WHOOP Feature: The Health Monitor

The WHOOP Health Monitor displays your key health metrics in one place, including heart rate, HRV, and respiratory rate, as well as blood oxygen level and skin temperature with WHOOP 4.0.

To help members more easily identify unexpected changes in their physiological metrics, WHOOP introduced the Health Monitor. The Health Monitor allows WHOOP members to quickly scan several vitals to see which metrics are within or outside of their typical range. iframe{max-width:100% !important;}

What is the Health Monitor and How Does It Work?

The Health Monitor displays your live heart rate along with key health metrics from the previous night’s sleep. WHOOP 4.0 tracks blood oxygen levels (SpO2) and skin temperature in addition to respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. The monitor indicates whether each of these health stats are within your personal normal range.

The WHOOP 4.0 Health Monitor displays key physiological metrics and alerts you if any are beyond their typical baseline range.

If a metric is marked with a green check, the reading is within or near the typical range. If a metric is accompanied by an orange or red exclamation point, it’s outside of the typical range and you may want to keep an eye on the metric over the next few days. Looking to share this information with a healthcare professional, coach or trainer, or wellness specialist? Download the Health Report, a PDF of your physiological data over the last 30 or 180 days. The Health Report makes it easier for members to view trends and share the physiological data that powers WHOOP metrics like strain and recovery.  

Where is the Health Monitor in the WHOOP App?

When you first open the app, provided there is sufficient data to create a baseline, a Health Monitor bar is displayed on the overview screen indicating if any of your metrics are outside of the normal range. Clicking on the bar brings you to the Health Monitor.

A Health Monitor bar is located on the main overview screen of the WHOOP app.

Within the Coaching tab, the five Health Monitor metrics are color coded to alert you of any potential abnormalities. Clicking on the metrics provides more details, including the exact readings, more information about the typical range, and possible explanations of any variation. It's worth noting that even if all your Health Monitor stats are green (within their typical range), it does not necessarily mean that your recovery (how ready your body is to perform that day) will be green. Here's more on what WHOOP recovery is and how it's calculated.

The health monitor can also be accessed from the WHOOP app's coaching Tab.

How is the Health Monitor Valuable to Me?

The power of WHOOP as a fitness and health monitor is driven in large part by our "always on" philosophy. Collecting this continuous data builds a sensitive baseline measurement that can help members to identify when their health metrics are out of their “normal range,” even if they might be considered within the normal range for the general population. Learn More: Knowing Your Baseline - Case Studies in Respiratory Rate in Time of COVID-19 With the Health Monitor, large changes in physiological metrics may be flagged to a member on the home screen of the WHOOP app.  

The Power of Knowing Yourself with 24/7 Physiological data

A short story about my father’s health exemplifies the power of the "always on" philosophy. In July 2020 after my father joined WHOOP, he noticed his respiratory rate increasing. A few days later, he was experiencing shortness of breath during exercise, a common symptom of a respiratory tract infection. Deciding to seek medical attention, he braced himself for what he was sure was a COVID-19 infection, but multiple tests came back negative.

Respiratory rate and resting heart rate trends displayed in the new WHOOP health report.

For weeks my father bounced between doctors--his primary care physician, the local hospital, and a pulmonary specialist. The doctors acknowledged his symptoms were significant and were therefore confused when pulmonary function tests came back within the population “normal” range. Knowing his data was not normal for him, he pushed for more answers. It wasn’t until he had a CT scan in September that a doctor recognized signs of cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, a rare viral disease that can cause severe damage if left untreated. Several rounds of steroids later, my father was exercising again and his WHOOP respiratory rate had returned to his baseline from nearly six months before. The Health Monitor lets members know when physiological metrics deviate from their own normal range. This can help people understand their overall state of health and wellness in a personalized way, not just compared to averages over millions of people. In cases like my father’s, this feature allows members to keep track of these important metrics and changes and more easily share their data with their doctor and other wellness professionals.   The products and services of WHOOP are not medical devices, are not intended to diagnose COVID-19, the flu or any other disease, and should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content available through the products and services of WHOOP is for general informational purposes only.