16 Best Whoop Alternatives for Sauna Lovers and Cold Plunge Fans
Seeking Whoop alternatives? Check out these 16 options tailored for sauna lovers and cold plunge fans, designed to enhance your wellness experience.
As you sit down to plan your cold plunge recovery routine after an intense workout, you might wonder how to track the many benefits of your sessions, including improved recovery, reduced inflammation, and enhanced mood. Whoop strap is a fitness tracker specializing in monitoring recovery and sleep. The Whoop strap tracks your cold plunge sessions, providing valuable data on how they affect your recovery so you can optimize your health and wellness routine. But Whoop is one of many options. This article will explore Whoop alternatives to help you find the perfect fitness tracker that seamlessly integrates with your lifestyle, providing accurate data and insights for optimizing your health and wellness routines, particularly in tracking cold plunges and sauna sessions.
One of the most promising alternatives to Whoop is GoPolar's cold plunge app. This valuable tool will help you achieve your health and wellness goals by tracking your DIY cold plunge sessions and integrating with your existing fitness tracker to provide detailed insights on how cold therapy affects your recovery.
What Is the Whoop Fitness Tracker?
The Whoop fitness tracker stands out among wearables because it organizes your metrics into patterns to help you understand the effects of your habits. Whoop does this by measuring the average difference between your heartbeats and using it to calculate:
- Daily stress
- Strain
- Recovery scores
The app sorts your daily metrics into long-term graphs and recommends changes you can make to improve your fitness and health routine.
Recovery and Strain Scores: Understand Your Body’s Readiness to Perform
Each morning, the Whoop app displays your daily recovery score, which is calculated based on your:
- HRV
- Resting heart rate
- Respiratory rate
- Sleep performance
The recovery score, anywhere from one to 21, describes how rested and ready your body is to perform. Whoop also calculates your daily strain score, a measurement of how hard your body worked based on your heart rate increase throughout the day, as a percentage. This information gives users a sense of how much rest their body needs or how much exercise they are ready for each day.
No Watch Face, No Problem
All this information is only available in the app interface; the wearable itself does not have a watch face or data screen. If you like to keep tabs on your heart rate in real-time or watch the clock during a workout, you’d be better off with a smartwatch like a Google Pixel Watch or Garmin Fenix. The Whoop is primarily for wearers who want to analyze their body performance trends over time rather than minute by minute.
The More You Know
During your first 30 days of wearing Whoop, a baseline understanding of your body's operation develops. Over time, the device becomes more accurate because it calculates your recovery and strain compared to your baseline rather than the general population.
Low Profile for High-Performance Workouts
During dynamic HIIT workouts, a smartwatch tends to get in the way as I bend my wrists or use my hands for support. But Whoop is low-profile, just a strap with a metal sensor on a clasp. Whoop’s band also has a nine-inch adjustable elastic strap, so I can wear it further up my arm or on my biceps if needed.
Unmatched Accuracy
A 2022 study comparing six wearables found Whoop 99.7 percent accurate in measuring heart rate and 99 percent accurate in measuring heart rate variability. Whoop calculates the effects of cardio workouts, like running, differently than a CrossFit or HIIT workout.
For example, after I jog a few miles, Whoop reports a high strain score, even though I don’t feel exhausted. After an intense CrossFit workout where I work at a high heart rate for a short time, Whoop doesn’t calculate the strain as aggressively.
An App for Your Health
Since the low-profile device doesn’t have a watch face or screen, all the data you want is stored in the app on your phone. Even though Whoop compiles a ton of data, it’s easy to read and understand what you’re looking at.
The app's home screen displays your key statistics. You can select the vital metrics you're interested in, including:
- HRV
- Sleep
- Calories burned
- Average heart rate
- Resting heart rate
- Recovery graphs
- Stress monitor
- Blood oxygen levels
- Skin temperature
The Journal Feature Helps You Identify Patterns
The Whoop app’s journal feature lets users log 140 behaviors and choices like:
- Caffeine consumption
- Nutrition
- Getting morning sunlight
- Wearing blue light glasses
- Nursing an infant
Whoop works as a habit tracker, calculating the impact of logged behaviors on biometric trends. This creates correlations between habits and outcomes so the app can recommend which behaviors to repeat in the future.
Whoop Coach AI Offers Personalized Feedback
A newer feature is the AI-powered Whoop Coach, which answers questions like:
- What makes a good sleep routine?
