One of the joys of the new year is embracing resolutions and of course getting to enjoy all of those presents that Santa brought. This year, I got a gift that I could not wait to use—a WHOOP 4.0. I knew about the product as the Official Fitness Wearable of the LPGA Tour, but honestly did not know much beyond what I saw in broadcasts. After unboxing my WHOOP on Christmas Eve, I decided to see exactly how different behaviors and activities impacted my personal health and fitness data.

Sleep

I am not sure if I started wearing this at the best or worst time—the night before a cross-country flight. On Christmas Day, might I add.

When I woke up, I received a full report that told me the time I spent in REM and deep sleep stages, disturbances during my sleep, efficiency (amount of sleep vs. time in bed), respiratory rate, and latency (how long it took to fall asleep). I randomly woke up around 2:45am, and the data confirmed that disturbance with a spike in my heart rate. I learned from the WHOOP app that waking up for brief periods in the night is normal. As WHOOP says, “though you may not remember them, disturbances can regularly add up to an hour of lost sleep each night.”

The app gives you a suggested time to go to bed based on the wake time and sleep goal that you select. What I like best about this is that WHOOP takes the guesswork out of how much sleep you truly need or should get each day to feel your best. WHOOP 4.0 features a sleep coach with haptic alerts that you can set for an exact wake up time, whenever you’ve hit your sleep goal, or when you have reached green recovery. The strain coach then calculates how much strain your body can take the next day.

While I didn’t enjoy the little sleep I got, I discovered the alarm feature and found it to be incredibly useful. I am the kind of person that usually sets at least five alarms to make sure I wake up in the morning. With the built-in alarm on WHOOP, my strap vibrated until I double tapped it, making sure that I was up and alert.

Once I turned the alarm off, I was asked to complete a journal entry with my daily habits from the past day and any additional notes I wanted to add—things ranging from air travel, jet lag and work calls to hydration, stress, and seasonal allergies. Then it was off to the airport.

Activity Tracking

Whoop-Day-3_1

A trip to Valley of Fire state park brought some more strenuous hikes and a max heart rate of 152.

Now in Las Vegas, my WHOOP recognized that I had changed time zones and adjusted all my previously recorded data accordingly.  Our first stop of the trip was Red Rock Canyon, which was full of fun walks and hikes. I decided this would be the perfect time to try out the WHOOP activity tracking feature.

There are two ways to track activity: automatically or manually. After 15 minutes of continuous elevated heart rate or a strain of 8 or higher, WHOOP automatically tracks and logs your data. If your activity is not detected, or you happen to lose service, you can add it to your activity log in the app after the fact. I happened to not have any service in the park, but my WHOOP stored the data (which it does for up to 3 days) and synced once I regained service.

When logging your activities in the app, you can choose between different categories like strain (with activities including golf, kayaking, and swimming), recovery (such as taking an ice bath and meditating) and sleep (either a full night or a nap). Just input your start and end times and all your data will appear. You can view a graph with your heart rate and stats including calories burned, average heart rate, max heart rate, and duration. WHOOP will also provide insights about each activity like how long you spent in a certain heart rate zone.

You can wear your WHOOP in any weather, in the sauna, in the pool, and in any body of water up to 10 meters. With the WHOOP 4.0, the battery pack is also water-resistant at depths up to one meter for two hours – so no need to worry if you forget to take it off in the shower, while doing dishes, or during intense workouts.

Also, if you manually press start on an activity like walking or running, you’ll get a fun map that tracks your route through the GPS in your phone.

Recovery

Whoop-Day-4With a combination of changes in your heart rate variability, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, and duration of sleep, WHOOP calculates how your body recovers each day. After four days of wearing WHOOP, it creates your first of many recovery scores, which are color-coded red, yellow, or green depending on the percentage.

My first recovery score was an outstanding 35%. This is the lowest end of the range for what WHOOP considers Adequate Recovery (yellow), meaning that “the body is able to adapt to a high training load but might be compromised based on the lower end of the spectrum.” That honestly was not surprising after a day full of activity and cold weather. I took WHOOP’s recommendation and made this a rest day.

Assessments

My second Monday, I received my first weekly performance assessment in my inbox and the app. According to the assessment, my Strain was optimally balanced, which is ideal for maintaining fitness and recovery; however, my sleep could use improvement to maximize that recovery. Within the app, I also had the option of sharing this assessment via PDF to anyone of my choosing.

Under the health monitor, you can also download 30-day and 180-day health reports.

For those who want to share their data on social media, there is a camera function that shows off your strain, recovery, and sleep stats. You can choose to highlight these one at a time or display an overview. You can even record live to show how you’re progressing through a workout.

The longer you wear your WHOOP, the more it reveals. As someone who loves to analyze data, my WHOOP 4.0 gives me plenty to discover, and I look forward to living a more active and healthier lifestyle with it by my side.

Customization

The app makes it simple to find and track the data that means the most to you, whether it be sleep, activity, blood oxygen levels, or all of the above. The personalization go beyond the app, however.

While a simple, black band is included with the WHOOP 4.0 there are an endless array of colors and finishes to match your WHOOP to any mood or outfit. There are also customizable versions with 16 band color options and 14 finish options for each precious metal piece on the strap. Swapping out the bands is quick and easy, so you can be sure to find the right style that fits your personality.

Special Offer

Subscribers to the LPGA Women’s Network can take an additional 15% off an annual WHOOP membership. Unlock your discount code and all WHOOP has to offer by heading over to our Subscriber Perk page.