A Definitive Whoop 4.0 Guide
// I love tech.
At first, I thought it looked ridiculous.
An Apple Watch Ultra on my left wrist (and I’ve had pretty much every iteration of the Apple Watch) and then I strapped up the Whoop 4.0 band on my right wrist - two separate fitness devices which I had to convince my wife we’re very much needed and not at all out of a need to try out the tech I get sidetracked and interested in.
Although, the Whoop doesn’t look like a watch - it has no watch face and in all honesty, you can pass it off as just a fabric bracelet - there are no lights, no indicators to say it’s on and everything is run through the Whoop App.
I’ve thought about other fitness trackers - the Aura ring, the Apple Watch (obviously), then there’s the Garmin and the myriad of heart rate monitors that I’ve considered but I did my research, looked at the options and then went for the Whoop 4.0.
The biggest driver in my decision to nab a Whoop 4.0 was the sleep monitoring - wearing my Apple Watch is good but my routine meant that I was going to bed, putting it on charge and I never had more than a few days of sleep monitoring to get an understanding of my sleep habits.
The other thing was the tracking of ‘things’ which could impact my well-being - it wasn’t just a fitness tracker, it was a lifestyle tracker.
All of this was brought to bear this week when my Whoop band (on Tuesday) started telling me that my health metrics were out of balance and that I might need to rest/recover as I may be getting ill.
Low and behold, I was very ill on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - sickness fell upon me which impacted me in so many ways.
// A Candid Review of the WHOOP 4.0
I’m not sponsored by Whoop to review their band, I don’t have any affiliation with the tracker but I wanted to give you an understanding of what you’re getting into if you’re considering the purchase because when I did want to purchase the Whoop, I wanted to find a place where I could trust what I was buying and hear some genuine feedback.
The Whoop is more than a glorified step counter or an activity tracker - it goes way beyond that. It tracks multiple elements of your health and gives you a continuous stream of data - not a stop/start stream which you can have with other fitness bands..
I’ve never really been a believer in understanding your body, listening to it and training in such a way that allows you to optimise your health but as I get older and as I’ve faced a few injuries in the last year (pulled hamstring, broken leg, sickness) only now am I starting to understand that your body can only perform with the tools it’s handed and when something isn’t right then you start to work against it and you’ll fail.
The Whoop band (and many other fitness trackers) trade on some unique USP’s - The WHOOP 4.0 focuses on tracking recovery and optimizing performance by monitoring key health metrics like heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), sleep, and strain.
Their USP is designed around the fact that they want to give users insights into how well they are recovering and adapting to daily workouts etc - the whole premise being whether you should rest or workout and how that will affect your fitness.
The continuous monitoring gives you daily recovery scores and personalised recommendations aimed at maximising overall fitness and well-being but thats not all! I want to try and break down some specifics of the band and then finally - the pro’s and con’s of the band from how I see it.
// Features That Stand Out
The Whoop band can feel overwhelming when you first look at it - all that data and you’re wondering how you can apply it all to your body and your training needs but don’t worry, the overall them focuses on a few key metrics -
Heart Rate: WHOOP monitors heart rate constantly, with a focus on detecting trends during both rest and activity. This helps create a baseline for recovery and fitness adaptation, capturing shifts in exertion or cardiovascular fitness over time.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV): WHOOP assesses HRV - a measure of the intervals between heartbeats, reflecting nervous system health. A High HRV often indicates readiness for physical exertion, while low HRV may signal stress or fatigue. This data supports WHOOP’s recovery and stress-tracking features.
Sleep Tracking: WHOOP tracks total sleep, sleep stages (light, deep, REM), and disturbances. Each morning, WHOOP offers a “recovery score,” guiding users on training readiness based on sleep quality and the past day’s exertion.
Strain Score: This metric quantifies daily exertion using heart rate, creating an individualized “strain score” that accounts for intensity and duration of activity. WHOOP uses this to advise when to push hard or recover, aligning exertion levels with physical readiness.