- How does Whoop measure recovery?
The Coach can also use your metrics to answer more specific questions like:
- Am I working out too much?
- Why is my sleep quality declining?
It still responds like a bot rather than a coach with personalized advice.
Whoop Connects with Gym Equipment
The Whoop strap connects with exercise equipment to display heart rate data while you work out. I like to use it while working on a Concept2 rowing machine, which connects with Peloton equipment. When finished, you can upload your workout from the Whoop app to personal training apps or third-party platforms like Strava.
Related Reading
- Cold Plunge Benefits
- How Long Should You Stay in a Sauna
- Cold Plunge Before or After Workout
- How Long to Cold Plunge
- Low HRV Symptoms
- Best Time to Cold Plunge
- How to Cold Plunge
- Cryotherapy vs Cold Plunge
- Huberman Cold Plunge
- Cold Plunge Water Temp
Is Whoop Just for Elite Athletes?
There's a lot of debate online about whether those who aren't elite athletes need a WHOOP band. And, of course, no one 'needs' a WHOOP to improve their health and fitness, but if you are interested in personalised health data and don't mind the monthly fee, then it's a good fitness tracker to invest in.
The Versatility of WHOOP: A Tool for Everyone
Emily explained that “WHOOP was originally designed with elite athletes in mind to optimise their performance, but it has since expanded to help a wide range of individuals understand their bodies and improve health and fitness”. As a non-elite athlete who is very into health and fitness, I've found the WHOOP data to be invaluable in helping me prepare for the London Marathon without burning out. WHOOP is designed by the world’s leading human performance experts and used by elite athletes, doctors, and more.
WHOOP's Personalized Coaching and Recommendations
It’s professional-grade technology designed for every day and for every person, no matter where they are in their health journey. When you get started on WHOOP, you set a goal for yourself. WHOOP then learns your body’s baselines and patterns to coach you with custom recommendations on tailoring your lifestyle, habits, training programs, and more to unlock your potential.
Whoop's Capabilities: What Can It Track?
Sleep Whoop estimates your required amount of sleep and ideal sleep schedule for optimal recovery based on your strain from the day, the previous night’s metrics, and any naps you took. You can also look at your sleep metrics over time to see if your sleep habits improve. The sleep tracker monitors all four sleep stages and provides a daily morning report on the quality of your rest.
Strain Score and Its Factors
For example, on Friday nights, I often eat almost a whole pizza, so on Saturday mornings, I usually wake up with a pretty lousy sleep score, which impacts my recovery. Strain Whoop calculates your body’s overall daily exertion between 0 and 21. The measurement includes more than just workouts. For instance, a lot of walking or a night out dancing can impact your strain score.
Tracking Recovery with Whoop
I feel like Whoop doesn’t record all forms of. I prefer to look at my long-term strain trends rather than use the daily score to indicate my day's intensity. Looking at the strain score weekly is helpful, too. Whoop estimates your weekly strain cumulatively, so if I’m not recovering throughout the week, I’ll take a rest day.
Limitations of Whoop for Certain Users
Recovery As you sleep, Whoop calculates your daily recovery score. This is primarily based on your heart rate variability, but Whoop also weighs factors, including resting heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep performance, and skin temperature. The score is displayed each morning as a percentage separated into three color-coded ranges:
- Red means you need more rest
- Yellow means you can work out at a maintenance level
- Green means you’re ready to push yourself
Choosing Between Whoop and Other Fitness Trackers
I like to look at a graph of my daily percentages over the week or month to understand how well I care for my body post-workout. Whoop will only work if you want to track your activity level and are new to fitness and working out; the amount of information Whoop provides may be overwhelming. A regular smartwatch, Garmin, or Apple Watch, is a better choice. If you like to check your heart rate throughout a workout, another fitness tracker may be a better option since Whoop doesn’t have a screen on the device itself.
Related Reading
- Cold Plunge Time and Temp
- Do Ice Baths Increase Testosterone
- What to Do After Cold Plunge
- Cold Plunge for Beginners
- How Often Should I Cold Plunge
- Cold Plunge Tips
- Cold Plunge Routine
- Mental Benefits of Ice Bath
- Sauna vs Cold Plunge
- Ice Bath vs Cold Plunge
- How to Cold Plunge in Bathtub
- Cold Plunging for Beginners
8 Pros & Cons of the Whoop Fitness Tracker
1. Spot On Accuracy
The Whoop fitness tracker accurately measures heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is the fluctuation in time between heartbeats. Even though these variations are small, they can indicate your current and future health, including potential heart problems and mental health issues like anxiety.
