Hey Zwift fam! Any Whoop users out there? I’ve had really spotty experiences with BLE HR data from the Whoop band to Zwift in both run and ride applications. The band pairs and the app picks up the data, but the HR data is wildly inaccurate and jumps all over the place. I have both an Apple Watch and a TICKER X and neither of them produces the same crazy HR data as the Whoop band. Usually when I begin an activity, HR data from the Whoop band will show my HR as very high and then as the activity progresses it will normalize. I’ve run dual HR monitors (TICKR X and Whoop; Apple Watch and Whoop) and this is only an issue with the Whoop band. I’ve done all the fittings for the Whoop band and I don’t think this is a BLE interference issue. Anyone else experience this issue? Thanks!
Hi @Dread_Pirate_Sizzleh, welcome to the forums.
I’ve heard that the Whoop 3.0 doesn’t do a good job of measuring HR, but the 4.0 is supposed to be better? Which one do you have?
I have a very cheap “watch” from amazon called the Amazfit band, and it is horrible with HR compared to my chest strap. This seems to be a common issue with the optical style wrist straps.
Hi @Mike_Rowe1 - thanks! I have the Whoop 3.0. Ordered the 4 months and months ago, but “supply chain” issues. When I’ve worked with Whoop tech support about data issues, they always want to go to the “fit” of the device and where it’s positioned on the wrist… which doesn’t seem particularly practical for someone active!
I find the WHOOP heart rate to track pretty well for largely steady-state efforts, or ones where my heart rate is changing fairly slowly over time.
It’s terrible for rapid changes - spikes caused by a big sprint for example - in my experience. A while ago, I did an effort that hit 174bpm earlier according to my Tickr chest strap, with a full 2 minutes above 155bpm.
WHOOP? Nothing above 154. That’s with a 4.0 too, by the way.
And unlike you, I find that the WHOOP under reads my HR when I start an activity. It can take several minutes for it to catch up to what my chest strap is telling me.
I always use a chest strap for Zwifting, and I’d never use the WHOOP’s broadcast HR for anything other than the steady state cardio I mentioned before - if even that.
I’ve actually had the opposite experience. I find that the Whoop 4.0 tracks my HR really well. atleast in the sense of avg HR and max HR reported by chest strap (wahoo tickr) and the activity recorded in whoop.
I don’t have too many data points on this, but one instance zwift meastured my max at 193, and avg at 172. while whoop reported max at 191 and avg 168, for the same ride.
So with my limited experience it seems to be fairly accurate atleast! But would be great if someone actually got in to an indepth test of this.
I can also mention that I’ve had the issue of hr not being reported properly by Whoop if the band is too far down towards my wrist. in that case when i “curl” my hand like on the hoods of the bike then it’s seems to read my hr poorly. So it might be beneficial to make sure the band is placed with enough space to the wrist.