Now, I’m not going to lie and say I wrote those four points - my friend ChatGPT helped me summarise the points and the ‘technical features’ of the band but I want to try and explain in plain English what’s happening here -
Your heart rate goes up when you exercise and goes down when you’re resting - this, over time will drift into a better baseline if you get fitter or a worse baseline if you’re not getting fitter and only by wearing a wearable fitness tracker can you see the long term trends.
Your HRV (which is the most confusing part to me when I first started) shows how your body reacts to stress - stress in the sense of physical stress but also emotional and mental stress - when I struggled and didn’t enjoy my work, I would have most of my day spent in the ‘high’ stress zone and since I’ve got a job I enjoy - I very rarely get a high stress alert. It really does affect your performance (I’ll come onto that shortly).
Sleep is one of my biggest needs - as I grow older, I swear, I just want to sleep all the time and when I don’t get enough, I can’t perform optimally - Whoop will track all the stages of my sleep and I get a full readout every morning about the quality of my sleep.
Strain score is something I would have never believed in when I was in my 20’s - thinking I can run, train, play football and drink every day without any loss of performance but as you get older, these things do matter and Whoop tracks all of that.
But one of the biggest features is the fact that you have a daily journal - now, we’re not going all Ali Abdaal here - we’re not typing away 500 words each morning, it’s actually just a simple tick list about what you did the day before and over time, patterns start to emerge. You get to see how things affect your performance (alcohol = bad, sleeping in the same bed every night = good) but there are some really weird ones too!
For example, a little bit of stress will actually improve my performance by 3% and I get a 7% increase in performance if I get jiggy with it in the bedroom - all things which are positives but working out late affects the next day’s performance by 10% and if I spend too long in the high stress zone at work each day, I get a 5% reduction in my outputs. (Not to mention the 15% reduction in performance if I touch a drop of alcohol)
This allows you to start identifying things which serve you and those things which harm you.
This process actually takes about a month or two to really get going and you’ll slowly unlock some features as the band gets it’s ‘baseline’ and starts to understand how your body operates - the more data it collects about you - the greater the impact and the insights.
This is how the Whoop band knew I was getting ill before I did. It’s that clever - my HRV went down, my skin temperature was elevated by just under a degree and my Whoop flagged to me that I’d either slept with an electric blanket and worked out too hard or my body was getting ill.
// Subscription Model
The Whoop Band doesn’t cost a PENNY. Nothing, nada. Zilch.
You don’t have to outlay hundreds of pounds in the tech in the first instance because everything is covered under the subscription to the service - you order the Whoop (and if you want one, I have a referral code which will give you a free month - see the bottom of the article) and the set up the subscription payment.
Of course, the subscription is cheaper if you pay for the year instead of the monthly fee so if you wanted to outlay a couple of hundred pounds at the start - you’d get the Whoop band and an annual subscription.
This is a great entry to the world of fitness trackers and for almost the same price as my Netflix subscription - I get some real valuable insights into my health, factors which affect my health and I get it 24/7.
The only issue I have had with the ‘subscription’ model in the first year is that around Month 8 or 9, I lost my battery ‘puck’ - the puck which charges your Whoop so you never have to take it off. It clips onto your band and it’s waterproof so you can charge it in the shower, when you’re having a sea dip so you actually forget to remove the puck (which is what I did) and with a slight knock, it can be dislodged and it’ll fall off.
I did this on a night out and I think I left it on the train - however, even though the band wasn’t on my wrist for 6 weeks - I was still charged for the subscription because you’re locked in for the first year.
Oh, and the battery pucks - yeah, they’re about £45 to replace. Not a ‘cheap’ item to replace.
The way around that (and the way that I got around it) - there are plenty of Whoop bands on eBay - ready to wear bands from people who have ordered them but never activated the subscription so they’re selling for around £25. Thats a band, a battery puck and a few cables for cheaper than the battery puck direct from Whoop.
