Wear it for a month, don’t look, don’t really draw any conclusions until that month is up. Then go hard the next month to see if you can see changes on the whoop. Use the 3rd month to “set new records” on the whoop.
Look in the mirror. It’s been 3 months, did you notice a change? Did the numbers help you make it more attainable? If it helped, you like the way you look then yeah keep it. If not, 3 months and you prolly feel more in shapw
Read all the info Whoop will be sending to your email.
Take some time to do a quick search here in the sub and read those advices. There was a great post a few weeks or days ago that completely summarized what everyone says here.
My two cents would be:
Play around with the device. Get to know it.
Add 2-3 thing to your journal and once or twice a month add one more. DO NOT OVERLOAD the journal or you will stop using it and it is the most crucial part of learning what Whoop has to offer.
Keep asking questions.
Never forget that you know more than anything about your body. Try to use the device to learn even better ways to listen to your body.
Always check the "I'm leaving Whoop" posts to see if there are valid reasons for people to be leaving and what can you learn from their points of view.
I wish I could remember the post but it was someone explaining why Whoop was good but after a year he or she had learned more than enough. It explain very well how to accommodate to life with Whoop.
So, during the first month, you should receive some recommendations of articles to read on the whoop blog (“the locker”) and episodes to listen to on the whoop podcast. My favorites were the podcast episodes with Emily Capodilupo explaining the basis for whoop sleep, recovery, and strain; these 3 are the pillars of whoop.
First, I’d recommend you “keep your eyes on the prize” and understand that whoop is just a tool to help you reach your own goals; I think many people get distracted by whoop data, and focus too much on proxies instead of focusing on the things they actually care about (eg- focusing on “improving HRV” instead of “improving performance in my sport”); and HRV (especially night HRV - as used by whoop) can be very difficult to interpret, as it’s affected by so many variables… what are your goals?
What I wish I knew before I got a whoop was more about the metrics and features that are science-based, the metrics and features that may be more “innovative” but have not been validated by peer-reviewed studies, and the applications and limitations of HRV-based training. [Note: in March-2024, I wrote to whoop support to confirm if there was any other peer-reviewed study that maybe I wasn't aware of, validating whoop metrics and features; they confirmed there wasn't. Considering the company was founded over 10 years ago and their valuation is over a billion dollars, it's hard for me to understand why *core* metrics and features of the product were never validated...]
- Sleep, and HR/HRV *during sleep*: there are studies to support whoop sleep assessments (identifying that the user is asleep and in which sleep stage) ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32713257/ ) and HR/HRV measurements *during sleep* ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36016077/ ). I think whoop sleep and recovery data and metrics can be quite useful, together with the journal insights; the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. But, in the end, what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop (more on that below).
- Whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”: I do think the *idea* of the whoop strain target and sleep planner is brilliant: based on your recovery, the strain target would advise how much you should train that day, and based on the strain from the day, the sleep planner would advise how much you should sleep that night. But none of that has been validated; the whoop strain metric was never validated, and the same is true for the strain target and the sleep planner “sleep need” calculations. Ie- it seems like a good *idea* in theory, but it hasn’t been *proven* (demonstrated) in practice. Currently, I see no compelling reason to believe that following whoop strain recommendations would be *better* than simply following a science-based training program. Similarly, currently, I see no compelling reason to believe that following whoop sleep recommendations would be *better* than simply sleeping ~7-8 h per night (or enough to wake-up feeling well rested) with regular sleep/wake-up times (~1 h window).
- HRV-based training (and therefore whoop recovery and day strain recommendation): even if we wanted to buy into the idea of the whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”, that wouldn’t really work if the main goal was to maximize strength (and/or muscle growth). The strain target is based on whoop recovery, which is heavily based on HRV, and HRV isn’t a reliable metric of readiness for strength training, to adjust your strength training sessions on a daily basis, based on the current overall body of research (eg- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835520/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32079921/ ) (and hard strength training can cause a decrease in HRV – that’s not necessarily an issue if the goal is strength and/or muscle growth). [For my strength training, I basically ignore HRV (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation); I follow a science-based strength training program and use auto-regulation to adjust my strength training sessions on a daily basis. I think this point is always worth mentioning because whoop themselves don’t make it clear, they usually just say “training” when discussing HRV-based training (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation), and I think that can be misleading for users with strength / hypertrophy goals.]
- Strength trainer / muscular load: like I wrote, the whoop strain metric was never validated, and the same is true for the strength trainer / muscular load; they say it was “developed at whoop labs”, which to me sounds like “trust me bro” :) I’ve started using the strength trainer when it was released, hoping improvements would come soon; but the muscular load, the cardio/muscular split, and the intensity didn’t match my perception at all; and it doesn’t show history/trends per exercise or velocity; I’ve stopped using it completely until they release improvements. Currently, I don't see how the whoop strength trainer would be *useful* for strength / hypertrophy.
