I’ve spent all day comparing fitness trackers and this video made my decision clear. The recovery and all the data you get from Athlytic was what I was missing when comparing the AW to others. Whoop seems cool but I can’t justify the subscription. Appreciate this video so much!
Who's going to be trying the Athlytic app??? Greg the creator of Athlytic just reached out to me. Wanted to say thank you to everyone using and trying Athlytic! Who want's a FREE alternate version of this app I found while filming?
Athlytic is why I ditched the whoop and stuck with my watch. That and the Strong app. They are just too useful especially in the gym. I don't have to touch the phone. I just wish the Apple Watch was a little more comfortable. Though maybe I just need to stop buy-in the heavy stainless steel models.
@@SteveBIRK eh I think they’re all the same comfort. You could buy the ceramic one and it might be lighter but the form factor is the same. I gotta check out STRONG though! Thanks for the Reco
@@BrandonTalbot Hello, for me Athlytic is an excellent application, it is more than WHOOP. I liked it so much that I'm waiting to see the Apple Watch 8 and buy it to use this app. In addition, one very important thing, the development team is constantly working to implement new functions, for example, one of the last updates was Training Effect like Garmin.
One of the best parts for the pillow app is the haptic alarm. It's not something new that it has a haptic alarm but for me it actually gently wakes you up. If you use the default haptic alarm on your watch it is a very abrupt and aggressive haptic alarm that scares me awake, but the pillow is a slow and gentle haptic that eases me awake which I love.
I kept my watch. I get questions about the whoop all the time as I wear both, and I just say “If you took the fitness, sleep, and recovery tracking of the Apple Watch, dial it up to 11, and prune away all the other smart watch things on the Apple Watch, you get whoop.” At the end of the day, I still want a smart watch, so I still wear my smart watch. But Whoop gives actionable feedback unlike anything I’ve been able to get on AW thus far.
There's been a few you tubers that reviewed the accuracy of the whoop, oura ring and apple watch. Long story short, Apple watch is a lot more accurate. Even the sleep tracking is more accurate than whoop.
I currently have an Apple Watch and a Whoop that I had a trial subscription for. The Athlytics app really is almost a carbon copy of the data that the Whoop provides and I love it, I can still track water etc via my Apple Watch and don't have to pull out my phone to note every set at the gym while being able to see the data just like the Whoop. The only downside is of course the charging, but I can live with it if I have to put the watch on the charger for 30 minutes when I'm sitting at my desk anyway.
One app that I find really useful is the Strong app. It's for tracking lifts and you can just plug in the weight and reps right on your wrist and start a timer for the next set. it's honestly the reason I don't ditch the watch for the whoop. I don't like having my phone in my pocket at the gym so I usually just interact with the watch when I am there and leave my phone in the bag. Some of my other favorite health apps for the watch are AutoSleep and HeartWatch
You should try the train app. It tracks movements and reps automatically. It’s not perfect but it does a pretty good job and you can always change it on the watch or your phone
Thanks very useful, I downloaded and paid for Athlytic a cool app. I ordered a Whoop a few days back and decided to cancel it due the subscription really nagging at me and I have an Apple Watch 6. If the Whoop bad was a one of payment then I would not have cancelled.
I charge my Apple Watch when I wake up and get ready for the day… shower , coffee etc. Then I charge it when I get home and drop stuff off, change clothes etc. Between those two short 20 minute times of day, the watch is good all day and night. I stated doing that because of the athytic app and wanting to wear it at night. Now I can’t sleep without it. Besides the app, using it’s a wake up alarm has changed everything ! No more jarring noisy alarms … just a gentle tap and the stronger taps on my wrist if I don’t wake up (of you keep it in silent) Now I can wear ear plugs at night ! No fear of not hearing an alarm… life changing stuff when your spouse snores and live on a noisy street. The app is perfect , I still have a whoop because I got 18 month, so I get to compare them over a long time me. Zero need for the whoop, the watch is way more accurate w heart rates and time asleep too Btw, on the app you can change what tracks your sleep . Since Apple only does sleep not awake, you can throw on sleep+ or pillow all and un Athlytic preferences you can select those for the all to collect more specific data on your sleep
Yeah I have been pretty good with my “routine” when it comes to workflow. It’s lacking in the accuracy department because of the Apple hardware and it’s limitation in algorithm but I do like the app and all of the features it offers. Thankfully I don’t need an alarm but good to know it has one.