I don’t mind paying for replacement parts but I feel ike £45 is just ‘hoovering’ up cash because there will always be someone who loses their puck.
// Battery Life and Charging
Battery life on the WHOOP isn’t that bad actually - much better than my previous iterations of the Apple Watch and slightly better than my Apple Watch Ultra - it lasts about three to four days.
However, the ability to charge it on the go makes up for this - as I’ve said before, the puck more than makes up for this and when you don’t take it off (the Whoop) your fitness tracking remains uninterrupted and you get the bigger picture.
I’ve worn my charging puck in the shower and had no issues whatsoever - my biggest fear (which was obviously realised) is that I lose that little charging puck so I tend to wear it for short periods now when I’m at home and I try to charge it as often as I can.
// Impact
Has the Whoop changed my behaviour? Yes I think it has - it’s certainly opened my eyes more to three things - the first is my consumption of alcohol. When I took an extended break from alcohol at the end of 2023, the over-riding reason for that change was the Whoop. It was really easy to see how my ‘recovery score’ on a day following a drinking session would drop significantly and it showed on my performance the following day.
You might be thinking that “Yeah but Matt, didn’t you know that anyway” and you’re right, I probably did know but the attachment of a number, the clear indication of how long my body takes to recover from the consumption of alcohol was really obvious and even on day two or day three after an alcohol binge, I would still be recovering.
The second thing was training regime or lack of it - you see, when you think you’re working hard or you’ve recorded an activity on your Apple Watch, the exercise ring closes and you think you’ve ticked the box for that day.
For example - when I commute to work now, I can walk to the train station and home again and my Apple Watch will tell me that I’m working out (because it’s about a mile walk to the station) and so the 15 minutes there and the 15 minutes back really complete the 30 minute ring on my watch - whereas the Whoop calculates the Strain of those walks and their obvious negligible impact on my body.
Yes, the walks are good but am I really doing enough?
The Whoop is a constant reminder, you can’t take it off to take a break and nor do you want to - it’s a strap designed to be there all the time.
The final thing (and I’ve mentioned this before) is the impact on my sleep patterns - when I get up early on a Tuesday morning to write these blogs, I can see how my body is affected and how much ‘sleep debt’ my body is building up which needs to be paid back. I make sure I compensate for that sleep debt by typically having an earlier bed time on a Sunday or a Tuesday. This information, along with the tracking of my daily stress levels have had the biggest impact on me and my health.
These things overall are not going to make me the next high-performing athlete (although I know that I could use the Whoop to help me get there) but they will on a consistent basis allow me to focus on my health and my recovery with a degree of certainty,
// Long Term Value
Has the Whoop lost it’s novelty after a year?
That depends - yes, I’m way outside of the ‘calibration’ phase of wearing the Whoop where I diligently woke up and tracked my metrics every day but knowing that on any given morning I can open up the Whoop app and check how I slept, is a blessing.
The early days of wearing a Whoop are exciting because your Whoop starts to build up a picture of what your body is capable of, how it reacts to certain stresses and you start to get feedback on the app - this alongside the impacts of various other factors (which build up over time) because you’re filling out the journal really do give you that ‘new toy’ feel but does the joy drop off once that is done?
I don’t think so - the benefits of the consistency of reporting really stack up over the long term and once you’re through the honeymoon phase and you get down to the boring element of daly reporting, daily feedbacks and the fact that you get a weekly and monthly fitness assessment do begin to stack up.
One thing I haven’t mentioned - when I wear my Apple Watch and I 'forget’ to tell it that I am working out, quite often the exercise rings don’t close, I don’t get the feedback and I lose the activity - everyone knows that if it’s not on your fitness app then it didn’t happen which is why, when your Whoop tracks that activity without you tapping in or telling it that you’re working out then its a blessing.
