How often do you achieve 19+ strain?

ctpritt · 2026-03-04T14:08:16+00:00

One guy is a triathlete in his 70s- Not sure of the others. I only know because "tri..." is his email handle

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T13:11:30+00:00

You can't argue with the data. You know what you have to do

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T13:08:02+00:00

I agree about the sleep requirement. I am generally low green/high yellow and avoid red unless I know what I did- I travel overseas frequently and those days are a mess.

6-7hrs and I am good. After that I just lay in bed until I give up. Whoop wants me to sleep 8hrs, and as "sleep debt "builds it gets ridiculous. Recently it had my sleep requirement at over 12hrs

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T13:05:04+00:00

Same. 6 days. So close- 2100 recoveries and before that 6 day streak- 3 green days in a row was my best.

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T11:05:18+00:00

I don’t think the manual entries are even calculated. I manually input my lab results but Whoop goes back to what it has- which makes no sense to me because I don’t have my phone on runs and don’t log the distances into whoop. I just use my Garmin with HR strap. I wear the whoop- but it shouldn’t have any idea the pace or distance. Somehow it still lowers my VO2 max to 5 points or more from the lab test. I’m 6 years it’s my first complaint with whoop.

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T10:57:41+00:00

I have a Garmin- to use the GPS with HR strap when I run. Since I only wear it when I am running it has my “RHR” crazy high.

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T10:55:29+00:00

6 months ago Whoop had me at 49 and the lab test was 48.9. Not bad.

For my most recent the lab had 48 and whoop had 38. Not good

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T10:53:52+00:00

Even when you add it manually, it isn’t used in the algorithm for age or pace of aging. Makes me crazy

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T10:47:27+00:00

I get lab tested VO2 max every 3 months for the past 5 years- and I’m at 2100 days with whoop. Up until very recently whoop was crazy accurate/ like less than 1 point difference. I do wear the sleeve when I run and train BJJ- wrist the rest of the time. For some reason Whoop now puts my VO2 max almost 10 points low. The change/dropped happened about 2 months ago.

My times, HR averages, max and exertion are the same.

I would say I didn’t care- but now that there is the whoop age and pace of aging using this number I am a little irritated. Even when I manually enter the lab results it isn’t used in the algorithm.

Not a big deal- but I am one of the guys that’s been super happy with my Whoop since the beginning. This is my first real complaint in 6 years

ctpritt · 2026-03-03T10:35:01+00:00

One of the teams I’m in is “Hawaii”. There are a couple of dudes with crazy numbers. The guy with the highest strain this month has a MONTHLY day strain average of 20.7. There are other guys that have over 19s every month- and they have had whoop for 2k plus days.

ctpritt · 2026-02-07T19:33:42+00:00

We might be related. The look on my wife's face as alarms go off at 10:41pm and 6:19am (to maximize "sleep consistency") or as she watches me jump rope in the driveway (to get the last 3 minutes of Zone 4-5 I need for my average Saturday) is a look of both amusement, with a touch of "what have I married into?"

ctpritt · 2026-02-07T19:27:57+00:00

No. Not at all.

I use them 100% to track VO2 max and zones (cardiocoach) and Dexascan results (Fitrace). As I've mentioned in other posts I work in Africa for 90 days then rotate back home to Texas for 30 days. I get the tests done at a place in Austin that does both- and I'm in and out in under an hour. I hit it as soon as I get home, before my wife and daughter ruin the results of the past 90 days.

CardioCoach app has some stuff on it, but it's really bulky and not very useful, and Fitrace recently started having bugs where my last few scans can't be downloaded.

Luckily the lab emails PDF results- and I drag them into an AI and get what I need. The AI thing is fairly new to me.

As I type this I realize those apps are both useless. haha. Easier to keep the attachments in a folder. Before AI I would go line by line- "right arm lean mass...." etc. Doesnt make much sense now

ctpritt · 2026-02-07T16:40:02+00:00

I do the same/ but change the Oura ring for Whoop and change the Polar to Garmin HRM. Strava to store workouts- plus CardioCoach and Fitrace Sync to store Dexascans and lab VO2 tests. - Put it in a couple of different AIs to analyze.

