I’ve Been Tracking My Health With Whoop, and Here’s What I Liked (and What I Ignored):

When I reviewed the Whoop 5.0 and MG (and previously the Whoop 4.0 ) , I focused on the core features—appearance, functionality, charging, and activity tracking. But that’s only part of the review, and today I’m going to take a closer look at all the metrics the Whoop offers and give an objective assessment of what I consider most useful and what’s worth overlooking.

(I won’t go into the activity tracking features here, as I covered them in more detail in the review, but the gist is this: I like how it tracks workout intensity—including strength training—but for most people, it won’t replace a real fitness watch.)

I didn’t wear the Whoop band as regularly as I did the Oura ring, which I’m reviewing four years later . But to prepare this article and my reviews, I wore the Whoop for several weeks at a time, regularly tracking my workouts and sleep. So, let’s take a closer look at what it’s like to wear the Whoop band long-term, using it to evaluate and adjust your habits and results.

An ordinary day with a Whoop bracelet.

Let me tell you about a typical day. I wear the Whoop band on my wrist or forearm, and it’s probably been a few days since I last charged it. (A charge lasts about five days.) I made sure I had the band on when I went to bed. If I check the Whoop app first thing in the morning, it sometimes shows that it’s still “processing” my sleep, and there’s a button I can tap to “end sleep” and get my recovery results.

The Whoop app will show you a survey called a “diary” when you first open the app each day. I’ll explain the diary in more detail in the section below. Let’s say you’ve already filled out your diary and are looking at the main app. On the main screen on a typical day, I might see:

• Above is my recovery , color-coded. Green is a good result, 66% or higher. Yellow is fair (34% or higher), and red is poor. Today, I have a yellow recovery score of 48%. (In April, I had 19 green recoveries, 9 yellow, 0 red, and two nights I forgot to put on a bra before bed.)

• A few things I should pay attention to : My heart rate variability may be lower than usual, which could be related to my intense workout yesterday.

• The health monitor shows whether your breathing rate, blood oxygen levels, resting heart rate, heart rate variability and skin temperature are within normal limits.

• A stress monitor , which I understand shows how stressed I am. Frankly, it doesn’t help me.

• The “daily forecast” button, which I can click . It starts a dialogue with Whoop Coach—more on that later.

• Today’s timeline shows when I slept. As I do other things, like exercise, more information will appear here.

• Sleep recommendations for today , including recommended bedtimes.

Next up is a table showing the results of my current “plan” (more on that below), as well as a dashboard with specific metrics I might be interested in, such as my heart rate variability (HRV) and the number of steps I took today—a feature that’s still in beta.

At the top of the screen, I can tap my sleep, recovery, or stress scores. The “Strain” screen is interesting because it shows my recommended stress level for the day. It can suggest a “moderate” stress level and set a target score between 8.9 and 12.9. Most of my stress comes from exercise, with some from everyday activities like walking. In the morning, before I’ve exercised or left the house, my stress level might be around 2.7 just from sitting.

A Whoop Coach can help you plan your day, but don’t be too specific.

Let’s return to the “Daily Review” button. Tap it, and you’ll start a conversation with Whoop Coach, an AI chatbot. It’s probably the only AI bot I interact with regularly, as it does a good job of explaining the app’s metrics and recommending workouts for the day.

Here’s a real-life example: one day, the app praised me for my running workout yesterday, telling me that my training schedule had been consistent, and that I’d spent 162 minutes in active heart rate zones this week. It then described several trends in my metrics, including that my resting heart rate had improved over the past few weeks, but my recovery time that day was shorter than usual.

Then the fun begins. The app gives me workout recommendations for the day and which habits to focus on. It advised me to drink three liters of water that day (a bit more than usual) and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. For the workout, I could achieve the recommended intensity by choosing a low-intensity exercise to “support recovery,” since my heart rate and heart rate variability indicated I might need some rest.

The Whoop trainer suggested three workout options based on my fitness preferences. These included a 30-minute run, primarily in zones 1 and 2, or an 80-minute low- to moderate-intensity weight training session. At the bottom of each workout is a “Save” button, which adds the workout to my schedule for the day. I can do the workout later by simply tapping this button, and the activity timer will start automatically.

I like that it can recommend these workouts to me, because otherwise the instruction to “get 8.9” is completely incomprehensible. Unfortunately, all you get is a small graphic indicator of your time in heart rate zones. I asked Whoop Coach to time these intervals, perhaps with an audible signal when I change from one zone to another, but it doesn’t have that feature.