Tracking Recovery for Optimal Performance
Whoop can help you stay on top of your recovery to avoid getting seriously derailed and remain healthy for your training. I had been researching HRV for a while before choosing Whoop to see how it would impact my recovery tracking.
That being said, I did and still feel that you should always do an intuitive check-in with yourself first and then use a tracker to support how you’re feeling, and this is where Whoop really won me over.
WHOOP in Tracking Recovery
For the first month, I mentally tracked how I was physically feeling each morning before checking my 0-100 score, and I kid you not, every single morning, it was within range. If I woke up and thought, “I feel between a 40-50% recovered today,”
I would look at my Whoop, and there it was—" 46%.” But that wasn’t enough to win me over. The tipping point came after I had a four-day training break after a trip to London.
Validating WHOOP's Accuracy
I was convinced that after four days of eating, walking, and sleeping, I would look at my tracker on Tuesday, which would be 80-100% or in the green. The morning we got home, I turned to my missus and told her precisely that, but I followed it up with how poorly and tired I felt after our trip.
For the first time, my Whoop was in the red 23%. The stress of traveling, going off my regular food plan, and not sleeping in my bed had all impacted my score. That was the day I set up my affiliate partnership with Whoop. I was officially converted.
2. Super Comfortable
I don’t need to expand too much on this. I wear it on my left wrist in place of a watch and I forget it’s there most of the time.
3. User-Friendly Interface
I’m a tech dummy. If I didn’t have a great team around me, I couldn’t run a successful online business, but I could even figure out the user interface after a minute or two. 10/10 in this regard.
4. Water Resistant
This is more applicable to me personally; but my Whoop worked in extreme hot and cold (both are part of my recovery protocol).
5. Getting Started is Tricky
This could be me, too, as I struggle to assemble my daughter's kinder egg toys, but it took me ages to clip the device together and get it to work initially. From talking with friends and clients who use it, I am the only one with this issue, so read into that as you may.
6. The Strap Can Be A Bit Finicky
I swap out the wrist wearable every night and use the boxer shorts while I sleep (I hate wearing anything like that in bed and could never sleep with a wristwatch either), so I have to reclip it every morning. It’s become automatic now, but it did take me about a month before it became second nature.
7. Wearable Boxer Shorts Sometimes Lose Tracking
These are possibly connected as the device needs to be tight enough to your body to track accurately, and it's only lost the data on four nights in the two months, but the sizing is so off on the boxer shorts it’s not even funny. I’m a bit of a dope, though, and bought the four-pack, assuming that a large would fit fine (it didn’t), so if you decide to go with the boxer shorts or clothing line, buy a single one first and then buy the multipack to save yourself some dosh.
8. Falls Off If It Gets Hit Very Hard
I wear it to play GAA and soccer, but it has fallen off twice. Once in the middle of a tackle and the other when the ball hit it at full speed. I will start using the bicep band for games now, so it’s not a problem, but it’s worth knowing if you play a physical contact sport.
Elevate Your Cold Therapy Experience with GoPolar
Our cold plunge app is the go-to resource and tracking app for people who like to do cold plunge and sauna. With GoPolar's cold plunge app, you can track your cold plunge or cold shower and your sauna sessions with your Apple watch. After your plunge or sauna session, you can:
- Review your heart rate during a session
- See trends in the app with Apple Health data
- Track your scores in our leaderboard/community
With our app, you can also find the best spots to cold plunge in your area! Download our cold plunge app for free today to level up your cold plunge and sauna sessions with our tracking features and the GoPolar community leaderboard.
Does Whoop Track Cold Plunges?
Yes! The WHOOP fitness tracker can monitor cold plunge sessions. Cold therapy is one of the top five most common recovery activities WHOOP members track. The WHOOP app allows you to log your recovery efforts after a grueling workout, whether in the form of:
- Meditation
- Stretching
- Yoga Nidra
- Massage therapy
- Cold exposure through cold showers and ice baths
With WHOOP, you can gain actionable insight into the benefits of cold therapy on your recovery and potential future performance. Rely on WHOOP to give you the insight to make cold therapy a practical addition to your routine.
What Is Cold Therapy?
