Anyone using a Whoop?

[Javifeu]

Another Whoop user here. I find valuable information by tracking my HRV and RHR during sleep, but as many pointed out, these metrics should be interpreted within a context. The daily journal does a great job at it, IMHO.

I’m hesitant about renewing my subscription. Have you guys tried other devices that can track these “sleep metrics” (even though the dashboard or interpretation is not as good as Whoop’s)? I am a proud owner of a Garmin Fenix 5 (3 years with 100% reliability) but it doesn’t serve this purpose.

[Kuttermax]

I’m in the same boat as you with a Fenix 5 and a Whoop. It looks like Garmin has some new sleep tracking options but from what I can see they only released it for the Fenix 6 which is a bit frustrating. I’m sure they want Fenix 5 users to upgrade, but its a lot to ask given that the Fenix 5 is not that old and wasn’t exactly inexpensive.

I continue to have issues with my Whoop 3.0 since the latest firmware update. It is not playing nice with my Garmin 830 and 1030. It is intermittently dropping its connection or not holding it at all. I contacted Whoop support and they keep giving me tips to connect it to my phone, which is not the issue. Something changed with the HR Broadcast mode in the firmware update that seems to be causing these issues. I had it early on when the 3.0 strap first released but then with updates the issues went away and it had worked very reliable. Now with the new update the issues are back.

[Benrlelliott]

Just cancelled my Whoop subscription. Had it for two month, found HRV all over the place, resting hr seems to follow how I felt and my exertion closer. Ultimately it wasn’t informing my work out or life decisions but remained a nice toy. Then strap wouldn’t connect with phone (but visible on Bluetooth), no response from numerous emails to Whoop => cancelled.

[Kuttermax]

My latest interaction with Whoop support was poor where they essentially couldn’t understand the problem. In the past they had been quite helpful. If this aspect of their service is slipping, it will likely cost them in customers.

[Pbase]

That’s the problem I had too. I took it off and never put it back on as a result. Total waste of money.

[mdlyons1980]

I have been using a Whoop since March and here is my experience.

Sleep tracking - On the whole, pretty accurate. There have been some nights, usually when I have been disturbed at night, where it has not recorded the whole sleep, but I simply edit the time in the morning when I see the clear discrepancy and it recalculates.

HR tracking - I know a lot of people have had issues here, but I think that is mainly due to where and how the strap is worn. I had a few issues in the first few weeks, but I got advised by Whoop to wear it a little further up the arm and adjust the tightness and since then it has been fine. They even sent me a bicep strap for free when assisting me. I have not used it yet though as I have not had one issue with its accuracy since then. It automatically detects all my workouts, and when I compare them to my HR chest strap data it tracks well, within a few bpm normally. More than adequate for the purpose it serves.

Data - The HRV and RHR data I find very interesting, and pretty accurate on the whole. After a few heavy days working out, I normally start to dip near the red, and after a day or so recovery, I normally am trending to green. What I have found most interesting about the data is the trend over several months. I can clearly see, that on average, my resting HR has lowered over the last 5 months. In addition, my HRV has trended higher on average over the 5 months. I started training again last October but have really been training consistently and with structure since March and these trends validate my increased Aerobic fitness.

The respiratory rate metric they added since covid is also a nice touch, as theoretically if you see a significant change here, it is likely a respiratory issue. The monthly / weekly reports are pretty tidy and smart.

Swim usage - One of the reasons I thought I would try Whoop is you can also use it in water, I don’t swim much, but I have tried it and to be honest it slips on the wrist, so it is not useful for recording HR in the water. Maybe it would be different with the bicep strap, but I have not tried it in the water.

One interesting thing I noted from the data is that it can help you see if you are ill. I had a very minor cough in March (maybe covid…) and my HRV data from those weeks was lower than any other period since I have been wearing it, even when I was not really feeling very ill physically, my body was reacting.

All that said, I am approaching my six months and that is the initial term you are fixed into. I am now considering whether to continue. While I love the data as a data nerd and love seeing my trends etc. I am leaning towards not continuing with it. It does what they claim it does, but I don’t think it justifies the price. There are days it tells me I am less or more recovered, but I generally don’t use this to alter my training plan as I can tell by my training load and how I feel whether I need rest or not. $30 a month is just too much for what it offers. If it were 5 - even 10 I would consider continuing but $30 is just too much, if that is indeed the rate they ask to continue as I think the $30 a month initial period was including a subsidy for the hardware.

[Kuttermax]

OMG… their tech support is now beyond bad.

I’ve messaged them multiple times that the HR broadcast mode is not working on my strap. It sync’s with my phone just fine but if I turn “HR Broadcast” mode on, devices like my Garmin 1030 no longer get a HR reading, although they see the device. Same thing happens if I run TR on my iPAD and sync the Whoop strap with it.

Here is what Whoop tech support said to me:

Thank you for reaching out to us!

*Garmin was recently hacked pretty badly, and this could be the reason why your WHOOP is not integrating with your Garmin. Have you reached out to your Garmin people yet? *

Your WHOOP device is working perfectly and I do not see any issues here.

[noahphence]

Unlucky, they’ve got your money for at least 6 months too.

[Pbase]

It was an experience like this that cause me to just take it off. I’m just glad I didn’t commit for longer than a year.

