But thats not necessarily the best approach.
With all this tech we should actually be training,and recovering, smarter.
Off to a good start, Id say.
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There are two components to the Whoop experience, the wristband and the app.
The wristband is a pretty simple affair.
Its a fabric strap that contours securely to your wrist.
The wristband is also Bluetooth-enabled, which lets it broadcast this data wirelessly to other fitness devices.
I actually paired it with my MacBook to use in Zwift and it worked flawlessly.
Compared to other sleep trackers and fitness watches, its a delightfully lightweight, subtle, and stylish alternative.
Sleeping in this thing has been no problem at all as its also incredibly comfortable.
Which is also good, given that youre supposed to wear the strap 24/7.
In fact, Whoops secret is to gather tonnes of data around the clock.
Ive always been a bit suspicious of how accurate wrist-based heart rate monitors are.
I did some validation testing myself to see how the Whoop band compares to a Garmin chest-strap.
Post ride analysis on Strava showed that Whoop is as good as the highly-accurate Garmin chest-strap.
As it turns out, the Whoop is way more accurate than I was expecting.
Another point to Whoop.
Each of these screens has an upper and lower section.
Its very intuitive, and takes just a few minutes to figure out.
But the more you wear it, the better it becomes.
With time, it learns more about your body and what normal is for you.
After about a week, youll clearly see when youre training above or below normal levels.
HRV iscontrolled by the autonomic nervous system.
While lower resting heart rates are indicative of being well-trained and well-rested, the inverse is true of HRV.
Resting heart rates vary from person to person, the average is around 70 beats per minute.
HRV also varies from person to person, more so than RHR in fact.
While high HRVs are indicative of fitness, that rule only applies on an individual level.
Interestingly, HRV and RHR arent always in sync.
But on a deeper level, I still needed to rest and address other causes of stress.
If you train hard, you should rest hard too thats when the gains are made.
You wont find any arbitrary step-counters on the WHOOP band or its associated app.
Thats the basic principle.
For seasoned cyclists, doing this does little more than build up a substantial amount of fatigue.
The real benefit of Whoop for me was learning how to personalize and polarize training.
Ive also taken a bunch of Strava KOMs of that period too.
I havent made dramatic changes to what Im doing when Im training, either.
Whoop places a big emphasis on sleep because thats where most recovery is done.
It bundles this into what it calls its sleep coach.
Im getting way more sleep, and clearly the benefits are showing.
But there is a fly in the ointment: the price.
Whoop is taking an unconventional approach with its pricing strategy.
Or like Strava is now asking you to do.
There are three membership options available at the moment, with varying levels of commitment and upfront cost.
Then 25 per month afterwards.
This seems expensive, to me.
Especially given that without the membership the gear is useless.
It can be gifted to someone else, and they can start a membership, though.
And users dont actually pay for it, its all covered as part of the membership.
So that takes the edge off, a little.
The free version is still well-equipped, though.
But there is no free or entry level option with Whoop.
Perhaps it could offer different feature levels for different monthly fees.
Or perhaps it could sell the hardware for an upfront cost, and reduce the monthlies a little.
I think theres a world of opportunity for Whoop, and it should explore its pricing strategy continually.
All in all, my experience with Whoop has been great and has become part of my daily routine.
Story byMatthew Beedham
Matthew is the editor of SHIFT.
He likes electric cars, and other things with wheels, wings, or hulls.
