When looking at sports in today’s world, there’s billions of dollars being thrown around. From ameteur to professionals, everyone is trying to find the edge that’s going to take them to the next level. We can go to social media and see that everyone thinks they have an answer to what will get you to that next level. Much of what we do in life is now instantaneous like communication, food, and entertainment. This gets in the way of really tackling the problem of enhancing performance. We all know that proper nutrition, hydration, sleep and training will get you to that next level. Why is it then that we really only focus on the training portion of these four pillars? I believe the reason for this is marketing. Training is the only portion of this group that can be sold instantaneously. Now, if you are not in the business of selling your service, why do we continue to ignore these aspects of performance? I believe that it’s our fault as coaches. We know that the other pillars are important but until recently we really couldn’t quantify this. Well now we can. It is my strong belief that every program should be hopping on this bandwagon ASAP. Now has never been a better time because of the pandemic that is now our everyday life.The reason being for this, is that a spike in respiratory rate is a key indicator that you may have contracted COVID-19. Here is a tweet from an athlete utilizing his Whoop (performance tracking band) to find out he did in fact contract the virus.
“Our neighbors up the road were the first power 5 program to equip all of their athletes with a Whoop band. They are the trailblazers for this trend and I do believe we will see other programs follow quickly behind them.”
A common theme amongst coaches is saying that they care about their players more as a person than just a player. Getting a fitness/sleep tracker is a great way to back up that feeling. Instead of sending thousands of dollars on equipment that’s only going to make them a better athlete, spend that money on something that has the potential to make them a better athlete and a better person. I just finished reading “Spark” by John J. Ratey and I believe that this is a must read for everyone in the world right now. I know that’s a big statement, but I really do believe that this is true. Fitness and sleep can be the answer to many problems that people are struggling with in the world right now. Here’s a list of the chapters that John discusses how exercise can help.
- Learning
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Attention Deficit
- Addiction
- Hormonal Changes
- Aging
I think that every coach in the world would want to help their athletes with this. So le’ts do it. A main goal of mine as a coach is to help my athletes build a daily fitness routine that they can take with them for the rest of their lives. I have seen too many college athletes leave school with a negative relationship with fitness and I strongly believe we must change this. With the help of a fitness/sleep tracker, we can do this better than ever before. I have personally used 3 devices that have the ability to measure both sleep and activity. They are the Whoop, Oura ring and Apple Watch. I’ll go over the pro/cons of each device and how I see them best used.
Wearability
This is something that seriously needs to be considered when buying a device. I have worn the Whoop for a year now (on my wrist) and I could not see myself wearing it for the rest of my life. The Oura ring is not even noticeable but that’s because I’m wearing it as my wedding ring. I’ve been wearing a ring for 3 years now so it has been no problem. The apple watch is bulky but has so many features that are beneficial to me throughout the day. I have pretty much every apple device so it is easier to streamline my day with the watch.
App
This is also personal preference- but I believe that Whoop is the winner here by long shot. The design is very functional and easy to digest the information that is given. Oura and Apple have good apps as well but the information isn’t as clear as Whoop.
Price
This was the deal breaker for me. Whoop is a subscription based device that costs anywhere from $18 to $30 a month. This can add up over a lifetime. The Oura ring cost $300 for a one time fee and has a two year warranty. The apple watch is now as low as $279 brand new for the SE version of the device.
Conclusion
I really enjoy what all 3 of these devices bring to the table, and I think that there is a place for all of them. I am personally going with the combination of the Oura ring and Apple watch. This combination is phenomenal because Oura is linked with Apple Health. This makes it very easy to track your workouts with the watch and let the Oura ring track your sleep. I would then suggest getting the Whoop for times in your life that you’re really looking to take your health and fitness to the next level. There can be distractions when it comes to the Apple watch and the Whoop is all about getting the work done. At the end of the day, I would say in a team setting Whoop is the winner and for personal use, buying the combination of the Oura ring and Apple watch wins. At the end of the day, do your research and if you go with any of the three I do not think you can go wrong. You will be making yourself or your team better athletes, but more importantly, better equipped to live a long and impactful life.
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