How to Achieve Peak Performance Quicker? Whoop 4 Reviewed

The new Whoop 4.0 is the wearable that I am most excited about this year. Here’s everything you need to know now that I have tested the WHOOP 4.0 for close to a full month.

WHOOP 4.0 brand new sensors and metrics

The WHOOP 3.0 had a few limitations. One was the inconsistency of the heart rate sensors. Since almost all the features and suggestions that the WHOOP offers are based on your heartbeat, accuracy is crucial.

WHOOP has made this a priority and now the WHOOP4.0 has 4X as many photodiode sensor. The WHOOP 4.0 now features five LEDs, which use red, green, and infrared lights, to improve accuracy across a wider range of skin types.

The WHOOP 4.0 can also track new metrics such as Blood Oxygen or Skin Temperature with the new sensors.

Blood Oxygenis a measure of the oxygen in your blood. This information could save your life if it suddenly falls.

Skin Temperature a measure of the temperature on your skin’s surface. This is a useful indicator of whether your body is fighting something.

Your Daily Health Report includes your Resting Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability as well as your Respiratory Rate. WHOOP 4.0 uses these data to determine its two main metrics, Strain Score (or Recovery Score).

Recovery & Strain Scores

Strain Scoreis an integer that ranges between 0-21. It is essentially the sum of all the cardiovascular loads you have taken on during the day.

Recovery Scoreis an indicator of how prepared your body to take on more Strain. This percentage is a range of 0-100%. It is calculated using data that compares your resting heart rate, heart beat variability, and sleep performance to standard number ranges.

The Strain and Recovery Scores are very helpful in guiding my training. I will choose to do a shorter or less intense workout if I am having a low recovery rate. If my recovery rate is high, I will sometimes opt to push myself to do a harder or longer workout than I originally planned.

Although I don’t try to achieve the “optimal strain score” every day, it is something I enjoy looking back at and comparing how my strain scores match up with my recovery. This helps me understand my strengths and weaknesses, as well as help me make better workout decisions in the future.

Sleep tracking and haptic alarm

The most important aspect of recovery is sleep, and WHOOP offers a solid system for tracking and recommending ways to improve your sleep. It shows you how much time you spend awake, in deep sleep, light sleep, or REM sleep, as well as how many sleep disturbances.

WHOOP’s Sleep Coach uses this information to provide you with sleep recommendations. These suggestions will be based on your goals for peak performance, performing well or getting by. It will adjust the numbers according to any extra strain you put on or sleep debt that you have accumulated in the last few days.

A Haptic Alarm Alarm Clock has been added to WHOOP 4.0.

You can set the vibrating alarm clock to a time once you have reached your sleep goal or when your recovery has been completed. It is quiet enough to not wake your partner as a normal alarm, making it a great addition.

You can take a quick survey with the WHOOP app to record any behaviors you wish to track when you wake up.

This is One of Whoop’s most unique features. It will analyze your data and give you tons of information at the end each month. It is amazing how even a simple thing such as wearing a sleeping mask can make a big difference in your recovery.

Improved size and battery

The WHOOP 4.0 has a 33% smaller size than the previous model. The WHOOP 4.0 is now 33% smaller than the previous model. It looks better and is less noticeable when you wear it.

WHOOP had to make changes to their battery in order to achieve this smaller size. Even though it is smaller, the battery can still last three to five days on a single charge. It seems that three days is more realistic when Bluetooth broadcasting is used, which I have done.

You can now slide the Battery Charger over your WHOOP band while you are wearing it. You can now visually check how much juice your battery charger has by tapping on it.

Another improvement is that the charger is now waterproof. It was easy to damage your battery pack by getting it accidentally wet. You now have one less thing to worry about, as it is water-resistant.

WHOOP body clothes

The WHOOP 4.0 is smaller in size so it can be worn on your clothes. WHOOP has created specific clothing with pouches that hold the WHOOP in certain areas. This means you don’t have to wear it on your wrist. These new placements were tested with the improved sensors and proved to be accurate.

Although I don’t intend to wear Whoop clothing every day, it will prove very useful in certain situations. There is an alternative solution if I don’t want people to know that I’m a fitness geek and I need to go somewhere I don’t want them to.

Pricing

WHOOP’s pricing model uses a subscription-based pricing model with three options.

The WHOOP 4.0 will cost you $216 annually under the $18/month plan. Although this seems a little steep, it is a reasonable price considering they have a track record of releasing a new model every two years.

I believe they did a great job with WHOOP 4.0. It is a great product and I highly recommend it.

Get WHOOP 4.0 Here. Use code CTW to get $30 off

Best Features of WHOOP 4.0’s fitness tracker

I’ve been using the WHOOP so far and I’m very impressed. These are my top five favorites!