The app offers a specific workout plan that I can enter into any workout timer app. Previously, Whoop Coach had trouble creating interval workouts that would total the required number of minutes; this seems to be improving. However, the workout ideas are still quite general. I’ve found that the best way to use the coach is to see what it recommends and then use that as a rough guide, if I have the flexibility to plan my workout routine or daily plans. For example, if I have an intense 45-minute run planned today, but Whoop thinks I should do something easier, I might try swapping today’s run for an easy run scheduled for later in the week.

How to use Whoop’s sleep metrics and features

The Whoop app offers so many sleep metrics that it can be difficult to know where to start. I see two key, useful features: a report on how much sleep you got compared to how much sleep you needed, and smart alarms that can be set in a variety of ways.

On the Sleep tab, you’ll see a sleep quality score, comparing the amount of sleep you got with the amount you’re estimated to need. Today, I slept more than I needed, which doesn’t reflect how I felt when I woke up groggy. Although, it seems like the timing was perfect—I was very tired yesterday, so I went to bed early and slept a little longer.

I think worrying about the “accuracy” of sleep tracking is a waste of time, as no wearable is truly accurate, but most are good enough. But for comparison, my total sleep time usually roughly matches what Oura reports, and my sleep phases often match up more or less. Here’s an example from a day when I was wearing both Oura and Whoop:

• Light sleep: 5:02 (Oura: 5:22)

• Deep Sleep: 2:36 (Oura: 1:41)

• REM sleep: 1:46 (Oura: 1:37)

• Total: 9:18 (Our estimate: 9:22)

In my opinion, total sleep time is more important than all other metrics. Increase your sleep duration, and you’ll likely sleep better. (I have data to back this up, based on long-term monitoring with the Oura device —total sleep time correlates closely with other sleep metrics and assessments.)

Whoop also tracks your “sleep debt,” or how much sleep you needed but didn’t get. For example, in one month, I had six nights with a “high” sleep debt—45 minutes or more. Nine times it was moderate (30 to 45 minutes), and 14 times it was 30 minutes or less.

sleep consultant and smart alarm clocks

One of Whoop’s most interesting features is its “sleep coach,” which can advise you on the best time to go to bed and even help you decide when your alarm should go off. (It’s also one of the most hidden features. Tap the “Sleep tonight” card on the overview screen.)

On this screen, called the “Sleep Planner,” you can choose whether you want to “meet your sleep needs” (recover lost sleep if needed); “improve your sleep,” which will recommend times to help you stick to a more consistent sleep schedule; or “reach your weekly goal,” which I’ll discuss in more detail below.

Then there’s the second set of settings. When you try to set an alarm, the app will ask whether you want to wake up at a specific time, when you reach your sleep goal for the night, or once you’re “in the green zone.” The latter option refers to being at 66% or higher, which may not be ideal, but should ensure you don’t end up completely exhausted.

Honestly, I don’t use these features often. I have a sleep goal set in my weekly plan, but I don’t plan on fiddling with the app every night to decide when to wake up. On the other hand, if I had a chaotic schedule, like a student or a professional athlete, I’d definitely use this feature more often.

Track your habits with a diary.

Activity and sleep tracking are practically automatic, something almost any fitness tracker or smartwatch can do. However, from a health perspective, Whoop truly excels, helping you track all the small habits and factors that can impact your sleep or athletic performance.

That’s where the Diary comes in handy. You can fill it out at any time of day, but it will also appear first thing in the morning and ask you about what happened yesterday. Did you eat late? Did you drink alcohol? Did you drink enough water? If you don’t like these questions, you can customize it to ask you other questions. It can also pull data from other parts of the app or from connected apps—for example, if you track your menstrual cycle in Apple Health, that can appear here too.

Each habit or factor only becomes useful if you record at least five “yes” and five “no” statements. Tracking anything you do almost always or almost never isn’t very useful. So, I narrowed the scope of my journal to include only things I’ll answer differently every night or things I’m trying to improve.

Important note: leaving a question blank doesn’t count as a “yes” or “no.” Initially, I only answered questions if I could answer “yes,” and otherwise left the field blank—for example, answering “yes” if I had consumed alcohol that day. But when I later reviewed my results, I discovered that with seven “yes” answers and no “no” answers regarding alcohol, Whoop couldn’t provide me with reports that used this information. Noticing this, I was able to complete the entries for the past few days, but I can’t go back more than a week.