Cold therapy can be a beneficial addition to your regular wellness routine. There are several types of cold exposure that you can try out to take advantage of the benefits of cold therapy for yourself. In its simplest form, cold therapy could involve applying a cold compress or ice pack to a sore body area after an intense workout. More advanced versions of cold therapy have become popular in recent years and extend the positive impact of cold exposure to the entire body. These include:
Ice Baths
Ice baths are one of the most common types of cold therapy. Typically, ice baths fill a tub halfway with cold water and between one to three bags of ice to maintain a temperature range of 50-59°F. The maximum amount of time anyone should spend in an ice bath is 15 minutes, but you can start by spending just a few minutes in the tub and working your way up in small increments in subsequent ice baths as your body adjusts to the experience.
Ice baths are often used as a post-exercise recovery strategy. They are most effective when taken half an hour or less after finishing a workout or sporting event.
Cold Showers
Cold showers are one of the simplest forms of cold therapy and one of the easiest to add to your daily routine. Cold water doesn’t need to be used for the entirety of a shower to make it a practical cold therapy experience.
Incorporating two to three-minute periods of exposure to water temperatures lower than 60 degrees during a shower is sufficient to qualify as cold therapy. It can be a refreshing way to finish a shower. You can begin with 30-second cold water periods and work your way up over time as your body gets used to withstanding more prolonged exposure to the cold.
Cold Plunges
During a cold plunge, the entire body is submerged in cold water — typically in a tub or tank in a dedicated cold plunge facility. These tanks are usually kept in the same temperature range as an ideal ice bath (between 50-59°F, but it could be colder depending on the facility). Between 10 and 15 minutes of exposure in a cold plunge is ideal, but participants are encouraged to begin with shorter durations and work their way up to longer cold plunges for the best results.
Whole-Body Cryotherapy
Whole-body cryotherapy offers a more intense cold exposure experience. It can only be performed in a specialized cryotherapy center, which is equipped with chambers that can reach temperatures between negative 200°F 300°F.
Typically, users spend between two and four minutes in the chamber. During this time, the entire body is subjected to an extreme drop in temperature, aiming to stimulate the body’s natural response to cold exposure.
16 Best Whoop Alternatives for Sauna Lovers and Cold Plunge Fans
Whoop is an effective tool for tracking recovery and performance and monitoring how your body responds to cold therapy. Other devices might be better suited for those who frequently engage in sauna sessions and cold plunges.
1. GoPolar
Our cold plunge app is the go-to resource and tracking app for people who like to do cold plunge and sauna. With GoPolar's cold plunge app, you can track your cold plunge or cold shower and your sauna sessions with your Apple watch. After your plunge or sauna session, you can:
- Review your heart rate during a session
- See trends in the app with Apple Health data
- Track your scores in our leaderboard/community
With our app, you can also find the best spots to cold plunge in your area! Download our cold plunge app for free today to level up your cold plunge and sauna sessions with our tracking features and the GoPolar community leaderboard.
2. Polar Log
Polar Log is an app that tracks both sauna sessions and cold plunges. It’s designed for users who regularly switch between hot and cold therapies. The app provides a comprehensive log of your sessions, allowing you to track metrics such as:
- Duration
- Temperature
- Recovery times.
It benefits users who want to analyze their routines and improve their health practices.
3. Sessions App
Sessions App is a habit tracker for those regularly engaging in sauna sessions and cold exposure. It emphasizes personalized protocols, allowing users to experiment and find what works best. The app integrates with smartwatches, including Apple Watch and Garmin, and syncs data with Apple Health. It’s precious for users who want to track metrics like temperature, humidity, and time of day.
4. CryoZest
CryoZest is a comprehensive app for tracking cold exposure and sauna sessions. It allows users to log their activities and receive insights on their wellness journey. The app is praised for its minimalistic design and ease of use. It offers custom reminders and the ability to sync data with Apple devices. Users appreciate its ability to log different types of sessions and analyze performance over time.
5. Brisk
Brisk is designed for users who practice cold plunges regularly. It offers a user-friendly interface with features that help you stay consistent with your cold water therapy. The app tracks session times, water temperature, and integrates with Apple Health. Brisk is known for its motivational features, like daily challenges and rewards, making it a fun way to maintain your cold plunge routine.
