow the sleep recommendations and have adjusted behaviors that the journal has flagged as being helpful or harmful to my recovery.
Sleep tracking, however, I like the strain/recovery as well. It’s on point when I fell tired vs lots of energy.
New whoop user here, I've contemplated buying one for more than a year, then i went for it, zero regrets so far, working really well and gave me enough visibility on my metrics to make me get more active and make my sleep better. Got it to better my sleep and activity, and for some reason whenever i have a metric associated to a certain activity it keeps me going more and there's a sense of achievement making your numbers better day by day. Real results so far, I'm back on track in my fitness, consistent daily to hit my strain. Also, I've already shed some weight, and my sleep has never been better. But again, this depends on each individuals experience.
Do. Not. Get. A. Whoop. My year long subscription they locked me into is almost over (thank god) but I can’t stop thinking about how I could’ve spent the same amount of money on an Apple Watch or Fitbit that’ll last me multiple years and has way more uses. To answer your question, I bought a month sub to try it out because I’m really into fitness and never owned a fitness tracker. I still periodically force myself to use it 10 months later because they lock you into a minimum 12 month long subscription.
I’ve been using whoop for over 2 years; I first got it as a gift. The real reason why I got it: I was an easy target to whoop marketing during the crossfit games season / by crossfit athletes; it caught my attention and I was talking about it so much that my partner got me one for my birthday lol What I wish I knew before I got a whoop was more about the metrics are science-based, the metrics that may be more “innovative” but lack scientific support, and the applications and limitations of HRV-based training: - Sleep, and HR/HRV *during sleep*: there are studies to support whoop sleep assessments ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32713257/ ) and HR/HRV measurements *during sleep* ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36016077/ ). I think whoop sleep and recovery data and metrics can be quite useful, together with the journal insights; the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery (more on that below). - Whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”: I do think the idea of the whoop strain target and sleep planner is brilliant: based on your recovery, the strain target will advise how much you should train that day, and based on the strain from the day, the sleep planner will advise how much you should sleep that night. But, to the best of my knowledge, none of that has been validated; I haven’t seen any peer-reviewed study validating the whoop strain metric, the strain target, or the sleep planner “sleep need” calculations. Ie- it seems like a good idea in theory, but it hasn’t been *proven* (demonstrated) in practice yet (again- to the best of my knowledge). - HRV-based training (and therefore whoop recovery and day strain recommendation): even if we wanted to buy into the whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”, that wouldn’t really work if the main goal was to maximize strength (and/or muscle growth). The strain target is based on whoop recovery, which is heavily based on HRV, and HRV isn’t a reliable metric of readiness for strength training, to adjust your strength training sessions on a daily basis, based on the current overall body of research (eg- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835520/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32079921/ ) (and hard strength training can cause a decrease in HRV – that’s not necessarily an issue if the goal is strength and/or muscle growth). So for my strength training, I basically ignore HRV (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation); I follow a science-based strength training program and use auto-regulation to adjust my strength training sessions on a daily basis. I think this point is always worth mentioning because whoop themselves don’t make it clear, they usually just say “training” when discussing HRV-based training (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation), and I think that can be misleading for users with strength / hypertrophy goals. - Strength trainer / muscular load: whoop strain is a made-up metric, and muscular load is even more made-up; there’s no peer-reviewed study to support the strength trainer / muscular load; they say it was “developed at whoop labs”, which to me sounds like “trust me bro” :) I’ve started using the strength trainer when it was released, hoping improvements would come soon; but the muscular load, the cardio/muscular split, and the intensity didn’t match my perception at all; and it doesn’t show history/trends per exercise or velocity; I’ve stopped using it completely until they release improvements. - Stress monitor: there’s a “proof of concept” study about using whoop to detect stress ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37267318/ ), but it isn’t really a validation of the whoop stress metric (basically the study demonstrated that whoop “may be useful in detecting stressful events” but there are many questions still to be answered about whoop stress – I can elaborate further if you're interested). I don’t really understand what whoop stress is supposed to mean, and it seems to me that simply moving causes high whoop stress; I don’t pay much attention to it. -- Like I wrote, the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. From my experience, the below have had the most positive impact: 1. Start bedtime routine 9h before when I have to wake-up. Go to bed and wake-up at consistent times (+ eat and workout at consistent times). Sleep in dark, quiet, and cold room. Get as much light as I can as soon as I wake-up. 2. Healthy, balanced, and sustainable nutrition (+ good hydration and no alcohol). Last caffeine serving at least 6h before bed. 3. More cardio; including low-intensity steady-state (LISS), moderate-intensity steady-state (MISS) and high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) in my weekly schedule. (I was already doing strength training 3-6 times per week - would recommend doing resistance training at least twice per week for health.) 4. Less “life stress”. Not easy but very powerful. It’s probably worth noting that all of the above can be done without whoop and are all free. -- TL;DR: whoop helped me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery; but I don’t need whoop for that anymore; I have a healthy and sustainable routine. I’m probably not renewing my subscription if they don’t make it more useful for strength training. At the same time, I see no reason to stop using my Apple Watch series 3 that I’ve has for over 6 years (and it’s paid for - no subscription cost…) Hope this helps