Here’s my solution to all of the issues I’ve had with Whoop:
- Take a deep breath and realise 9/10 stats on Whoop are snake oil.
- Ignore all the pro cyclists etc using it. They are given these things for free and are often required to wear what sponsors give them. Whoop has a large marketing budget.
- Place Whoop in drawer.
- buy a chest strap HRM that is actually accurate and can give proper HRV results (I have a Polar H10 - about $100). It is both Bluetooth and ANT+
- buy a $20 vibrating alarm wristwatch on Amazon. I bought the eSeasonGear VB80. The battery lasts me six weeks before I have to charge it.
- buy a cuff-based blood pressure monitor, not only is it accurate, but you need one to use Whoop’s pretend BP insights anyway. I bought a MicroLife 500 for $50.
- The $170 total outlay will last you for years, because you own the items, you’re not leasing them from a tech company. No $200-$359 yearly subscription fee.
No fitness tracker gives the same results regarding sleep stages. You need an EEG for that. Sleep stats? You know if you slept well or not. Recovery? How do you feel? Listen to your body, and be honest with yourself.
The Whoop 5 gives inconsistent heat rate, HRV, recovery scores, strain scores, useless blood pressure “insights”, and a gamified invention called ‘Whoop Age’.
Each to their own, but my advice is to save your money and buy individual items that actually work, and which you can keep using forever.