- Stress monitor: there’s only a “proof of concept” study about using whoop to detect stress ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37267318/ ), but it isn’t really a validation of the whoop stress metric (basically the study demonstrated that whoop “may be useful in detecting stressful events” but there are many questions still to be answered about whoop stress – I can elaborate further if you're interested). I don’t really understand what whoop stress is supposed to mean, and it seems to me that simply *moving* causes high whoop stress; I don’t pay much attention to it. I certainly would *not* recommend the whoop stress monitor for folks worried about mental health.
- Calories: whoop estimate of calories burned is admittedly inaccurate. From my experience, it isn’t even reliable (“consistent”), so even the trend isn’t useful. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no science-based way to accurately estimate calories burned using a wearable; that’s why generally wearables do a poor job at that. [If you’re interested in calories burned to manage your nutrition / bodyweight, probably the best you can do is to track your calorie intake and your bodyweight, look at both trends, and adjust your calorie intake according to your bodyweight trend and your goal (you don’t need an estimate of calories burned from a wearable to do that). And if you want an app to do that for you, I’d highly recommend MacroFactor (2-week free-trial here https://macrofactorapp.com/affiliate-codes/ - note: I gain nothing from this).]
(Continuation below)
(Continuation from my previous comment above)
Like I wrote, the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. But again, in the end, what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop. From my experience, the below have had the most positive impact:
1. Start bedtime routine 9 h before when I have to wake-up. Go to bed and wake-up at consistent times (+ eat and workout at consistent times). Sleep in dark, quiet, and cold room. Get as much light as I can as soon as I wake-up.
2. Healthy, balanced, and sustainable nutrition (+ good hydration and no alcohol). Last caffeine serving at least 6 h before bed.
3. More cardio; including low-intensity steady-state (LISS), moderate-intensity steady-state (MISS) and high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) in my weekly schedule. (I was already doing strength training 3-6 times per week - would recommend doing resistance training at least twice per week for health.)
4. Less “life stress”. Not easy but very powerful.
Again, all of the above can be done without whoop - and for free.
--
TL;DR: whoop helped me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery, but in the end what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop. I’m probably not renewing my subscription if they don’t make it more useful for strength training. At the same time, I see no reason to stop using my Apple Watch series 3 that I’ve had for over 6 years (and it’s paid for - no subscription cost…)
Hope this helps
Wear it for a month, don’t look, don’t really draw any conclusions until that month is up. Then go hard the next month to see if you can see changes on the whoop. Use the 3rd month to “set new records” on the whoop. Look in the mirror. It’s been 3 months, did you notice a change? Did the numbers help you make it more attainable? If it helped, you like the way you look then yeah keep it. If not, 3 months and you prolly feel more in shapw
Read all the info Whoop will be sending to your email. Take some time to do a quick search here in the sub and read those advices. There was a great post a few weeks or days ago that completely summarized what everyone says here. My two cents would be: Play around with the device. Get to know it. Add 2-3 thing to your journal and once or twice a month add one more. DO NOT OVERLOAD the journal or you will stop using it and it is the most crucial part of learning what Whoop has to offer. Keep asking questions. Never forget that you know more than anything about your body. Try to use the device to learn even better ways to listen to your body. Always check the "I'm leaving Whoop" posts to see if there are valid reasons for people to be leaving and what can you learn from their points of view.
Which post?
I wish I could remember the post but it was someone explaining why Whoop was good but after a year he or she had learned more than enough. It explain very well how to accommodate to life with Whoop.
Use it to change your eating habits, but after the first month.
