The fitness-tracking and wearables industry is generally considered to have begun in 1965 with Dr. Yoshiro Hatano’s Manpo-kei, a pedometer otherwise known as the “10,000 steps meter.” Nearly 60 years later, the industry has grown considerably —
valued at 47.36 billion USD in 2022 and projected to grow to 182.90 billion by 2030, it shows a compound annual growth rate of 19.1%. The growth of the fitness-tracking and wearables industry is attributed to multiple factors, including the ease of use of wearables, relatively feasible cost of product, and an increasing data-driven fitness trend to customize the user experience and create more personalized and effective goal setting. It makes sense; why not be more informed about your health with the help of technology through products like the Apple Watch, Garmin, Fitbit, WHOOP, or the Oura Ring?
The technology behind each of these products can be boiled down to optical sensors which record various information like heart rate, heart rate variation (HRV), blood oxygenation, breathing rate, and skin temperature, along with an accelerometer, a device that detects motion, and a gyroscope, which detects and measures angular motion of an object. The end result is a straightforward product or app-based interface to scroll through varying datasets. These include graphs detailing sleep, quality of sleep, heart rate, etc., depending on the product. While these products are typically used on a personal level, some athletics teams have begun to implement them across the US in order to provide more specific training. One such example of this was the Women’s Soccer team here at Stevens, which had been using WHOOP wristbands for the past couple of years with the goal of optimizing their practices.
WHOOP gives users a variety of biometric data points in its app-based interface. These include:
- Sleep monitoring and a breakdown of sleep stages (slow wave sleep, REM, light, and awake)
- Strain, measured on a scale of 0-21 and calculated through cardiovascular load from things such as exercise, work, anxiety, etc.
- Recovery, displayed on a scale of 0-100% and calculated through heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, respiratory rate, sleep performance, and skin temperature
- Insights, calculated as impact through user input on over 140 behaviors such as caffeine intake, morning sunlight, or bluelight glasses
- Stress Monitor, scaled between 0-3 and measured through heart rate and HRV in the moment as a physiological response to stress
- Health Monitor: displaying key vitals, such as heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, etc. at a glance
There is no user interface through the wristband, but it does require charging for the data it collects to be sent to the WHOOP app. While the intent of this process was to benefit the players in having easier practices if a majority of players had low recovery rates or levels of sleep, for example, a few current and prior members of the Women’s Soccer team have explained in further detail how the process seemed less beneficial than intrusive into their personal lives beyond what was needed for athletic performance.
The main biometric data the Women’s Soccer team head coach had access to included strain levels, sleep data, and recovery percentages, all of which were through 24/7 monitoring through WHOOP’s wristband. For over 4 years, ending this current season, the head coach’s access to that data was unlimited and relatively unregulated. For example, members of the team reported that their coach would text them congratulating them for having a 100% recovery rate, or admonish the team in person if a certain number of players were in the red and had low recovery levels.
Even with the concern that the data was not being used how it was expected to be was brought up to the Associate Athletic Director, Megan Haughey, on multiple occasions, it took years to finally reach the point where the Women’s team could leave WHOOP behind. Still, members of the team noted their disappointment that their recovery day, or day off of practice, was moved from Sunday to Monday by their coach — a move thought to have been implemented to discourage any late-night activity that would diminish the team’s recovery, even though WHOOP can no longer be used by their coach to quantify their recovery states.
While having athletes use fitness technology can be beneficial in making data-driven coaching decisions, 24/7 monitoring is excessive and well beyond the scope of necessary. Members of the Women’s team pointed out that in-game and in-practice biodata monitors, in the form of chest straps, do exist and are a better and less invasive alternative to WHOOP since they can be limited to games and practice usage. As of current, the Women’s Soccer team no longer uses WHOOP at the team level, although some members still choose to use it to monitor their own personal performance and biodata.