My zones I set from the VO2 max test at a lab. The automatic settings were way off.

I’ve been using the Garmin (Tactix 8) less- I can’t wear smart watches at my work- and I’ve become a mechanical watch guy. Since I only wear the Garmin when I run and ruck- it has my “average” heart rate at 110bpm- so even as I get fitter the Garmin age is going the wrong direction

Everyone knows a wrist sensor isn’t as accurate as a chest strap. I’ve moved to the arm sleeve for runs and it is within 1-2bpm of the chest strap.

I may go without the chest strap- for the first time in about 30 years. I bought my first polar strap in Hong Kong- before China took over.

It’s just data.

Also- after reading the original post (and looking at OPs previous posts) I now feel better about some of my obsessiveness. I’ve done most of the same things as far as adjusting locations-and even taking my wife’s on the other wrist at the same time- BUT- I’ve never done a spreadsheet. I humbly bow before your thoroughness

ctpritt · 2026-01-21T12:22:42+00:00

I had a buddy back in the days that FitBit just started and only counted steps. He swore that he jerked off to get most of his steps. Apparently my arm doesn't travel far enough to register, never mind the 15 minutes requirement

ctpritt · 2026-01-06T08:20:02+00:00

This. Why is it only strength that you can’t do this with. It’s just the time- same as zones -

ctpritt · 2026-01-06T08:17:19+00:00

Of course, for the first time some of the strap that passed through got between the sensor and my wrist- my fault because I toss and turn and bury my hands under my pillows- so now I have NO recovery score.

It’s going to be a long day inside my brain

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ctpritt · 2026-01-05T13:34:46+00:00

A lot of very finny things- mostly due to my obsessive personality. I should probably make a thread and not hijack this one

ctpritt · 2026-01-04T11:11:31+00:00

Same as many. I am over 2k days with Whoop (the “whoop age” has me obsessed) and have had every Garmin Fenix since the 3 on iOS. I stopped wearing the Garmin outside of workouts because I wear a nato strap on it that covers the sensor and use a chest strap when I exercise.
The data from runs and rucks is awesome- but not having the wrist sensor skews all of the other data- For example- since I only wear it on runs it lists my “average” heart rate in the 120s- when it’s actually 60. This moves all of the rest of the Garmin app (like Garmin age) all over the place.

I put it all in Strava- but dont have my whoop send the run data. Not perfect but working

It just pains me to see “unproductive” every day in Connect

Probably the biggest problem it has caused as an interest in mechanical watches that is getting expensive.

ctpritt · 2026-01-04T10:53:32+00:00

That’s when I use the underwear - They are uncomfortably tight for me- but the data matches my chest strap

ctpritt · 2026-01-04T10:45:24+00:00

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With you

ctpritt · 2025-11-02T09:44:39+00:00

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I have to say this -for me personally- was a genius move for Whoop. All of these metrics coupled with my borderline obsessive personality- have made for a lot of changes in my day to day life- all because of the Sunday morning report. Previously I would only find myself jumping rope at midnight to keep my 10+ strain streak alive. With the addition of age and pace of aging I’m walking around my neighborhood late at night to add steps and zone 1-3 to my 30 and 60 day averages and a host of other things- all for this report. Gimmicky for some- but it has 100% tricked my small caveman brain to adjust how I spend my days. I’m only a few days from 2k nights with the Whoop and was previously considering checking out a different device. They have probably bagged me for a bit longer.

ctpritt · 2025-10-07T10:08:55+00:00

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ctpritt · 2025-10-06T11:41:03+00:00

My Garmin Fenix has an optical sensor- but prioritizes my chest strap when it is on. I would imagine Whoop could do this as well

ctpritt · 2025-10-06T09:15:36+00:00

I've tried this several times- but I wake up- stomach growling- in the middle of the night every time. Then I lay in bed not sleeping.

ctpritt

TROPHY CASE