Meet my new training partner: WHOOP!
WHOOP isn’t about getting workout splits, but instead tracks my recovery through metrics like heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, and lots of sleep quality markers.
Some of my favorite things about WHOOP:
Wear it 24/7
The battery in the strap lasts 5 days and charges WHILE YOU WEAR IT with a wearable battery pack that charges up the strap in less than 10 minutes.
This means you can constantly collect data about your body from sleep to runs, bikes, swims, gym sessions, dog walks, and everything in between.
It’s waterproof (and sweat-proof) so I literally never take it off.
The straps are easily interchangeable and come with fancy colors and metals so that you can easily dress it up for date night and dress it down for your workouts.
No screen- no distractions
WHOOP doesn’t have a screen on it. Don’t we have enough of those in our lives already?
This is great because it encourages you to almost forget that you’re wearing it, allowing you to focus all your energy at the task at hand, whether that’s your workout or recovery.
Check back in at the end of the day or in the morning to see how your body is handling the strain you’ve put it under and how it’s responding to the recovery you are getting.
WHOOP has weekly and monthly performance assessments that it formulates for you so that when you’re ready to take a step back and analyze the work you’ve done, you have everything laid out in a digestible format.
Personalized Guidance
A bunch of data is pretty much useless if you don’t know what to DO with it.
The sleep coach and strain coach features can help you maximize your time in bed as well as your workouts. Interested in sleep? Read this or this article from the WHOOP Locker.
What does HRV (heart rate variability) mean and what does it mean for ME? More on that here, but this number essentially tells you how “ready” your body is to execute at a high level. The number is highly individualized, so what is “good” is personal to you.
Ever wonder if meditation, CBD, reading before bed, or a zillion other factors actually affect your sleep and recovery? WHOOP collects data to help you figure it out so you can optimize your routine.
Wanna give it a try?
Whether you're trying to avoid injury and overtraining or motivate yourself to recover better and optimize your workout days, you can use the link below for $30 off any 6, 12, or 18-mo membership to get you started. #unlockyourself
From using data to personalize training to focusing on diet to improve speed….
WHOOP asked me for 5 tips on how to run faster and I delivered.
WHOOP PODCAST
What does it take to optimize performance for athletes, for executives, for anyone?
That’s what the WHOOP podcast aims to explore. Podcast guests include some of the best professional athletes in the world, Navy SEALs, fitness enthusiasts, and Fortune 500 CEOs and executives. All of these people have a drive to improve and unlock their own potential as human beings.
I had so much fun chatting with WHOOP’s founder and CEO, Will Ahmed, for an episode of the pod.
What kind of information will WHOOP give me?
This is definitely a FAQ, so I took screenshots from some of my recent reports through WHOOP.
Sleep Consistency
Studies show that going to bed and waking up around the same time every night is super important for quality sleep (which obviously has so many benefits to your health). So this means that getting 5 hours on the week and 10 hours on the weekend, averaging 6.5hrs per night, is not equal to actually sleeping 6.5 hours every night. It also means that going to bed at midnight and waking up at 8 some days isn’t the same as going to bed at 10 and waking up at 6 even thought the number of hours in bed are the same.
Interest peaked? Read more here.
Strain is good IF supported with sleep and recovery
My strain score is consistently high when I am training (sometimes it averages over 19 when I’m in heavy training), but that doesn’t mean I have to wake up in the red. Even if I do wake up in the red, that doesn’t necessarily mean I take a day completely off.
The rule of thumb WHOOP recommended to me was if I wake up in the red or low yellow for more than 2 days in a row… it’s time to back off and get extra recovery.
Check out: A 700-mile bike ride through Death Valley tracked by WHOOP
Monthly Performance Assessments
I really like being able to take a step back and look at the last month and see how I did overall. This is a screenshot of my recovery scores and sleep performance for a whole month. This format helps me spot trends, especially since everything is color-coded. Only a few days in the red- that’s good!
Wanna give it a try?
Whether you're trying to avoid injury and overtraining or motivate yourself to recover better and optimize your workout days, you can use the link below for $30 off any 6, 12, or 18-mo membership to get you started. #unlockyourself