14 Comments
Jan 16Liked by Melissa Urban

I as pushed over the edge to get a Whoop by YOU! I held out because I'm not an "athlete" like you. Your post about Whoop surprising you that your paddle boarding session was more strain than your normal hike did it for me. Curiosity: I wanted to know what my body was really doing that I might not be aware of.

5 months later now I am in SUCH better condition! Whoop showed me what I am physically capable of. I have always thought "okay I worked out for the day" when I do an hour session with my trainer 3x/wk. Turns out that was a warm up for what I can actually do!! I'm really active now, love pushing for that recommended strain. I DON'T love what wine does to my stats/HRV, so I decreased intake heavily and I plan accordingly when a special wine dinner event is on the calendar (by having lots of green days going into it, I end up with one yellow day as a result).

I had NO IDEA how much sleep mattered - I was fine with what I got. But by listening to Whoop podcasts, and pursuing green, I have changed many sleep-related habits & go to bed earlier. I now feel GREAT - I didn't even know what I COULD feel like. THANK YOU, Melissa, for inspiring my better quality of life at 54 yoa! 💚

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Ah!! I love this so much. I also use my WHOOP to do more when I have capacity, and I love that too! It’s so fun looking at the data and I’m thrilled you are getting so much out of it!! 🎉

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founding

Great article Mellisa. Disclosure, I love my WHOOP. The biggest factors impacting my recovery are: 1) Alcohol. There is no ok amount for me and this was a wake up call 2) Late meals - not a surprise but the number shone a light on it. 3) Air travel - no matter the distance my body hates it.

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Three years ago, I decided to have one glass of white wine during a staycation at a fancy hotel. It was 4 PM, it was a small pour (because Utah), and I didn’t even finish the glass. I went on to eat a big dinner (their burger and fries are legendary) and was in bed by 9 PM. I woke up at 6 PM with a 1% recovery. ONE PERCENT. And I thought “OK never doing that again.” 😂

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This was a great article, thank you! Love my Whoop. The top factors impacting my recovery are sleep (toddler-early is my normal bedtime 🤷🏻‍♀️ I’ve always known this, even in college!), hot room/environment, altitude, and late meals. I knew about the first three pre-Whoop, but it definitely validated the second and third one. And the late meals is new, but makes sense to me! Any recommendations for hot environment (specifically in hotels) and altitude? These get me usually when I’m traveling, and I hate feeling crappy when I’m on vacation, but love the mountains (I live at sea level).

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Altitude is tough! They say it takes about a day to acclimate to every additional thousand feet, which is tough if you’re going from sea level to Denver. Electrolytes, ZERO alcohol, no high intensity exercise for the first day or two, and good sleep are key there. As for hot hotel rooms, we’ll open a window in winter (even cracked, it helps) or turn the AC down as low as it’ll go. But we spent one awful trip in Telluride (where most hotels don’t have AC) during a heat wave, and slept like total crap. 😂

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Jan 15Liked by Melissa Urban

Thank you for your reply! It helps to know I’m doing the right things, and it’s good to know about the day for every thousand feet! Will help to give myself grace next time I’m at high altitude. My cold showers also help me in high altitude and heat; now I just gotta work on the grace part and take it slow! 💚

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So, does WOOP just know when you're eating/watching a screen or these are all things that need to be logged in an app order to get this sort of info?

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Curious about this too!

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founding

..... and I’m reading this while in bed at 11:40 pm. Ugh.

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Great ideas here! Question for all: I am also a constant audiobook listener, and I listen with my Bluetooth headphones attached to my phone. It’s SO hard for me not to navigate to other things (e.g., email; social media) when I am pulling up my audiobook, or downloading a new one - any suggestions?

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I like turning my phone to greyscale in the evening. It makes it less enticing to open other apps

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Hi Melissa… So do you work out before you eat, or do you wait and eat after? Inquiring minds want to know! 😍

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I don’t eat before I train. I’ve gone back-and-forth throughout the years, eating something first and not eating something, and my body feels better if I just don’t eat. I just drink my water with electrolytes and eat when I get home.

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