Whoop 5.0 is my first Whoop. I rarely do endurance or cardio work, since I’ve been in a gaining mood phase since slightly before I started using Whoop.
My heart rate detector is often not catching peaks immediately post-set, though it’s better with leg work than arm or upper body training. Early on, I switched to a biceps band, which detects heart rate better, IME. It does take a bit of rest after the set for the rate to increase.
I’m probably going to switch to biceps band for all exercise. Not sure if this helps or not, but I would be curious on user reports of biceps placement versus wrist placement.
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When I got Whoop I wore it on the wrist. HR was highly inaccurate during workouts. Strain and other metrics were off. I soon switched to a bicep band. It’s much better. I wouldn’t say it’s gold standard but way better than on the wrist. I mostly do endurance sports and some bodyweight training. If it works well for gym goers I can’t tell. But it’s worth a try. I wear my Whoop on the bicep since then exclusively. During sleep, workouts etc
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But here is the issue I face. I have Whoop MG and to take BP and ECG it must be on the wrist. I do not want to switch between bands when I am exercising and the rest of the day. Wrist based HR is never the best but compared to Garmin, Whoop is miles off.
I don’t think my HR has gotten into zone 5 since I got the MG. And I know that I have nearly killed myself in some of my workouts over the past few months. I barely spend anytime in zone 4 even. Very disappointing!
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Just remember there’s a difference between beats per minute (BPM) and heart-rate zones. As fitness improves, Whoop can auto-detect a higher max HR, so the cut-offs for zones 4-5 shift upward. That means it takes more effort to reach them - even when the workout feels the same. If that doesn’t line up with how you feel, go to More → App Settings → Activity Settings → Heart Rate Settings and set your own max HR so the zones match your reality.
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I had to set my HR zones manually. The Default from Whoop was miles off. Actually I could not work out why they were so extremely high for someone of my age. Max for age should be around 156, Whoop default had me at 182. No clue where that comes from unless it’s compensating for poor wrist HR performance 
It feels like they did something to the HR detection algorithm in the last week or so. HIIT workouts that would routinely get into the mid 170’s are now rarely going above 140. My gym workouts are also showing a much lower HR than normal. Does anyone know what could be going on?
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