This Is the Popular Fitness Tracker That Helped Improve My Sleep and Workouts

Fitness trackers are great for people who are trying to get their daily steps up, people who need a reminder here and there to get their body moving, and people who like to see stats about their health. If you're looking for a more in-depth analysis about how hard you're training, how your body is recovering, and your sleep quality, the Whoop 3.0 has got you covered.

It's a pretty minimal device that has no screen (nope, you can't tell time on the device or screen your texts and calls) and a simple band. At first, I was bummed I couldn't track my steps, but I do like that it's all about my performance, and it allows me to truly disconnect from all the distractions on my phone.

I also like that it's a device with interchangeable bands, perfect for the days when I have to go to events and dress up. It's also waterproof, which means you can wear it in the shower and when you do activities in water.

It's similar but also very different from most trackers, and the three main variables the Whoop 3.0 device measures are: strain, recovery, and sleep.

The strain tool measures the amount of strain your cardiovascular system has undergone during activity and over the course of a day. Whether you did a CrossFit workout or went on a bike ride with your friends, this is where those activities are tracked.

Your strain is measured on a scale from zero to 21. According to the app, all-out workouts (think sprinting as fast as you can) are logged as a strain of 18 and above, moderate workouts are typically 10 to 14 on the scale, and light/minimal activity are logged below a strain of 10. This scale applies to the entire day's strain as well.

Your strain isn't based on the activity, meaning a CrossFit workout isn't naturally going to be ranked higher than a yoga workout. It's based on how hard you worked. For example, you and your friend could do the same 30-minute strength workout, and have scores of 12 and 17 respectively.

The strain pillar tells you your max heart rate, average heart rate, and calories burned for individual activities and each day. You can also see how your strain statistics compare to the average strain your body underwent over the previous two weeks.

Why I like the strain tool: I like this tool because I can see how hard my body has worked on a given day. I also like seeing how certain workouts impact my body. This information helps me program my workouts more efficiently and allows me to balance out the intensities of my workouts throughout the week. It's also a nice reminder that even though you may not work out on a given day, simply moving around impacts your strain.

As an athlete and a trainer, I know that recovery is just as important as the work you put in when you're training. If you aren't well rested, running a half-marathon or trying to go for a PR when lifting weights is going to be tough. Recovery is also important for cognitive function, improved mood, physical performance, and to prevent injury.

Your recovery is calculated on three physiological markers: your heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate (RHR), and the amount and quality of sleep you get. Stress, sickness, and fatigue impact your recovery as well. According to the Whoop site, your HRV is the variation in time between each heart beat and can help determine the level of intensity you should be training at. Your RHR is measured during your sleep. A lower RHR is an indicator of improved fitness and recovery.

When your recovery is high — this appears as a green bar — your body is ready to take on strain, and when it's low — this will be a yellow or red BAR — it's a sign you're at risk of injury or overtraining.

Why I like the recovery tool: I'm very in tune with my body and how I'm feeling, and the recovery tool provides me with more insight on how hard I should push my body. It also helps me be realistic about how I should train on any given day. I know if my recovery is in the red, it's probably not the best idea to try and run 10 miles. On days where my recovery is poor, I'll skip the strenuous workout and opt for something lighter such as mobility work.

As I mentioned earlier, your daily strain and recovery go hand in hand with your sleep and vice versa.

The sleep pillar tells you how much rest you got, the time you spent in bed, how many disturbances you had, latency (how long it took you to fall asleep), and your sleep efficiency (the amount of sleep you got versus the amount of time you spent in bed). It also tracks how much time you spent in each sleep stage (awake, light, REM, and slow-wave sleep).

In addition to that information, the sleep performance coach tells you how many hours of sleep you need based on whether you want to get by, peak, or perform the following day. It also provides you with a suggested bedtime and wake time in order to meet your performance goals.

Why I like the sleep tool: I find the sleep tool to be extremely helpful because it helps keep me in check and realistic about what I can and cannot do physically. I often find myself in the red (poor sleep), and it's a good reminder that I need to make sure that I'm focusing on my sleep as much as I focus on training.

When I open the Whoop app, I instantly know how much sleep I got and can make changes to my workouts as needed so that I don't feel lethargic or get hurt. Another thing I find interesting about this data set is that just because I get seven hours of sleep (this is very rare) doesn't mean it was quality sleep. I also like the sleep reminders because if I don't have them, I'll be up all night.

So you now know all the data the Whoop tracker can give you, but is it worth it? Absolutely. I think this data is helpful for anyone who is active — collegiate athlete, professional athlete, the busy mom, and more!

A lot of trackers tell you the basics: your heart rate, how long you worked out, how long you slept, and how many steps you took in a day, but this data is next level. It analyzes and visualizes how your daily activity, recovery, and sleep correlate with and impact one another. With this data, you can train smarter and more efficiently, which is the goal at the end of the day, in my opinion. The data let's you know when you should chill out and rest — I call this code red — and helps inform you on when you'll be able to crush your favorite workout.

If you're on the more serious spectrum of training and competing, you'll be able to plan your workouts better and adjust as needed based on how your body is responding to the workout, your recovery, and sleep. The Whoop device will let you know when you need to progress your training (your strain will be low) and when you should back off (a higher strain). It's also a great accountability tool. You can't cheat the data and you'll know if you aren't sleeping enough and if stress is giving you a poor recovery result.

This device has helped me become more strategic with my workouts, whether that means changing it to something lighter if I only got four hours of sleep or knowing when to advance my programming. It's helped me focus more on all aspects of my health — not just what I do at the gym.

If you're a tech geek like me or simply looking for a tracker that will really break down what's going on with your body and how to perform at an optimum level, this device is probably for you. Overall, I love my Whoop and never take it off.

Editor's note: I was gifted this device, but all opinions are my own and I would happily pay full price for it.