 Earlier this year, I discussed my first pass thoughts about Whoop and how the tracker is helping me improve my overall fitness by tracking my strain and recovery. Well, after a few months using it, I wanted to share a note on the main OKR that Whoop is tracking: the heart rate variability. I find it an excellent way to track well-being. In the note below, we’re discussing one more time what is heart rate variability and I am also reproducing a post from Whoop on their blog “the locker”, on ways to improve your HRV. It’s a good read! What is HRV? HRV is simply a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. This variation is controlled by a part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system (ANS). It works regardless of our desire and regulates, among other things, our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion. The ANS is subdivided into two large components, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight-or-flight mechanism and the relaxation response. The brain is constantly processing information in a region called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus, through the ANS, sends signals to the rest of the body either to stimulate or to relax different functions. It responds not only to a poor night of sleep, or that sour interaction with someone, but also to the exciting news, or to that a delicious healthy meal. Our body handles all kinds of stimuli and life goes on. However, if we have persistent instigators such as stress, poor sleep, unhealthy diet, dysfunctional relationships, isolation or solitude, and lack of exercise, this balance may be disrupted, and your fight-or-flight response can shift into overdrive. Why check heart rate variability? HRV is an interesting and noninvasive way to identify these ANS imbalances. If a person’s system is in more of a fight-or-flight mode, the variation between subsequent heartbeats is low. If one is in a more relaxed state, the variation between beats is high. In other words, the healthier the ANS the faster we are able to switch gears, showing more resilience and flexibility. Over the past few decades, research has shown a relationship between low HRV and worsening depression or anxiety. A low HRV is even associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular disease. People who have a high HRV may have greater cardiovascular fitness and be more resilient to stress. HRV may also provide personal feedback about lifestyle choices and help motivate those who are considering taking steps toward a healthier life. It is fascinating to see how HRV changes as we incorporate more mindfulness, meditation, sleep, and especially physical activity into our lives. For those who love data and numbers, this can be a nice way to track how your nervous system is reacting not only to the environment, but also to your emotions, thoughts, and feelings. 10 Ways to Improve Heart Rate Variability (by Mark Van Deusen, extracts reproduced from the Whoop Blog Here) Healthy behaviors like exercise, hydration and proper nutrition, avoiding alcohol, and getting good quality sleep will all have a positive impact on your heart rate variability. Below we’ll take a deeper dive into each of these, as well as detail several other ways to boost your HRV. 1. Exercise & Train Appropriately. Studies show that regular exercise is one of the best methods for improving your heart rate variability. However, for serious athletes it is also important to avoid overtraining. Strenuous activity reduces HRV in the short term, so it is essential not to consistently take on too much strain without giving your body adequate time to recover. Here’s a more detailed explanation of intelligent HRV training. 2. Good Nutrition at the Right Times. It’s no surprise that a smart and healthy diet will benefit your HRV, but something many of us may not realize is that the timing of your food intake can affect it as well. Your body functions better when it knows what’s coming and regular eating patterns help maintain your circadian rhythm. Additionally, not eating close to bedtime (within 3-4 hours) will improve the quality of your sleep by allowing your body to focus on other restorative processes instead of digestion. 3. Hydrate. Your level of hydration determines the volume of your blood, and the more liquid you have in your system the easier it is for blood to circulate and deliver oxygen and nutrients to your body. Drinking close to an ounce of water per each pound that you weigh is a good daily goal. On average, when WHOOP members log that they are sufficiently hydrated their HRV increases by 3 milliseconds. 