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Wearables & Tracking
Wellav8 Standard — 4.2/5

Whoop Whoop 4.0

“Your body’s operating system. On your wrist.”

$30/modevice

Strain + recovery + sleep tracking in a screenless wearable. HRV-based recovery score tells you exactly when to push and when to rest. Journal feature correlates behaviors with performance. The wearable that changed how elite athletes train.

Our assessment

Purity5/5
Efficacy5/5
Sourcing4/5
Value3/5
Transparency4/5

Why we chose it

HRV-based recovery score — objective readiness data

Strain tracking quantifies training load

Journal correlates behaviors with performance

No screen — less distraction, more data

The science

Training adaptation requires balancing stress (strain) with recovery. HRV is the best real-time indicator of parasympathetic recovery. Whoop’s algorithm tracks respiratory rate, resting heart rate, HRV, and sleep performance to generate a composite recovery score.

Evidence

From the sources we read every week for our concierge recommendations.

  • Ben Greenfield

    “What is WHOOP?”

    DETERMINING HEART RATE WITH REFLECTED LIGHT DATA Publication number: 20140350356 Abstract: Embodiments provide physiological measurement systems, devices and methods for continuous health and fitness monitoring. A wearable strap may detect reflected light from a user’s skin, where data corresponding to the reflected light is used to automatically and continually determine a sequence of instantaneous heart rate of the user. Specifically, the heart rate of the user may be determined through the use of a peak detection algorithm that determines an R-wave-to-R-wave interval (RR interval). Based on the confidence of the RR interval, the peak detection algorithm or a frequency analysis algorithm may process the reflected light data to determine the sequence of instantaneous heart rates of the user. Type: Application Filed: May 29, 2014 Publication date: November 27, 2014 Applicant: Whoop Inc. Inventors: William Ahmed, John Capodilupo, Aurelian Nicolae Reply 2. Here's a response from the team at WHOOP: WHOOP does not use Valencell's technology and WHOOP does not have any relationship with that company. Our system has been designed and built ourselves. Reply 14. For those interesting in comparing to Oura (I’m loving mine). I’ve seen that on the Oura forum a member has had a Whoop band for about a couple of years. He comments on his comparison in this thread: https://ouraring.freshdesk.com/support/discussions/topics/6000034607 (you’ll probably need to log in). Like Ben he mentions that Whoop’s focus is on team sports. One view seems to be that the root of the finger may provide better accuracy and that Whoop is doing more monitoring and allows for user input. I’m hoping that Oura will continue to refine – so far so good. Reply 1. Here's a response from the WHOOP team: I think it is important to point out that the person commenting on the thread is Chuck Hazzard, VP of sales at Oura and a former beta user of ours. We cut off ties with him when we found out via a 3rd party that he was the VP of Sales at Oura and basically scooping us. I think that information is relevant to anyone who is reading that thread and using his comparison of the 2 products. Chuck never openly adds this disclaimer as he shares his opinions. -The ability to collect an optical signal quality varies depending on what the user is doing. WHOOP has found (through rigorous testing) that we can get very strong signals from the wrist during rest and sleep. WHOOP has also found that moving the band up the arm greatly improves the signal quality during highly intense training, particularly that which involves heavy arm movements. -WHOOP was focused on collegiate and professional sports for the majority of 2015 and 2016. That changed when we launched to consumers in the fall of 2016. We are now actively working and helping both customer segments. Reply 1. Hello Ben, I was very open about my role at ŌURA when I made that comment and stand by my conclusions as a user of both products. Chuck

    read the source →

How to use

Wear 24/7. Check recovery score each morning. Green = go hard. Yellow = moderate. Red = rest or active recovery.

Who it's for

Athletes and high performers who want to optimize training load and recovery. Also valuable for anyone learning their body’s patterns.

Get Whoop Whoop 4.0

Affiliate link. We earn a small commission — it's how we keep Wellav8 free. We'd recommend this regardless.

Related topics

FitnessSleepLongevity

This product supports these goals.

Track Recovery
Muscle Recovery
Better Sleep

Wellav8 may earn a commission from products linked on this page. All products are independently selected based on our five-point standard. No brand pays for placement. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.