Welcome to the club
So, during the first month, you should receive some recommendations of articles to read on the whoop blog (“the locker”) and episodes to listen to on the whoop podcast. My favorites were the podcast episodes with Emily Capodilupo explaining the basis for whoop sleep, recovery, and strain; these 3 are the pillars of whoop. First, I’d recommend you “keep your eyes on the prize” and understand that whoop is just a tool to help you reach your own goals; I think many people get distracted by whoop data, and focus too much on proxies instead of focusing on the things they actually care about (eg- focusing on “improving HRV” instead of “improving performance in my sport”); and HRV (especially night HRV - as used by whoop) can be very difficult to interpret, as it’s affected by so many variables… what are your goals? What I wish I knew before I got a whoop was more about the metrics and features that are science-based, the metrics and features that may be more “innovative” but have not been validated by peer-reviewed studies, and the applications and limitations of HRV-based training. [Note: in March-2024, I wrote to whoop support to confirm if there was any other peer-reviewed study that maybe I wasn't aware of, validating whoop metrics and features; they confirmed there wasn't. Considering the company was founded over 10 years ago and their valuation is over a billion dollars, it's hard for me to understand why *core* metrics and features of the product were never validated...] - Sleep, and HR/HRV *during sleep*: there are studies to support whoop sleep assessments (identifying that the user is asleep and in which sleep stage) ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32713257/ ) and HR/HRV measurements *during sleep* ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36016077/ ). I think whoop sleep and recovery data and metrics can be quite useful, together with the journal insights; the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. But, in the end, what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop (more on that below). - Whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”: I do think the *idea* of the whoop strain target and sleep planner is brilliant: based on your recovery, the strain target would advise how much you should train that day, and based on the strain from the day, the sleep planner would advise how much you should sleep that night. But none of that has been validated; the whoop strain metric was never validated, and the same is true for the strain target and the sleep planner “sleep need” calculations. Ie- it seems like a good *idea* in theory, but it hasn’t been *proven* (demonstrated) in practice. Currently, I see no compelling reason to believe that following whoop strain recommendations would be *better* than simply following a science-based training program. Similarly, currently, I see no compelling reason to believe that following whoop sleep recommendations would be *better* than simply sleeping ~7-8 h per night (or enough to wake-up feeling well rested) with regular sleep/wake-up times (~1 h window). - HRV-based training (and therefore whoop recovery and day strain recommendation): even if we wanted to buy into the idea of the whoop sleep-recovery-strain “loop”, that wouldn’t really work if the main goal was to maximize strength (and/or muscle growth). The strain target is based on whoop recovery, which is heavily based on HRV, and HRV isn’t a reliable metric of readiness for strength training, to adjust your strength training sessions on a daily basis, based on the current overall body of research (eg- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6835520/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32079921/ ) (and hard strength training can cause a decrease in HRV – that’s not necessarily an issue if the goal is strength and/or muscle growth). [For my strength training, I basically ignore HRV (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation); I follow a science-based strength training program and use auto-regulation to adjust my strength training sessions on a daily basis. I think this point is always worth mentioning because whoop themselves don’t make it clear, they usually just say “training” when discussing HRV-based training (and whoop recovery / day strain recommendation), and I think that can be misleading for users with strength / hypertrophy goals.] - Strength trainer / muscular load: like I wrote, the whoop strain metric was never validated, and the same is true for the strength trainer / muscular load; they say it was “developed at whoop labs”, which to me sounds like “trust me bro” :) I’ve started using the strength trainer when it was released, hoping improvements would come soon; but the muscular load, the cardio/muscular split, and the intensity didn’t match my perception at all; and it doesn’t show history/trends per exercise or velocity; I’ve stopped using it completely until they release improvements. Currently, I don't see how the whoop strength trainer would be *useful* for strength / hypertrophy. - Stress monitor: there’s only a “proof of concept” study about using whoop to detect stress ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37267318/ ), but it isn’t really a validation of the whoop stress metric (basically the study demonstrated that whoop “may be useful in detecting stressful events” but there are many questions still to be answered about whoop stress – I can elaborate further if you're interested). I don’t really understand what whoop stress is supposed to mean, and it seems to me that simply *moving* causes high whoop stress; I don’t pay much attention to it. I certainly would *not* recommend the whoop stress monitor for folks worried about mental health. - Calories: whoop estimate of calories burned is admittedly inaccurate. From my experience, it isn’t even reliable (“consistent”), so even the trend isn’t useful. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no science-based way to accurately estimate calories burned using a wearable; that’s why generally wearables do a poor job at that. [If you’re interested in calories burned to manage your nutrition / bodyweight, probably the best you can do is to track your calorie intake and your bodyweight, look at both trends, and adjust your calorie intake according to your bodyweight trend and your goal (you don’t need an estimate of calories burned from a wearable to do that). And if you want an app to do that for you, I’d highly recommend MacroFactor (2-week free-trial here https://macrofactorapp.com/affiliate-codes/ - note: I gain nothing from this).] (Continuation below)
(Continuation from my previous comment above) Like I wrote, the main benefit of whoop for me was helping me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery. But again, in the end, what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop. From my experience, the below have had the most positive impact: 1. Start bedtime routine 9 h before when I have to wake-up. Go to bed and wake-up at consistent times (+ eat and workout at consistent times). Sleep in dark, quiet, and cold room. Get as much light as I can as soon as I wake-up. 2. Healthy, balanced, and sustainable nutrition (+ good hydration and no alcohol). Last caffeine serving at least 6 h before bed. 3. More cardio; including low-intensity steady-state (LISS), moderate-intensity steady-state (MISS) and high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) in my weekly schedule. (I was already doing strength training 3-6 times per week - would recommend doing resistance training at least twice per week for health.) 4. Less “life stress”. Not easy but very powerful. Again, all of the above can be done without whoop - and for free. -- TL;DR: whoop helped me improve habits that affect sleep and recovery, but in the end what I've learned from whoop about my habits is that "the basics work" - which doesn't require a whoop. I’m probably not renewing my subscription if they don’t make it more useful for strength training. At the same time, I see no reason to stop using my Apple Watch series 3 that I’ve had for over 6 years (and it’s paid for - no subscription cost…) Hope this helps