4. Don’t Drink Alcohol. We’ve found that when WHOOP members report consuming alcohol, their HRV drops by an average of 22 milliseconds the next day. Additionally, our research has discovered that the lingering effects of alcohol in your system may continue to suppress your heart rate variability for 4-5 days. 5. Sleep Well & Consistently. Getting all the sleep your body needs is a great start, but equally as important is making an effort to go to sleep and wake up at regular times each day. Sleep consistency will boost your HRV by helping to sustain your circadian rhythm, and also enables you to spend more time in REM and deep sleep. 6. Natural Light Exposure. Going outside in the sunlight after waking up in the morning and watching the sky change from light to dark in the evening trigger biological processes involved with regulating sleep/wake times (see sleep consistency above), energy levels and hormone production. This will also improve alertness, mood and vitamin D production. 7. Cold Thermogenesis. Exposing your body to cold temperatures for brief periods of time (cold showers, ice baths, etc.) will stimulate the vagus nerve, which activates the parasympathetic branch of your autonomic nervous system and controls heart rate variability. 8. Intentional Breathing. Studies indicate that slow, controlled breathing techniques can positively impact your HRV. They will also help to combat stress, which has been shown to inhibit heart rate variability. Learn more here about breathing methods and how they work. 9. Mindfulness & Meditation. Anecdotally, many WHOOP members have reported that practicing mindfulness and/or meditation has led to improvements in HRV. As with slow breathing techniques, both will help you reduce stress. In fact, even dedicating just one minute per day to mindfulness exercises can have real benefits. 10. Gratitude Journaling. The act of writing down things you’re thankful for each day can elicit a corresponding uptick in heart rate variability. It is also linked to lower blood pressure and decreases in stress hormones. For more on this, take a look at “Self-Rule” Choices to Increase your HRV and Immunity. @philippemora > I come from the future.
I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀
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 In addition to practicing meditation with Headspace, I recently started a gratitude journal. Why? Because it’s not enough to decide to be grateful, we also have to actively practice and train (like everything else actually) to make sure that those simple daily acts of gratitude truly have an impact on health and happiness. The practice of gratitude journaling actually achieves just that, and it can only take a few minutes a day (or more if you feel inspired!) What is a gratitude journal? In essence, a gratitude journal is a tool to keep track of the good things in life, because no matter how difficult and defeating life can sometimes feels, there is always something to be grateful for. And in addition, regularly journaling the good things can help prepare and strengthen us to deal with the rougher patches when they do show up. To get started, we just write down the things we’re grateful for on a daily basis, for example:
It basically is that easy. But we might be wondering, how does this practice do for us? The benefits of a gratitude journal There are good benefits of being grateful in general (I have discussed this here a few years ago) but here are a few benefits that people have noticed when practicing regular gratitude journaling:
In addition, gratitude journaling can provide a sense of context and interconnectedness. It can remind us how things in life are connected to one another, and guide us to one of those rare moments in which we truly recognize that the world is so much bigger than us, yet we are grateful just to be a small part of it. Ideas for items in a gratitude log Of course, a gratitude journal is a personal endeavor that must be unique to us and our life, however If you’re stuck at the start, at least a few of these prompts should be able to kickstart your gratitude creativity:
In conclusion, if you feel thankful, write it down: it’s good for your health! There's a growing body of research on the benefits of gratitude, as studies have found that giving thanks and counting blessings can help us sleep better, lower stress and improve interpersonal relationships. It's one of the practices that really wins out from the field of positive psychology, because it takes very little time, and the benefits are so powerful. @philippemora > I come from the future.
I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀  Is there some truth in contemplative neuroscience? Apparently yes, as more and more research by psychologists and neuroscientists shows. As part of my training, I am meditating every day using my fave app Headspace (I wrote about it here) so I can tell about the positive effects especially after a such a transformative year 2020, but in reading this research paper, there is a lot more that can be shared!
