Whoop There It Is: Breaking Down Whoop Metrics

Welcome back to the Daily Dumbbell, the newsletter that writes the coolest notes in your yearbook.

“Summer is gonna be so sick this year bro!”

It’s HUMP DAYYYY so you know what that means! Whoop Wednesday baby!

Let’s dive in!

Whoop Wednesday:

You know the drill. Its Whoop Wednesday! Everyone’s favorite experiment with our class president Colin.

Each week we share the data from his Whoop Band and see if we can spot any interesting trends.

This last week is a good one to look back on as there was a lot of variety. A few very early bedtimes because I was still recovering from being sick, and a few extremely late nights (for me at least) because we went away to a lake house with friends for the long weekend.

Insights

Two interesting insights this week:

1. My HRV has yet to recover from being sick. I feel all better, except for having to blow my nose constantly. I am truly shocked and appalled by the amount of snot my body is producing.
   
   My HRV is usually in the low to mid 30s but it hasn’t come back above 24 since being sick. I can feel it in the gym too. I have felt really strong, but my cardio is AWFUL. Struggling to catch my breath.
   

2. I’ve now logged enough journal entries to start getting some data on the impact of various activities on my recovery. So far we have two:
   
   Taking creatine seems to have a very small positive impact on my recovery. 1% lol.
   
   A workout strain score of over 11 results in a 7% lower recovery score the following day. Something to keep an eye on.

Oddly, there are a number of things that seem to convey no positive impact. Like breath work before bed, or even stranger; my symptoms from being sick.

Probably a sample size thing. We’ll keep an eye on it.

No dashboard this week because the numbers are all wonky. We’ll get back at it next week when I’m hopefully feeling all better!

Wednesday Wellness:

A Graph: 

We were blown away by this graph

What are we looking at here? Knee extension strength in men who lift weights vs men who don’t.

Not only do 80 year old men who lift test better than 30 year old untrained men (let that sink in for a second) but men who lift see much less drastic decline over their lifetime.

• Trained men saw their strength decline by 23% from age 30 to 80.

• Untrained men saw their strength decline by 57% over the same period

Insanity.

Why does this matter? 

Knee extension strength is another way to describe squat strength. This means dropping down to pick up your grand kids or picking up and putting down heavy things.

Even stepping down from a curb or a step (the leading cause of falls in seniors). Older adults who train are nearly twice as strong when performing these movements as their untrained counterparts.

This directly impacts not only quality of life, but your ability to live alone and avoid life altering falls.

Start lifting. 2x a week for 20-30 minutes is enough to make an impact.

An Article

Working out might blunt some of the bad effects of poor sleep. But Working out while sleep deprived increases the stress on the heart.

• A night of great sleep will positively impact workout performance

• Exercise has a positive impact on sleep quality

Whereas,

• Poor sleep negatively impacts workout performance

• We’re more likely to skip the gym after a night of poor sleep

So, should we push through and workout even though we had a shit night of sleep and don’t feel like it? Probably.

Your best bet? Push hard when you’re well rested and dial it back a bit when you slept poorly. Boring common sense for the win again.

Hope you enjoyed today’s short newsletter! Make sure to have a fantastic day and come back tomorrow for an excellent Throwback Thursday!