Just started 3 weeks ago with a Whoop. 100% agree on not using it for workouts inline with DCR recommendations. I tend to use Rhythm 24 or Garmin dual HR.
I have been making more effort to get more sleep although my sleep hygiene has always been good, and feedback reflects that. HRV details seem to be tracking well. I’ll give it 6 months to hopefully establish good habits and then lkely I won’t need it for the accountability anymore.
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I have “used” Whoop since last December - took out a 12 months subscription. I did it mainly for the sleep tracking - and obviously with C19 HRV monitoring has been an added benefit.
I am less convinced about the Strain - and it certainly does not replace my Garmin or a chest HRM for cycling.
It is clear what impacts my sleep - and what leads to a better sleep - so in that sense I may have learned something - or at least become more mindful.
That said, I definitely do not think it is worth the financial outlay under the current subscription model - at least not for me - and I have no intentions of renewing. May get the Oura ring instead.
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I agree with above… That 20/month fee is just not worth it. Id say at 8/month I’m willing to keep it, maybe 10 is a stretch.
The way I see it at 20/month I can pay off an Apple watch in that time period which can potentially do the same… Except I don’t want an apple watch and hence my dilemma.
I think they will soon realize 20 bucks is just too much and lower their fees once there is more competition in the market that directly targets them.
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Totally agree! Problem is, it’s not $20 a month, it’s $30!!! I really like Whoop’s metrics and I use it with some of the cyclists I coach. I’ve been using it off and on (mostly on) for almost 2 years. I find it useful. But I cringe every month when I have to pay $30. I really need to just suck it up and buy an 18 month gift card, and just pay for that outright, that way I don’t have the monthly payment anymore. It also lowers the monthly payment average to about ~$18 a month.
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Started using one in July on the basis of being a data junkie and wanting to nerd out a bit. Is it interesting? Yeah, sure. Is it $30/month interesting? No. I also have a Garmin Forerunner 945 and Whoop seems to think I lose A LOT more sleep during the night than Garmin does. I definitely don’t think Garmin is fantastic but I am a bit skeptical of Whoop and how often it thinks I lose a bunch of sleep when I’m out through the night… As for HRV data, you can get various iPhone apps to do the same thing for a one time $10. Garmin will do SPO2 if wanted, tracks “body battery” which has some relation to HR and HRV (I believe) and obviously sleep. As for strain, it seems kind of moot if you’re using any software that tracks TSS and/or other fitness/fatigue metrics. Also, not to oversimplify but most of us have a pretty good idea of when we’re really tired because we feel… really tired.
SO my final verdict on it is that I’m happy I tried it for 6 months to really convince myself one way or the other but I will not be continuing when this period is up. It’s a neat concept but as DCR has pointed out, there are a lot of areas that need vast improvement to justify the price tag.
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I used it for 9 months. Really, really helped me improve my sleeping habits and hygiene. Just gave it to a family member so they can do the same.
Even considering the cost of paying for the full 18 months, I’m happy that I got my money’s worth because sleeping better is priceless. I’m riding better, working better, and feeling great. Still, I don’t see a huge value in continuing to use it.
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One note I forgot but has since been very prevalent… Tracking strain seems to take a nosedive when indoor training starts. Regardless of effort, my strain numbers fall sharply when riding indoors because my HR stays low. For example, I did 90 minutes the other day at 258 W (0.85 IF) with an average HR of 132. While this isn’t a HUGE effort by any means, I barely register strain because Whoop is solely HR and cannot factor in cycling power. So if you’re looking to track strain, it may have shortcomings with indoor season.
I used Whoop for the best part of a year (took out a 12 months subscription).
My main motivation was sleep tracking but also interested to see the impact on levels of strain on rest, energy and sleep - as in theroy this should mean you can better optimise training and rest.
The sleep tracking was interesting. I think Whoop was pretty accurate in determining when I would fall a sleep and wake up. Whereas for example Garmin seems to think I am sleeping as soon as I am even considering going to bed. Whilst I did see some correlation between what Whoop thougth was a good sleep and how I felt, I never thought it was close enough.
However, similar to Chad and his comments on the sleep tracking on the Oura ring, other than it being interesting and telling me I need to sleep more (which I knew), I am not sure what else i can use it for?
HRV is interesting. I did have lower HRV doing a week in March - a period where I suspect I may have had Covid. But don’t know for sure, as no tests were available in the UK at the time.
Impact on alcohol on sleep is evident - every time I would have alcohol (even in a small quantity), my sleep score would be in the red.
