The BEST investment we've made on our wellness journey.
You don't know what you don't know. Profound statement, right? This band right here has hands down, been one of the best investments Jer and I have made on our wellness journey.
The WHOOP Band is a device you wear that tracks and records specific data you can review revolving around your health and wellness. I will say it again, THE BEST INVESTMENT we have made on our wellness journey.
It's time for you to get in the "loop" and learn all about WHOOP.
(Ahhhh, that's a cute little saying.) Okay, let's get started.....
It's A Fact...
Click to Read Blog Post I Wrote About The WHOOP Band
Why It Rocks Our World.
It's ALWAYS watching and tracking. The ultimate accountability partner that keeps us mindful and intentional.
First This
Our data is loaded to an app where we can review our numbers. The app has amazing educational resources.
Then This
The ability to see how different things impact our numbers, whether it's for the good or bad, is priceless.
Finally, This
What do we track, and how do we use our WHOOP Band?
What do we track, and how do we use our WHOOP Band?
You don't know what you don't know. I think it's time to know.
01
Basic vital signs. Heart rate, resting heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, and oxygen saturation.
02
Sleep. This has been our biggest focus the last two years. We review consistency, amount of sleep, deep, REM, and light sleep. Game changer.
03
HRV. (Heart Rate Variability) I stalk this number daily. We will discuss it more below. This is priceless info.
04
Stress + Strain + Recovery. Monitor real time stress levels, and review daily strain and how you recover.
At the top you will see your most important data. Your recovery, which will either be in the green, yellow, or red zone. This is how well you recovered from the day before. Your strain, which is the amount of strain you are putting on your body THAT day. Your HRV, which is measured and based off data from the day before and your sleep. (We will talk about HRV more below.) Finally your sleep performance percentage.
You will then have your Health Monitor, which is your basic vital signs. Next you see activities you log during the day. Finally, sleep, which you can click open to analyze in a deeper way. (I shared this earlier in the breakdown of Deep, REM, light, etc.
The next list is customizable, meaning you can pick which items you want displayed here to track. These are the items I have chosen. Each category can be analyzed in more detail when you click it open. As you can see here, it displays your data for the day with a small number under the day's stat. That is your info from the previous day for you to compare. Again, if you want to do a deeper dive, you can open it for more detailed information. Here you can review the daily, weekly, monthly, and six months stats.
Here's What You'll See When You Open Your App
Main Overview
Key Statistics
This is an overview of my strain and recovery for the week. Recovery is the top numbers, It will either be green, yellow, or red. This is how well you have recovered, which tell you how much strain you can take on for the day. (Workouts or take it easy.) You want to see the lines closer together, like you see on Tuesday and Wednesday. High recovery days means you can push yourself more in work outs. My strain is actually a tad low. I do need to work out more.
Strain + Recovery
When they added this feature, it "stressed" me out. Once I truly understood it, it added so much value to my life. I actually began to see an improvement in my numbers. Stress isn't always a bad thing. Notice the stress is higher when I'm in the sauna and when I went for a walk (activities I logged). This is normal. What you don't want to see is high stress when you are at rest. The app teaches you breathing exercises to help in this area. It's legit SO AMAZING.
Stress Monitor
Let's Break down The Front Page Data
Jer and I have been on a two plus year focus on bettering our sleep. Here's what we track.
Ahhhh, I LOVE talking numbers. I totally geek out over it. I look at my sleep numbers EVERY SINGLE DAY. Let's begin with this first image. It gives an overview of your Awake, Light, Deep, and REM numbers. We will start from the top and work our way down.
At the top, you will see the hours of sleep I actually got, and how many hours were restorative. The smaller numbers beside it (7:01 and 3:33) is what I got the night before. Next, they always have a little blurb to teach you something or highlight your specific data. The graph you see is my heart rate through the night. If you click on one of the stages of sleep, like light, deep, etc, it will highlight on that graph when you were in those stages. Super cool.
Finally, it breaks down the amount of each stage of sleep. I believe this night I was watching the boys and one was up a bit during the night. Yikes. The goal is to be within the shaded dotted lines for each stage, that's my typical range.
Sleep is VITAL for your OVerall wellness
Take a Peek At My Sleep Data
Sleep Performance is the amount of sleep you got, divided by how much you need. 70% is needed to get by, 85% to perform, and 100% for peak performance.
Hours vs Need shows the amount of sleep you got vs. how much you needed. This is calculated based on your baseline, sleep debt, strain, and naps.
Restorative Sleep is the amount of deep sleep and REM sleep you get each night. Deep sleep is the physically restorative stage, and REM is the mentally restorative.