However, the additional week of data was enough to answer the alcohol question: it impairs my recovery, reducing it by an average of 9% on nights when I’ve had one or two beers. At least that’s how Whoop presents it—these are correlations, and Whoop doesn’t actually know which causes which. For example, taking melatonin supposedly impairs my recovery by 4%. But is melatonin really the culprit, or am I just more likely to take it when I’m already having trouble sleeping? These results should be taken with a grain of salt. To their credit, they include a disclaimer stating that “this effect is significantly different from the Whoop average. Note that results can sometimes be influenced by other correlated factors you don’t track.”

According to Whoop data (accessible at the top of the Diary screen), two factors are actually helping my recovery: maintaining a consistent bedtime (improved by 8%) and adequate hydration (improved by 4%). The consistent bedtime information was automatically populated based on Whoop data, and the hydration information was based on my daily yes/no answers.

By the way, you can speed up the process of selecting answers in the small “yes” and “no” fields by clicking the “use previous answers” button. This will set the answers to those you selected yesterday, and you can then manually change any that differ.

Making a weekly plan

Weekly plans are a great way to work on a small set of habits over a short period of time. Instead of trying to track every single outcome, you choose, say, three things to work on. Here are some examples the app provides, and the habits or factors each one tracks:

• Improving your fitness level : Increase time spent in high-intensity heart rate zones, reach your protein target four days a week, and perform any strength training one day a week.

• Feel better : Increase your daily steps, reach your hydration goal four days a week, and do “any recovery activity” three days a week.

• Sleep deeper : Improve sleep quality, increase sleep efficiency, avoid late meals.

After experimenting with some of them, I eventually developed a personalized plan for myself. I chose:

• On average, sleep 7:30 hours a day.

• I try not to use my phone in bed four days a week.

• Achieve your hydration goal five days a week.

Throughout the week, I can track my progress, and at the end of the week, Whoop gives me a quick report and asks whether I want to repeat the plan next week or adjust it. I find this a helpful way to work toward a mini-goal, and it’s much less overwhelming than sifting through huge dashboards filled with all the data Whoop can gather.

View weekly and monthly reports

If you want to analyze all your data in detail, Whoop offers detailed weekly and monthly “performance reports.” Each is a PDF file with graphs showing your performance over the course of a week or month and how they compare to previous data.

For example, my monthly report from April of last year shows how my Strain and Recovery scores compare to the previous weeks’ scores throughout the year. I don’t wear the Whoop often enough to draw any significant conclusions from this—as I said, I only wear it when testing features or writing reviews—but I’d love it if this feature were available on one of the devices I wear each month. (As much as I admire the Whoop, I can’t wear too many devices in addition to the ones I test for work.)

My weekly report is more focused. The latest one begins with the statement: “Workload was optimal. Sleep could be improved.” This week, my workload was also slightly lower than last week, and my sleep consistency was poor. I like the graph that shows how closely my bedtime and wake-up times match (or differ from) the app’s recommended times.

What you shouldn’t pay attention to

The Whoop app provides a huge amount of data, and frankly, I’d say most of it isn’t worth paying attention to. The app is so dense with data points and confusing mazes that it’s easy to get lost. You could spend hours poring over reports and tweaking settings. You could endlessly interact with the Whoop Coach AI. But it’s not necessary.

It’s helpful to pick a few tasks that are worth paying attention to and discard everything else. Luckily, the app offers a variety of ways to do this. You can select a few important tasks for your weekly plan and hide those tasks you don’t need to check every day from the dashboard.

As for things I (almost) never pay attention to:

• Don’t overthink sleep stages . Getting enough sleep regularly will ensure you get a good night’s sleep.

• Don’t get too hung up on recovery metrics ; you’re resilient enough to complete your planned workout even if your sleep wasn’t ideal. The exception would be if you’re feeling truly ill—for example, sick—in which case you’ll know by how you feel, not by the number in the app.

• Keep in mind that the data obtained here speaks of correlation, not causation —as in my melatonin example, where melatonin correlates with worse sleep, perhaps because I take it when I expect worse sleep. These aren’t “conclusions” at all, but simply data that you’ll need to use your own brain (and conduct further experiments) to understand.

I’ve found that focusing too much on the recovery app can drive me a little crazy. Instead of waking up and not thinking about how I’m feeling—I’m probably fine—I start wondering if the app agrees that I’m tired and sore. Or I think I’m fine, but the app shows a drop in heart rate variability, and now I have to wonder what could be causing it. I wouldn’t recommend such intensive tracking for someone who easily gets caught up in numbers. But if numbers bring you joy, the Whoop app can certainly give you that in spades.

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