Battery Life

One thing I don’t like about fitness trackers is the fact that I need to take them off each day to charge them. WHOOP 4.0 comes with an all-on battery. You don’t even need to remove your WHOOP band in order to charge it. The battery can be charged separately and you can then charge it again by simply slipping the battery case on top of your WHOOP and continuing your day. You don’t need to charge the WHOOP 4.0 battery very often as it lasts for four to five days.

The WHOOP 4.0 battery can also be waterproof which is a significant improvement. It was an issue with the WHOOP 3.0 battery packs’ lack of waterproofing. Many people accidentally got their batteries wet and ended up ruining them. The new WHOOP 4.0 allows you to wash dishes and even take a shower with complete safety.

Strain Score

Let’s dive into WHOOP’s most important feature, the strain score. Your strain score is basically a snapshot of your cardiovascular load throughout the day. Your strain score is not the only thing you have. You also have your recovery score. Your recovery score is calculated based on many factors such as your HRV, sleep quality, resting heart rate, and other factors.

These strain and recovery scores allow the WHOOP to give you good advice about how hard or how often you should exercise. Even though I don’t always follow the WHOOP’s advice, it gives me a better idea about what I should aim for.

People had a lot of complaints about WHOOP 3.0’s poor accuracy in heart rate measurement. WHOOP 4.0 seems to have made a lot of improvements to it, including doubling the number of optic sensors from 2 to 4.

Health Report

The WHOOP 4.0 has a daily health report that I love. Five metrics make up the daily health report:

  • Respiratory rate
  • Blood oxygen
  • Heart rate at rest
  • HRV (Heart rate variable).
  • Temperature of the skin

All of these are taken each night as you sleep so that you can have the most accurate data when you wake up in the morning. You can compare your metrics daily, or view a complete seven- or 30-day report. You can also print your report and share it with your doctor, which I find to be a very useful feature.

The Sleep Coach

If there’s one area that I need to improve, it’s my sleep. There are many tools that can track and measure how much sleep I get, but WHOOP 4.0 is my favorite. The program’s sleeping analysis adjusts the recommendations based upon your goals. It breaks down your sleep debt and calculates how much extra sleep you will need based off your daily strain score.

WHOOP Sleep Coach

It learns more about you and how much you need to recover as you use it. It is much more practical because it makes sense for each person, rather than just the average person. You can set your band to vibrate at a certain time after you’ve reached your sleep goal or have recovered fully.

Smaller Size

The 33% smaller size is one of the most significant changes in WHOOP 4.0. A band such as this does not require a screen so it is ideal to have it smaller. The previous WHOOP was slightly more cumbersome for those with smaller wrists. They have now reduced the size of the WHOOP, making it more comfortable and allowing for greater accuracy in heart rate measurement.

WHOOP 4.0 now fits inside WHOOP Clothing

It’s also much easier to pop the WHOOP from the band to quickly interchange it. It can be worn on the wrist or in specific WHOOP clothing. The only thing I could find was the bra. I haven’t tried that yet. Once I have the shirt, I’m excited to test the other whoop clothes.

WHOOP 4.0 & Apple Health Integration

WHOOP is a popular smart watch that integrates with Apple Health.

Once you have set it up, all activities that are synced with Apple Health will be automatically imported into the WHOOP app. Apple Health can also share WHOOP data such as sleep tracking, resting heart rate and blood oxygen.

WHOOP members have the ability to connect to Apple Health in order to sync their Recovery and Strain metrics across both services.

First, make sure that you have the most recent version of WHOOP’s app. This will enable Apple Health integration. Follow these steps to enable Apple Health integration on your WHOOP.

These steps will enable you to access Health app:

  1. Upgrading your WHOOP App to the most recent version is a good idea.
  2. Click the menu icon at the bottom-right corner of the WHOOP app.
  3. Scroll down and tap Integrs.
  4. Tap Apple Health.
  5. TapConnect.
  6. Tap To turn on all or select the categories you would like to share between WHOOP&Apple Health, tap
  7. TapAllow.

You can manage your data with WHOOP through the Health app on your iPhone.

  1. The Healthapp is available.
  2. In the upper right-hand corner, click on your profile icon.
  3. TapApps.
  4. TapWHOOP.
  5. Choose which categories you would like to share between WHOOP or Apple Health.

WHOOP also released a video on setting up the Apple Health synch. You can watch it here.

WHOOP also has a dedicated support webpage for those who have more questions regarding setting up the synch to Apple Health.

Wrap up

The WHOOP 4.0 has a lot more to offer. You can watch the full review on our YouTube Channel to see it soon!

Get $30 off your WHOOP!

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