7 tips to get more out of your Whoop 4.0 band

The Whoop 4.0 band is a little different from your standard fitness tracker. It’s designed for people who are absolutely serious about training and exercising (hence the monthly $30 subscription fee) and want to complement their workouts with some of the best fitness technology around.

If you’re interested not just in counting steps but also monitoring body strain and recovery times, as well as getting detailed stats on everything from heart rate to sleep, the Whoop might be for you. This is how you get the most out of your membership, the band, and the app that goes along with it.

1. Start a journal

Journaling can help both you and the Whoop app better track your fitness and health habits, so you can easily identify where you’re doing well and where you could be doing better. The app will remind you to create an entry every morning and you can log as much or as little as you like—from the number of beers you’ve had and your anxiety levels, to whether or not you had any dairy products in the last 24 hours.

[Related: The Army put Whoop bands on paratroopers in Alaska to fine-tune its training]

From inside the Whoop app, tap More and then Journal to get started with the feature or see previous logs. You can also click on Customize Journal to change the prompts you get.

2. Wear the Whoop 4.0 band differently

The Whoop 4.0 comes with a wrist band but that’s not your only option—the company behind the tracker also has a clothing line that offers alternative ways to wear your device.

You can opt for t-shirts, sports bras, leggings, and swimsuits, so you should be able to easily find something that fits your exercise routine and preferences. They’re all designed with a pouch to securely hold the Whoop 4.0 tracker, so you can continue to monitor all of your vital statistics.

3. Track your stress levels

One of the features that set the Whoop 4.0 apart from the average fitness tracker is the Stress Monitor, which gives you a real-time stress score between 0 and 3 based on your heart rate and your heart rate variability.

You can find this tool on the app’s Home tab, where you’ll be able to tap anywhere to see details on how your stress levels have changed in the last 12 hours or so. Here you’ll also find information on how the platform calculates the score and ways in which you can lower your score and relax.

4. Connect your Whoop to other services

Just because you’re using a Whoop 4.0 band doesn’t mean you have to abandon other fitness apps and services if you like them. Whoop can share data with Google’s Health Connect or Apple’s Health for vital health and fitness statistics; Strava for walking, running, and cycling, and TrainingPeaks for all-around training.

To manage these integrations, open the More tab in the Whoop app and choose Integrations. Select any of the items listed on the screen and the app will guide you through the connection process. You can share specific data types to and from the Whoop, including sleep activity and heart rate.

You can speed up your fitness journey by training as part of a community, and Whoop has plenty to choose from. Open the Community tab in the Whoop app to browse through recommended teams that you might like to join and enter invite codes for specific ones.

Team communities share data such as strain, recovery, and sleep, and there are daily leaderboards so you can see how you’re doing compared with everyone else. You can also put together your own team and invite family members and friends for a more personal sharing experience. Tap Create team to get started.

6. Charge your tracker in the shower

You might be aware that the Whoop 4.0 band is waterproof, but this protection also extends to the rather unconventional battery charger that comes with the tracker. Whether you’re popping in the shower or doing dishes, you can keep your band on and recharge it right away.

[Related: Best fitness trackers of 2023]

Both the Whoop 4.0 band and its official charger have an IP68 rating, meaning they’re protected against dust and water. The tracker should be able to survive up to two hours in water up to a depth of nearly 33 feet, which gives you some idea of what you can do with it.

7. Wake up at the right time

The Whoop 4.0 is smaller than the average smartwatch, making it more comfortable to wear to bed. The band can track various aspects of your sleep and wake you up at an optimal time with a quiet buzz on your wrist.

In the app, open the Coaching tab, and tap anywhere in the Sleep Coach section. On the next screen, turn on the alarm function: You can tell the band to wake you up at an exact time, whenever you’ve hit your sleep goal, or when it detects your body has recovered.

With the latter two options, you get to specify a last wake-up time so you know you won’t be late to work in the morning. To turn off the alarm on your Whoop 4.0 band, double-tap the top of the device.