6. HotLog
HotLog is your digital companion to tracking your sauna, steam bath, and infrared sessions. HotLog allows you to capture all the important details of your sessions like easily:
- Sauna Type
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Duration
- Aufguss
- Cold Shower
Plunge HotLog also gives you insights into your sauna habits by appealing statistics so you can see whether you sweat as often as you would like to. If you want to, HotLog tracks all your sessions as workouts in Apple Health.
7. SaunaSesh
Enhance your sauna experience with SaunaSesh, designed to support your wellness routine. SaunaSesh uses HealthKit to monitor your time logged and heart rate activity using the Apple Watch app. The accompanying iPhone app allows you to:
- View all workouts
- Add notes
- Set notifications for your sessions
SaunaSesh is easy to use, with a simple interface that supports your sauna activity. SaunaSesh links with the Health app, automatically recording your sauna activities and keeping you on track toward your well-being goals.
8. Shiver
Shiver is the world's most straightforward, intuitive cold plunge log & cold plunge tracker. Start supercharging your cold plunge habit now for free; no signup or credit card is required! Features include:
- Session Timer: Time your sessions with a minimalistic session timer that makes it dead simple to know how long you've been plunging and how much is left before you reach your goal. Configurable session lets you see when you've met your duration goal.
- Session Chart: Track your habit over time with a chart inspired by the GitHub contribution graph. Each day is represented with a blank or colored square, making it easy to see your consistency. Keep filling in those squares to keep yourself accountable!
- Session Feed: Scroll through a feed of your sessions to view specific details of past sessions.
- Session Analytics: Detailed statistics and graphs of how frequent, cold, and long your sessions have historically been across various time horizons. Use this data to stay motivated by your past progress. If you love data, Shiver has got you covered!
9. Chill
Chill is the ultimate companion for your cold plunge sessions. Designed to enhance your cold immersion experience, this app offers a range of powerful features to help you optimize your practice and achieve your desired results. Stay in control of your cold plunges with precision timing. Chill allows you to set customized durations for your sessions, ensuring you get the most out of each plunge. Whether you prefer shorter bursts or longer, more challenging immersions, the app adapts to your needs.
10. Oura Ring
The Oura Ring can track your body temperature, heart rate, and overall readiness before and after a cold plunge, giving insights into how your body responds to cold exposure. It is not explicitly designed to withstand prolonged exposure to water or frigid temperatures, so its tracking during the plunge might need to be more accurate.
11. Fitbit
Some Fitbit models are waterproof and can track heart rate and temperature during cold plunges. They are generally not designed to withstand icy conditions, which could affect their performance
12. Garmin
Garmin watches are known for their durability and are often used in outdoor and extreme sports. Some models are waterproof and can track heart rate, body temperature, and stress levels during cold plunges. Garmin devices are generally more resilient in cold water than Fitbit or Oura.
13. GoPolar App
Track your cold plunge & sauna sessions, monitor progress, and celebrate milestones with our free interactive app. Control your Plunge products from anywhere in the world. Access and adjust from your mobile device remotely and with ease.
15. Höffly
This is a Wim Hof-style guided breath app, although it is not affiliated with the official Wim Hof method. It shows you the Wim Hof breathing pattern without too much fuss or distraction. Although it offers a lot less content than the official Wim Hof app, this is reflected in the price. Free to use for a limited number of sessions daily, you can subscribe for unrestricted access for a minimal fee.
16. Cryoshower
Track your progress in cold water therapy with Cryoshower, an app that records and guides you through taking cold showers, although it also works for baths and open-air swimming. Start in a warm shower, then change the temperature to cold, and record how long you can endure the contrast. It’s easy to track your time, temperature, frequency, and mood afterward. Because it uses voice commands, it’s easy to record your actions, no matter where you are.
Level Up Your Cold Plunge and Sauna Sessions Today With GoPolar's Free Cold Plunge App
GoPolar is the ultimate cold plunge companion. After a cold plunge or sauna session, your body changes. Tracking your progress can help you better understand your recovery and adapt to cold exposure or heat stress. GoPolar's cold plunge app helps you do just that. With our app, you can:
- Track your cold plunge
- Shower
- Sauna sessions
After your plunge or sauna session, you can review your heart rate during a session, see trends in the app with Apple Health data, and track your scores in our leaderboard/community. With our app, you can also find the best spots to cold plunge in your area!
Download our cold plunge app for free today to level up your cold plunge and sauna sessions with our tracking features and the GoPolar community leaderboard.