This note was inspired by Greater Good, the online magazine of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, here. @philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀  Anybody who has done serious, competitive track and field is going to laugh at my ignorance but I was more of a competitive wrestler and judoka in my puppy-state forming years and moved to more serious, competitive endurance sports later in life. I was talking to a good friend who was a convincing and obsessive Ironman runner earlier in his life, telling him that my speed progress on 10K had more or less stalled and I wasn’t really going to get to a faster speed at this later stage of my life. And he replied … Have you tried fart-lick? And I’m like “fart-what?” … “Fartlek, Phil, Fartlek” …. What is a Fartlek Run? The word “fartlek” comes from Swedish and means “slow play” or, more generally, “slow fast” – basically Fartlek is a type of run where you vary your speed throughout versus going at a steady pace. In other words, Fartlek workouts entail fast and intense running interspersed with periods of active jogging recovery. The periods of fast running shouldn’t be all-out sprints, but a good short run pace, above your current pace (or at least this is how I interpreted it and benefited from it) and the slower periods super slow enough that recovery happens fully. Theoretically it’s a type of interval training but different because of the work-to-rest ratio: during a fartlek workout, basically you switch between fast and slow running but in fact you never stop running. Why Fartlek training? Well – to run fast, one needs to train fast … that’s how I got into 10K running, I was initially training for 5Ks and my idea that if I could do a 10K fast then 5Ks would be just a super breeze – but speed work is important to any runner’s training plan. This particular kind of speedwork matters because it teaches how to relax and recover without stopping, and to pick the pace back up again when needed. In other words, a fartlek run helps runners learn that they have more than one speed, and that they're also able to slow, without walking, to a pace where their heart rate can recover after a harder effort. So because in the end most runner tend to become dependent on their watches, a fartlek run teaches you to be adaptable and run based on how you feel rather than worrying about paces and time goals. In summary: Fartlek runs will help boost endurance while also building speed, because they tax both the anaerobic and aerobic systems. By incorporating different types of runs into your training plan (fartlek, intervals, steady state), you can train multiple energy systems in your body, which can improve your performance on race day and make you fitter overall. How to Do a Fartlek Running Workout This is why I love Fartlek so much: a fartlek can be as hard or as easy of run as one need it to be. In other words, fartleks should be unstructured and this makes them an easy running interval workout to do on your own. I think it’s a really great prep workout for the running season in summer during the cold winter months. I love to fartlek on a treadmill – makes the treadmill workouts way less boring and frankly this is so effective it would be un-smart to not do it. Simple Workout = Big Results I tried fartlek. And in 2 weeks I am already at 1min/mile gains on a 10K. Who knew? Thank you Larry! @philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀  Of course, “believe in yourself” is not enough (please don’t be a participation trophy kid) but I am pretty certain that especially in sports there is power in this advice because it sets the foundation for your journey to great fitness performance. When you believe in yourself, you: 1. You are your #1 fan by reinforcing that you can accomplish (within reason and your own physical limitations) anything you set your mind (and body) to. This helps I think avoiding being crippled with self-doubt especially when competing – to stop that inner monologue and replace it with a positive mindset reaffirming you’re fully capable of getting the task at hand done 2. You tackle self-doubt and channel your mind into focus by talking down your fears and questions that can stop you in your tracks (“this is too painful I need to stop”) because your wandering mind can always find a million reasons for you to fail (“it’s too late I will go train tomorrow”) and in the end you sabotage yourself without even seeing it 3. Reflect on training success because when you believe in yourself, you not only can constantly have a look back at all the times when you successfully went beyond your talents to do well either while training or competing but also frame your failures simply as times your efforts didn’t pay off. Those who always look down on themselves often let their failures haunt them and thus impairing their ability to try and try again to improve their performance. 4. You think realistically and you see your training and actions from different perspectives, you’ll see how your efforts impact your overall performance and how little your mistakes matter when it’s okay to inflate your own self-esteem to reach your personal fitness goals 5. Count your victories and celebrate yourself because it’s the sum of the small victories and understanding that each time you fail doesn’t mean you’ve lost, it’s just that your next victory has just been delayed until next time. Believing in yourself will help you run away from the self-pity party and see your weaknesses as opportunities for improvement and to see all your strengths as reasons for celebration @philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀 My first fitness trackers were a Nike Band on my wrist and an iPod Nano dongle connected to a Nike sensor in my shoes. That was in 2005 and I absolutely loved them. Then I’ve had 6 Apple watches and very recently one Amazon Halo (I’ll write a note about it at a later date). Until very recently I was (and still am) super happy