Restorative Sleep is optimal at 40% to 50% of your time spent in bed. This is your Deep and REM sleep. These stages of sleep are vital for a thriving mind and body.
A consistent wake and sleep time is what I'm tracking in this image. This was a super rare week. We are typically ALWAYS in bed before 10pm and awake by 6am or before.
You can see in this image my average sleep debt is typically crazy low. I also love the little notes they share with you about your average data. Way cool.
Want to do a deeper dive???
Let's analyze my data even more, whatcha say?
If data details are your jam, then this blog post I wrote will go into more details of how we use our WHOOP Band to measure and monitor our sleep. I can't stress enough how much this has helped me and Jer on our wellness journey. I know I'm sounding like a broken recored, but it's been a game changer for us. When I'm passionate about something I have to make sure you get the point. (haha)
Click here to to read the blog post I wrote about tracking our sleep with the WHOOP Band
Snatch Up a FREE Band + One Month Free Here.
WHOOP is so awesome. They are allowing my friends to receive a FREE BAND + one month free. This is HUGE. I'm telling you, total no brainer. This is the best news ever.
Grab Your Free BanD + Free Month Here
This is Why You Track Data!
When you watch your numbers, you will be able to see how changes you make impact your results. In this image you see a six month overview of Jer's restorative sleep. Look what happens when he began using Kids Calm gummies towards the end of December. He had a massive jump. Thirty minutes may not seem like a lot, but when you multiply that by 30 days, oh my word, you are getting multiple hours more of restoration for the body and brain. I mean, HELLO, this is mind blowing and I love it so so much.
Here's A Link FOR $10 off your First order of Kids Calm if you want to Snatch some up!
“This course made my business dreams come true! I made six figures, and I couldn't have done it without Kate!”
- SARAH
Kind words
The secret to using the WHOOP Band, only compare your numbers to YOUR numbers.
Why don't we discuss HRV, while reviewing three different "six month periods" that are all around the same time of year. This first one is my beginning stages of using the WHOOP Band in 2021, and moving into 2022.
Heart Rate Variability
The Number I Stalk Daily: HRV
HRV is basically how your heart handles what life throws at it. That's Monique's terminology. Probably not the most scientific definition, but it's how I like to think of it. Rule number one, don't compare your numbers to anyone but yourself. Try to get better each day, week, month, year. In these three images, you can see how I have improved over time. That's what we want to see. Take a second and notice how many months I see no change, and then BOOM, I take a jump. (Again, remember there are months between these, I pulled numbers from the same six months of three years.) I love that you can go back and review these large chunks of time. Progress. You want to see progress.
If you want to have a number to aim for, research (there are articles on the WHOOP APP) what the average is for your age bracket and gender. Men tend to have a higher HRV and those who are younger tend to have a higher HRV. Your job is to know YOUR baseline and work to improve it. In this last image, you can see my numbers are increasing. YAY. Slow and steady. I will tell you, the big factors in the increase has been a focus on sleep and stress levels. My highest HRV months have been the months I was intentional with working out. (I believe I've had a 46 and 47.) Yikes. This is my next focus I will be diving into. One step at a time. You don't have to change everything all at once. Baby steps is completely fine. Movement. We are looking for movement.
Don't let this step overwhelm you, but it is a really great tool to embrace on this journey.
It's only been the last few months that I've become super intentional with this feature. You can create a customized journal, meaning, they allow you a massive list of actions you can track daily. You simply add what you want to take note of daily. Here's a peak at my list.
Each morning when I wake up to check my data, these questions pop up on my screen. It takes me less than a minute to scroll through them and answer. Knowing I am going to be asked daily, truly does help keep me intentional. I love a good list.
Once you have recorded enough data, it takes into consideration how these activities impact you for the post or negative. You can see this in the "Insights" area of your app.
How Do Actions Impact your numbers?
Create a Custom Journal
Three Final Thoughts
You have GOT to have this in your life. Really. It's going to rock your world. It is THE BEST investment you will ever make. I promise.
Those who are very driven and competitive, don't allow this to become a stressor. It's a tool for you to understand your data. Period.
Follow our blog and YouTube Channel where we will be discussing this band in more detail and how we use it in our own personal wellness journey.
Get On the List
What's the list? Ummmm, a place where the way fun insider things go down. Each week we go all old school, write out a letter and send it to YOU. (If you are on the list). So, get on the list.
After re-reading the above, it sounds a little bossy. Gosh, I'm that bossy friend. Please don't kick me to the curb. :)
Posts, stories, and reels, oh my. Let's be honest, this is where the daily fun goes down. Hop on over. I can't wait to see you there!