[Kuttermax]

So yesterday a firmware update was pushed and low and behold the HR transmission function seemed to be working again. Seems the software engineers knew about the issue but the tech support didn’t.

[mdlyons1980]

I have previously said that I probably would not renew my whoop, but now I am having second thoughts as it seems to have detected me having Covid before I realized myself.

From around the beginning of the month, my whoop was giving me lower than normal recovery scores. I was in the middle of SSMV and I do tend to find MV plans tiring over the longer term. However, normally one full day or so of rest and my recovery score shoots back up, and if it does not after one day, with a second day of rest is always shoots up. However, I had a number of days with a low recovery score that gradually went down to being in the red after around 6 days even with quite a bit of rest and recovery. I have never had 6 days consecutively without my HRV shooting back up.

Around the same time my wife had a fever, so we both got tested. We just got the results (13 days later…) and we were both positive. My wife recovered fine after a few days and I never really had any symptoms, aside from my recovery score being low and feeling a little tired, although that is hard to attribute to Covid or just general fatigue. As a result I had backed off the plan and took at easy week and I seem to be more or less back to normal; I am not sure I would have backed off had I not seen my recover so low for an extended period of time as it worried me.

Kudos to the whoop for showing its real value.

[SRLECEY]

Hi @mdlyons1980

Curios to know what your respiratory rate was doing during this time. I know whoop has some data that shows respiratory rate can be a pretty early marker of covid.

I have had low (single digit) recovery scores the past two days and am not sure what is going on-- I’ve been spending 10 hours a night in bed (but only sleeping ~ 5), eating well, backed off training. I don’t feel sick today, but I certainly don’t feel 100%. My respiratory rate has been in line, so it seems like maybe I’m just worn down. Wondering if the low scores are a precursor to something, or if I’m just beat/not sleeping/ need a few days off.

[mdlyons1980]

My respiratory rate never deviated from its normal range. My resting heart rate, was actually lower than normal during the period which is odd as they tend to say that elevated resting heart rate is a sign of illness.

[shulikrw]

The comments on the low recovery score are interesting. I don’t use Whoop but Training Today on my Apple Watch, it has been throwing a low readiness score for about six weeks, no COVID symptoms and I generally feel fine. July was pretty heaving on training but I never felt super stressed.

My sleep has not been as well over the recent weeks but I’m seeing someone in an effort to correct. This very well could be the reason for the lower score but interesting to see that others are having a similar experience.

[SRT]

Hey Whoop Users! With the latest Whoop monthly performance assessment that just came out, I am curious to see where TR users on the “Training Behavior” chart fall. I don’t feel the readout matches with my performance or how I feel, but I would love to see other TR users results for some context. Maybe the Whoop is correct and I am over training…

[mgrphoto]

I have much the same profile on my Monthly Performance Assessment that you do. The thing that I always forget is that in Whoop parlance, “Optimal” is the level of training that will keep you maintaining at your current level. “Overreaching” is “to promote fitness gains” (their words). I dont think there’s any reason you cant be “Overreaching” for the duration you’re showing in your chart and still not have any issues. It all depends on how you recover.

I actually thought to myself this morning when I looked at my PA “I wonder what would happen if I intentionally stopped training for a week and hung out in the restorative region before resuming training”. Maybe I’d have a huge fitness bump. Or not. Who knows.

[tittelba]

I’m about the same. I’m always overreaching based on Whoops analysis and I don’t feel it matches my performance. After 17 months of overreaching I’d be in trouble. Below is this year and last years Training Behavior for me.

[onemanpeloton]

Hi all

Been considering a Whoop for a long time but havent committed because of the monthly payments. I’m not about to take my strength training to the next level by joining a gym, and it feels like now is the time to sign up for Whoop, if I’m going to do it at all. Worth it?

One thing I’m curious about, forgive me because I’m sure this has been asked but I can’t find the answer, how reliable is the wrist-based HR? Whoop gives some pretty clear and precise data and I’m wondering how precise it can really be given that its measurement is taken from the wrist and not a chest strap?

Thanks

[Kuttermax]

@onemanpeloton

how reliable is the wrist-based HR?

Take a look at the DCrainmaker article here. He goes into detail on all aspects of the Whoop including HR accuracy.

Whoop 3.0 Band & Platform In-Depth Review

Summary of HR:

"Of course, you’re likely realizing what the pattern here is by now: Relatively stable workouts Whoop tracks well. But anything with any significant intensity, and Whoop often will lose the plot.

And that’s the real issue here: Once you add short high-intensity, the accuracy of Whoop tends to go down substantially. Longer intervals tend to be better. This is a pattern that’s not at all uncommon. Many watches’ optical HR sensors share the same issues, though, I feel in general Whoop’s sensor is more prone to high-intensity errors than others.

But that ignores the biggest difference: For most other sport watch/wearables, you can pair to another heart rate sensor (like a chest strap) and get more accurate HR data if you need it. You can’t with Whoop. So effectively it becomes bad data in, bad analysis out."

My own experience is that it is much better on a bicep band than on my wrist when it comes to measuring HR while riding, especially mountain biking. There are times it works really well but other times it can be wildly off. My Garmin Fenix 5 watch is similar - sometimes works great for HR on the wrist but othertimes way off. I’ve gone back to using on Tickr HR chest strap for most rides just because it is so reliable.

[onemanpeloton]

Thank you! That’s perfect