The WHOOP 4.0 has stormed onto the fitness tracker market and has quickly climbed to the top of the fitness wearable ladder as the must-have trendy wrist accessory.
Despite its small size, the WHOOP 4.0 is versatile. It can be worn on your wrist or biceps and manages to blend into almost any workout ‘fit. Once its around your wrist, pull the clasp down to close and secure the band; like a new pair of shoes, it just needs a little testing period before you find the sweet spot, after which you’re locked in.
The design of the WHOOP 4.0 veers from the usual watch-type wearables on the market with its unique lock-in design, though admittedly, the design setup is comfortable. Some of the world’s most prominent athletes, such as LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Virat Kohli and AFL superstars the Daicos brothers, have all been caught sporting the tracker.
So the real question remains: is the WHOOP 4.0 worth the investment? Is it worth giving in to the groovy commercials and sleek marketing? And what kind of athlete does the strap suit best?
Below, we provide a thorough, first-hand (or wrist) evaluation of the WHOOP 4.0 Strap and detail the reasons why we love it.
WHOOP 4.0
What we like about the WHOOP 4.0
1.WHOOP app
The interface is found via the WHOOP App, which you will need to download on your smartphone. The interface features a stack of visual actions that might cause a touch of chaos for those unfamiliar with wearable technology. It’s not until you start clocking your first few workouts and nights of sleep that the interface becomes easier to decipher and once you’ve got it, you never look back.
Displaying graphs with your average heart rate, maximum heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and the calories burned throughout your workout, WHOOP also calculates your workout strain – a fancy term for how hard you trained on a particular day. It tracks how rigorous you trained throughout the day and how well you slept. You will also receive a recovery score to decide whether you should hit the gym or hit the snooze button and take a rest day.
The app also allows you to filter through past days and access old data about your body and its performance.
2. Comprehensive activity tracking
The WHOOP 4.0 tracks various activities, including the usual running, cycling and high-Intensity workouts, to more niche activities like snowboarding and jiu-jitsu. For stressed out NRL and AFL fans, there’s even an activity for just sitting on the couch watching your team play. The wide range of possible activity selections lets you tailor your exercise or recreational activities accordingly, which suits almost every type of athlete. After your session, the device will provide a detailed rundown of your workout, such as heart rate zones, calories burned and workout strain.
For example, after my 47-minute high-intensity workout, I had an average heart rate of 143 bpm, a maximum heart rate of 179 bpm, and 567 total calories burned, much more than my 100-calorie ping-pong session the night before.
I was also given a rundown of exactly which zones each minute of my workout fell into regarding my heart rate. From a restorative zone of less than 50 per cent to my blistering 1 minute in zone 5 (90 – 100 per cent). This rundown is a cracking analysis for any athlete wanting to know when exactly their body exerts the most energy.
3. Sleep tracking
Sleep tracking was by far the device’s most in-depth and impressive aspect. The WHOOP 4.0 tracks every second of your total and restorative sleep (the body’s regenerative sleep stage) by pin-pointing how much light, deep, and REM sleep you manage to cram into a night. Sleep tracking is simple: without touching anything, fall asleep and let the magic begin. Your WHOOP will pick up every little detail and give you a play-by-play report once you wake up.
The app suggests how much sleep you require to either “get by”, “perform”, or “peak”. Each category directly correlates to how well you recovered from the day before and how ready you are to take on the upcoming 24 hours.
I must admit, I’ve become quite the sleep score enthusiast. Waking up, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning, eager to check if I’ve beaten my previous night’s score, because who doesn’t love some healthy competition with themselves. As you can see, the interface is also user friendly for those tired morning eyes, showing you all the relevant figures and stats as soon as you wake.
4. Battery life
One of the big takeaways from the WHOOP 4.0 band is the fact that they aren’t kidding about it never having to leave your wrist. While with some trackers, taking the wearable off to charge can become a nuisance, only for them to last a day or two before needing to be re-charged, the WHOOP 4.0 cranks out four to five days of battery life when fully charged. A further bonus is that you only need to charge a small battery pack separately. When you need to charge the band itself, simply connect the battery pack to the WHOOP sensor and the band will begin charging; all while you’re still on the move. It’s as easy as that.
5. Artificial intelligence coach
A helpful feature of this device is the built-in WHOOP AI coach. It allows you to ask fitness-related questions, such as how to reduce your stress levels, improve your sleep performance, enhance your morning routine, or determine the optimal strain levels for your day. The AI coach is personalised to your specific needs and provides a rather cool and contemporary variation of fitness support.
6. No Screen
Yes, screen exclusion was initially a concern before using the WHOOP 4.0 strap. However, you can see the thinking behind it: not having a screen eliminates distractions and the possibility of chipped or damaged glass faces, which would be another headache altogether.
To some it might feel odd, but not having the added noise of notifications or a light-up display allows the WHOOP to subtly do its job without you thinking you have a wearable on in the first place.
Who is a WHOOP 4.0 best for?
The WHOOP 4.0 strap is reserved for the wrists of elite athletes. In saying that, however, the wearable would better suit those already established as regular gym goers or basic fitness enthusiasts. Beginners or those in that introductory ‘talking’ stage with fitness and the gym might find the WHOOP 4.0 band overwhelming in its data analysis. In that case you’re better leaving the graphs and numbers alone until you decide what form of exercise suits you best; trust us, wearables and fitness data aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The biggest takeaways from the WHOOP 4.0 strap remain its ability to track sleep, how well you’ve recovered from your daily strain and how much strain your body can endure the following day. If you are an athlete who has progressed into caring about specific recovery, sleep, and performance data, this wearable is perfect for you. Those who enjoy playing sports, both competitively and recreationally, and those who also enjoy a sweaty cardio and high-intensity gym session will also find this wearable a perfect fit.
It’s comfortable, subtle, and incredibly easy to forget about, getting all the work done in the background and firing off the data directly to your WHOOP app. It’s unique, thats for sure, from the abnormal design to the amusing name ‘Whoop‘. That being said, it’s these quirky differences and what the device can quietly dissect about your health, that make it easy to see why the WHOOP 4.0 is having such an impact in the world of fitness tech.
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