The amount of times that I’ve started playing football and I’ve forgotten to start my exercise on my Apple Watch and I get 30-40 minutes in and my exercise rings haven’t budged, I’ve lost count but my Whoop has never failed me.
// Summary: A Year of Tracking and Learning
After a year of wearing the WHOOP band, I’ve found it to be more than a piece of tech - it’s become a tool for personal insight.
Whether it’s optimising my sleep, enhancing recovery, or gaining clarity on the activities that best support my body and mind, WHOOP has offered actionable insights into areas I’d have otherwise overlooked.
And, while it’s made for professional athletes and fitness enthusiasts, the real power lies in its little nudges to fine-tune everyday habits to reduce or maximise their impact on me - WHOOP’s feedback has kept me accountable, reminding me of the value in small adjustments and consistent effort over time.
// Competitors?
I’ve tried most (not all) fitness trackers (the only exception being the Oura ring but thats because my fingers are FAT), WHOOP stands out with its unique focus on recovery and performance.
Here’s how it compares to a few other popular options:
Apple Watch
The Apple Watch offers a more general health-tracking experience and it’s not ‘niched’ down to offer something more specifically focused on the fitness industry. It’s still got the features like ECG monitoring, step tracking, and even meditation prompts but I’ve found it lacks the depth of recovery metrics WHOOP has.
The Apple Watch is an all-in-one gadget for fitness tracking, smart features (calls, texts, apps), whereas WHOOP zeroes in on holistic wellness and performance optimisation. You can’t take your calls on your Whoop and I don’t think you’d want to..
Oura Ring
The Oura Ring offers an alternative approach with similar goals. Like WHOOP, it tracks sleep, readiness, and recovery, but in a sleek, discreet ring.
While Oura excels in sleep tracking, WHOOP’s wrist-based design allows for continuous heart rate monitoring, making its strain and workout metrics slightly more precise. Oura might appeal more to users who prioritize convenience and low-profile wear, while WHOOP’s value lies in its sports and recovery-centric model. (thanks ChatGPT)
Garmin Watches
For those with an active lifestyle, Garmin offers a more rugged, adventure-friendly option. Garmin devices are designed for outdoor activities and excel in tracking metrics like GPS and elevation. They appeal to athletes and adventurers who need robust navigation and workout metrics. While Garmin provides fitness metrics, WHOOP’s focus on recovery and readiness fills a different niche, appealing to those who want to optimize performance without distraction from smartwatch functions. (again, thanks to my AI friend)
Ultimately, WHOOP carves its niche by staying hyper-focused on recovery and performance. It’s not trying to be a jack-of-all-trades but instead aims to serve a dedicated audience seeking measurable improvements in well-being and performance.
// Final Thoughts
In a world where so much attention is on reaching goals faster and harder, WHOOP offers a refreshing focus on the journey.
I should probably finish with pros and cons - my three biggest pros for the Whoop are
the fact that it’s ALWAYS on your body, you never have to take it off so you never lose a second of tracking and because of that, it’s way more honed in on your body's performance.
You don’t have the high price to pay in the outset - it’s cheap to start and you’ll get some novelty impact in the first month or two as you unlock the features
You never have to tell it you’re working out - it’s always checking and if it detects you’re working out, boom, it’s logged. I’ve lost so many workouts on my Apple Watch but not once has my Whoop failed to tell me.
And the cons -
The price of the replacement parts is ridiculous - £45 for a battery puck is astronomical.
The band, because you’re wearing it all the time, does start to smell if you don’t take it off and wash it - thankfully, because I bought a back up Whoop, I swap my band out every few weeks.
The subscription runs for a year - no stopping it, no cancelling it after the first few months - you’re locked in.
Am I keeping my Whoop band now I’m out of that ‘warming up’ period? Yep. It’s been an eye opener and I bloody love it.
Oh and if you want to get started - here’s a free month of Whoop when you order your band - https://join.whoop.com/188BB17A