with all these fitness and health data helpers, especially my Apple Watch. A few weeks ago, though, my former boss and great friend introduced me to Whoop, which I had no idea about. He is an incredible marathon runner and during our conversation about training, I shared biggest worry about overtraining – I love working out so much that I often overdo it and in time, over train, leading to a complete reversal of all my gains – this happened at least three times to me in the past 20 years. I was immediately intrigued by Whoop, which (I figured after a quick cursory google search) has quickly emerged as one of the most in-depth and data-driven straps in the past years, made famous by NFL’s Patrick Mahomes, was also designed to help figure out my strain and recuperation phases – and after two weeks of countless cardio sessions on the peloton, stairmaster and treadmill at the gym, my Whoop strap is already proving to be an immensely helpful and informational fitness and motivation guide. The band is still learning me (another 15 days for me to unlock the monthly assessment coach) but I thought I would write about it!  So, what is the Whoop band? The band is designed to be a 24/7 tracker and packs state of the art hardware – gyros, heart rate, temperature and accelerometer – and that results in a huge amounts of data harvested, directly sent via ultra-low power bluetooth to my iPhone: No display, everything happens on the Whoop app, which leads me to go directly to how the data is presented on the mobile app, which I really find a brilliant feat of great product design. My fitness data is then securely uploaded to the Whoop Cloud according to Whoop’s privacy principles for machine-learning based modeling finding its origins in Harvard’s iLab. One more thing – I absolutely love the battery pack concept: no need to remove the band to have it charged, you just slide a battery pack on top of the sensor pack directly on your wrist and the 5-day charge is done in almost no time. Kudos to Whoop PMs and UX designers for that, it’s also another brilliant and convenient idea. The Whoop app displays three fitness category sections and one social marketplace.
STRAIN
recovery Each of the core sections elegantly and super effectively displays core fitness KPIs based on vitals such as heat rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, sleep phases, calories burned amongst others. This strain/sleep/recovery division is a really clever way to inform me on how my body is doing as I go forward with my daily training. A convincing personal trainer right on my wrist When using the Whoop strap, I really feel more motivated, especially during workout sessions; as well as more informed on my recovery and sleep patterns, especially when factoring in other important variables such as stress, alcohol consumption, meditation, hydration and even … sex! During my daily routine, the first thing that gets prompted to me as I wake up is the sleep performance data overnight – and by the way, the alerts are really unobtrusive, but I found them highly addictive, especially the sleep coach info. Before Whoop, I knew of course that getting enough sleep was important, but looking at the breakdown between time in bed, number of disturbances, respiratory rate and more, all compared to my overall averages gave me very interesting insights like telling me that my body spent more time in REM than normal, which might indicate I am trying to make up for a lack of sleep from previous nights. Whoop shows me how many hours of sleep you need to recover fully from strain versus how much sleep I actually got as a percentage. And to my surprise …. I am not getting the quality sleep I thought I was getting. Right now I am at an average of 70% over the past 6 nights ….. Next, every morning before my workout I look at the recovery data because it’s a really good indicator on how I should approach my day training-wise. The indicator is a function of my resting heart rate and heart rate variability amongst other techno wizardry but I am looking at the number relatively and compare to the previous day to decide how my training session at the gym is going to be: the more my body has recovered the more strain I am ready for today. So, what does promote a high recovery score? I did some experiments since I got the band, and it’s not only “lots of sleep” … nutrition, especially alcohol consumption, is definitely factored in – same for stress, anxiety, hydration … so pay attention when you log your journal entries in the morning, it’s essential. The insanely awesome thing is that Whoop suggests me activities that are very much in sync with how I feel capable of – so it looks so far fairly accurate. Conversely, Strain is fairly logical: the more you work out, the higher the score will be. I can log a good amount of activities (it’s way more than apple watch fitness app) and I get a number between 0 and 21 depending on how crazy my workout was, and I found out it’s not a linear scale …. Apparently it’s a lot easier to go from a 3 to a 4 than going from a 15 to a 16. For me, a semi-hard cardio workout comprised of 30 mins at 11 min/mile and 30 mins of cycling at a max setting gets me to a 12. But adding 30 mins of medium hard stair machine gets me to a 15. That said, I haven’t experimented too much on strength training, that will be for a later note, when I have unlocked the full strain coach. Also, I have noticed that Whoop is (so far) not super good at workout auto-detect, Apple Watch does this better (probably still learning me!) My thoughts after 2 weeks on Whoop The way strain, recovery and sleep work together is really the reason why I like Whoop so much. With all this information, I can tailor my daily workouts, estimate whether I want to take a rest day or not in order to avoid overtraining. The data is really helpful to me to stay in my healthy flow and the app is gorgeous and absolutely motivational and definitely helps in my training and work to stay healthy.
@philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout.
Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀  Wow! we’re already at the middle of 2021 time flies this year! Since we’re coming back to normal, I thought I would also resume my personal monthly fitness and nutrition challenges. And since Global Running Day is June 2nd, I decided to put the emphasis on running, especially because I will be in beautiful Pennsylvania this month (Note: I am in Exeter township but the Exeter race is in New Hampshire, love virtual races!). So here are my personal fitness June 2021 challenges:
In addition, I’ve decided to also focus on stair climbing and strength training at the gym – but that is the icing on the cake for me. So happy June 2021 and don’t forget to be kind with everyone. The health benefits of the stair climbing machine Most people hate the stair climbing machine because it’s really hard. For years it’s been giving me a really good and efficient cardio workout, but here are a few additional benefits that add up to your 360 health fitness benefits when you actually do the work and go past the first few hours of pain and strain. Maximizes Cardio Efforts. The stair climber is actually cardio powerhouse and more efficient (and I would argue harder) than the treadmill. Climbing stairs rapidly increases your heart rate, kickstarting your cardiovascular system right off the bat. This not only burns calories quickly, but also speeds up the oxygen intake of active muscles. This improved cardiovascular endurance will help you push further in future workouts, as well as perform prolonged day-to-day activities. These cardio-centric workouts will extend endurance and burn maximum calories in minimal time. Increases Core Strength. Stair climber benefits extend beyond the legs—you’ll tackle your core, too. If you hold your form and stay upright, your core will stay engaged throughout the entire workout. This will strengthen your lower back and abdominals. And, the stepping motion alone engages your obliques. Keep that in mind next time you’re on the machine—or carrying groceries upstairs. Strengthens Major Muscle Groups. Even at slow climbing speeds, the stair climber engages and strengthens most of your body’s largest muscle groups. By repeatedly using your thighs, calves, hamstrings, and glutes to lift your bodyweight, you’re effectively sculpting and toning these areas. This repetitive, step-by-step style of exercise keeps your legs moving in a complete range of motion, actively engaging your entire lower body. The resistance that comes from using your body to climb then aids in creating lean muscle tissue all over that burns more calories when you’re at rest. Versatile and Approachable. Stair climbing is a low impact, natural movement exercise. That means it’s easy on your joints, knees, ankles, and back. This machine can be used by practically anyone at any level. Regardless of level, because of the resistance and cardio movement involved, you can expect the stair climber to be an effective two-in-one workout. Talk about time well spent. @philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀
Supporting Exercise and Healthier Food Choices for Youth When school children exercise and eat better, they learn better. That’s why the Silicon Valley Leadership Group Foundation and the Santa Clara County Office of Education have teamed up to produce the Lam Research Heart & Soles Run. The driving force of Silicon Valley success is creative minds, great skills, and an entrepreneurial spirit. We can promote and support these attributes in our region’s children by helping them get access to exercise and healthier food choices. @philippemora > I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate. 🙏❤️💪🏋️♀️🔥🚀
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I come from the future. I work and I workout. Always be kind and passionate.
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