Recovery: how ready your body is
Each morning WHOOP gives a Recovery score as a percentage. It is built from:
- Heart rate variability (HRV), which WHOOP calculates as RMSSD. See what is HRV.
- Resting heart rate.
- Sleep performance: the sleep you got compared with the sleep you need.
- Breathing rate, plus blood oxygen and skin temperature, which can hint that you're getting sick.
| Recovery | WHOOP's meaning |
|---|---|
| Green, 67% to 99% | Well recovered; your body can handle a hard day |
| Yellow, 34% to 66% | Maintaining; ready for moderate strain |
| Red, 1% to 33% | Your body is working to recover; rest may be what it needs |
Strain: how hard your day was
Strain is the heart and muscle load you build up across a day, on a scale of 0 to 21. It is mostly driven by how high your heart rate goes and how long it stays there, with muscle load added for strength workouts. The scale is logarithmic, so going from 16 to 17 takes far more effort than going from 4 to 5. Strain resets at midnight.
- Light, 0 to 9: everyday activity or active recovery.
- Moderate, 10 to 13: maintains fitness without a big recovery cost.
- High, 14 to 17: builds fitness when paired with good recovery.
- All Out, 18 to 21: rare; may need a day or more of recovery.
Stress, illness and a long walk can all raise Strain, not just workouts. WHOOP suggests a daily strain target based on that morning's Recovery.
Sleep
WHOOP tracks your sleep overnight and reports Sleep Performance: the sleep you got compared with the sleep it estimates you need. Sleep feeds into your Recovery score. Like all consumer trackers, its sleep data are estimates. Cleveland Clinic notes that trackers are best at telling sleep from wake, and that only a lab sleep study measures sleep stages precisely.
What each WHOOP membership adds
| Membership | Price a year | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| WHOOP One | $199 | WHOOP 5.0; Sleep, Strain and Recovery; VO2 max; heart rate zones; coaching; hormonal insights |
| WHOOP Peak | $239 | Everything in One, plus Healthspan (WHOOP Age), Health Monitor and real-time Stress Monitor |
| WHOOP Life | $359 | Everything in Peak on the WHOOP MG device, plus ECG Heart Screener, AFib detection and blood pressure insights |
WHOOP says its blood pressure insights are not a medical device and can't diagnose or manage a condition. Full pricing is in WHOOP cost.
What WHOOP can't do
- It can't diagnose. A low Recovery or an alert is a prompt to pay attention, not a diagnosis.
- Wrist readings have limits. Cleveland Clinic notes that an ECG is more accurate than wrist trackers for heart rate variability.
- Scores are personal. Compare your numbers with your own trends, not with other people.
Call 911 for chest pain, fainting or severe shortness of breath. See a clinician soon for an irregular rhythm alert, a racing heart at rest, or a lasting drop in Recovery with fever or feeling unwell.
Gabriel can read your WHOOP data next to your lab results. Ask Gabriel anything free by app, web, text or voice.
Common questions
How does WHOOP work?
The band measures heart rate, HRV, breathing rate, blood oxygen and skin temperature continuously. The app turns that into daily Strain, morning Recovery and Sleep scores and suggests how hard to push.
What is a good WHOOP Recovery score?
WHOOP calls 67% to 99% green, meaning well recovered. Its average member Recovery is about 58%. Your own trend matters more than one day.
What is a good Strain score on WHOOP?
WHOOP says there is no universally good Strain. Moderate (10 to 13) maintains fitness, and High (14 to 17) builds it when your Recovery is good.
Do you have to pay monthly for WHOOP?
WHOOP is sold as a yearly membership, $199 to $359 a year in the US, with the device included. Monthly billing is offered only in some cases after the first 12 months.
Is WHOOP a medical device?
Mostly no. The ECG and irregular rhythm features on WHOOP Life are medically regulated; the rest, including blood pressure insights, are wellness features.
Sources
- How Does WHOOP Recovery Work? WHOOP
- How does WHOOP Strain work? Calculation, scores, and Strain Target WHOOP
- WHOOP Membership Options WHOOP
- Heart Rate Variability Explained WHOOP
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Cleveland Clinic
- Do sleep trackers really work? Cleveland Clinic
This guide is general information, not medical advice. It does not replace a visit with a licensed clinician. Gabriel membership is not health insurance.