Biggest issue with Whoop is the poor hardware. The heart rate monitor was just never that accurate - which in turn means I did not trust the strain scores - if of course makes the whole strain / rest analysis pretty useless.
Software / app is great.
However, the cost is prohibitive I think. $30 a month is just far too much.
I think if they could fix the hardware and make it much cheaper - or allow for buying outright rather than subscription then I would probably consider going back in. But not in its current form.
Sorry for the rambling.
EDIT
I should have added - based on feel I actually think the Garmin body battery is more accurate more of the time than the Whoop recovery was.
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Also a data nerd here and giving it a go. I paid for a year up front which was less than what it would have cost me to get a new Garmin Fenix 6. I currently have the last version of the Fenix 5 (s I think?) and it didn’t have the battery life to actually wear at night let alone the body battery feature. I have a Strap 3 and it is handy to just pop a charging battery on instead of removing the device and charging up.
We’ll see where it takes me. Only 3 days in so while the shortest calibration is done, it’s nowhere near ready to yeild complete results.
Body battery is actually not a Garmin but a First Beat feature. Well, Garmin partially acquired First Beat recently and unfortunately deleted the very helpful page on the First Beat homepage to see which watches support the body battery. Personally I use a Xiaomi watch color. Battery lasts 2-3 weeks (depending on how often GPS is used). The watch has a lot of downsides (no activity export to Strava for example) but if someone is mainly interested in the body battery feature (alongside a few other first beat metrics / sleep tracking) a long battery life is very useful. I personally like the feature a lot and the watch costs (to bring it back to the topic) on AliExpress the equivalent of a 3 months subscription of whoop.
In general I think recovery metrics and 24/7 tracking (whoop or body battery) are pretty great and the next big thing in training. I was tempted by whoop and really appreciate what they do. But the pricing is not in a realm where I’m tempted to try it out (also difficult to get it outside of the US).
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A Fenix 5 battery should last for days. You should easily be able to get a nights sleep with it.
Mine is going on 2 years old and the battery isn’t what it used to be. Also take a gander at the Fenix sub-reddit and you’ll see folks getting even less battery life after some firmware updates. I imagine something similar will happen with Whoop along the way too, but being able to charge it while wearing it is a plus for me.
Wow. So you’re getting less than 24 hours out of a Fenix? Sorry, I guess I’m just saying I would be furious. I get more than that out of my 2 year old Apple.
Also a Whoop user here. I started using Whoop back in July when I got COVID. I was planning to return it after 30 days but after seeing how it helped me track how my body feels, I decided to keep it for now.
It seems there’s a huge discussion on it already but below are my perspective
Pros
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The Respiratory Rate is an interesting data point. Regardless whether it’s accurate or not, in this dang age it’s nice if my body is not doing well.
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It helps tracks the sleep much better than Apple Watch.
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The way the data is presented is intuitive.
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Weekly PA data or Monthly PA is also interesting to see some trends.
Con
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Price. Monthly subscription is a little high.
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Having to wear something in the other wrist aside Apple Watch. (It would seem as I’m a a nerd, data hungry)
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Battery lasts about 3-4 days then you use the charger it comes with (you can keep Whoop on your wrist). I wish it was longer.
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Whoop tan
If anyone is interesting in trying I also have referral as well which gives $30 (almost like your first month free). Join WHOOP
One thing I’m still trying to get a grasp is how to keep my HRV high so my recovery is high. Anyone have any comments?
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Two of my friends using Whoop have had extremely erratic HR readings during their rides with seemingly unexplainable dips and drops. Anyone else had this? Here’s me doing Whorl with a chest strap compared to my friend
Me
Him
That’s completely normal for Whoop’s optical HR sensor.
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Interesting, explains the similarly bad results I’ve seen from Apple Watch users. So how’s this thing supposed to track your HR and give you all the cool metrics it does with any sort of accuracy
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That’s exactly the biggest problem of the Whoop - everything is based on a poor hr measuring unit.
I’ve been a whoop user for 12 months - tomorrow is the last day of my subscription and I cant wait to get it off my wrist.
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I wonder if this will end up being the fundamental limiter of wrist worn devices - that the top of the wrist is just a bad place anatomically to measure the things we are interested in measuring.
The Oura ring people claim that the inside of the finger is better for measuring HR, but I have no idea if that is true or not. I certainly do expect that some parts of the body are better than others.
It would be quite something if neck-based fitness devices become a thing, and people are walking around with tight straps around their necks 
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Totally not a shock collar…