@@BrandonTalbot yea that’s true and I’m prolly a little biased but does that really matter when you can’t even see your heart rate during a workout? Because for me I like my Apple Watch because I have this app that automatically tracks movements and counts reps and it’s nice to be able to do that and also check my hr without going on my phone. So if you can only check your hr on the whoop after your done with your workout does it really make a difference how often it’s taking a measurement? And btw the app is train if you want to try it, it’s not perfect but it gets the job done
Thank you!! I’ve been searching for apps like Athlytic everywhere. For me the the health app is very cool to have but overwhelming at the same time. I was looking for an app that summarize all data in something more friendly. Ver nice video, and I would love to watch other videos where you talk about the other cool app you’ve mentioned.
I am definitely interested to know. Like how is it improved? If it’s more data points taken then that would be amazing, but if there’s no change to that, but just more activities added or something along those lines then it wouldn’t really have an effect.
I currently have an awful cold. Yesterday Athlytic said I was ready to train. Obviously I didn’t. But this morning I am worse. My RHR was raised and my HRV quite low. Athlytic recognised that and put menu into the red. Now it is in yellow at 15:10h but so still feel like shit. I think having a virus onboard isn’t something that the algorithm has foreseen, given individual responses to that. My impression is that an underlying premise is that we are ready or recovering based on being healthy from the outset and that variations in HRV are due to training load rather than illness.
Well Athlytic is kind of hamstrung because it has to rely on how often the hardware (the Apple Watch) takes readings, which isn’t a lot. Especially on the HRV side.
@@BrandonTalbot Apparently the Apple Watch takes HRV readings more often if you tell your phone that you have been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. I haven’t done that yet.
Whoop is one of those companies that has a poor quality product that doesn't connect and update, then when you finally try to cancel your subscription it's impossible to find how to cancel. Then you finally get to customer service and they won't let you cancel. Then they tell you they will "loop you to our appropriate team." Then they still... won't... let... you... cancel. I'm guessing this is what it's like to be a scientologist.
Thanks for a great video.... turns out that I just started researching this idea, yesterday. Downloaded all three you suggested as I just can't stomach 40 bucks a month for, essentially, just an app (WOOP). What I figured out very quickly with Athlytic is that I have to now figure out to backload workouts that won't work well with my Apple Watch (ie cycling). I did a 100km bike ride today and it doesn't show up at all. Hmmm. I'm sure there's a way to overcome that though. What's the alternate Athlytic?
I left whoop in november for Garmin mainly because of the fact they're subscription (and expensive) when the 3 was also pretty buggy for me....but sweet jesus only 4 months with Garmin and I'm looking at going back to whoop and selling the garmin. It's designed so poorly! I know as a designer some things stand out to me that might not stand out to others but jesus the quality difference! You get technically the same hardware and specs but the on-face and in-app software for garmin is abysmally basic.
The ONLY benefit I can justify Whoop for is that I can wear it during contact sports. I play rugby and wearing the whoop through that was great. Can’t wear my Apple Watch during a game :(
Have a Garmin Fenix 6 but the HR monitor just does not compare to the Apple Watch. AW has the most accurate Hr for optical on the market. So important. Garmin really struggles with weight lifting and HITT.
@@Bjustis2222 I waited specifically for the Fenix 7 to get the new Hr sensor. Comparatively the Apple Watch seems to be the better option for someone who wants a streamlined and minimalistic view of their workouts while the Garmin’s provide a much more in depth breakdown.
@@dipatch945 eh maybe for running but for weightlifting the Apple Watch is really nice because of the app selection. I have this one app that automatically tracks the workout I’m doing so I can track my progress
@@BrandonTalbot Yeah, only when it works. It’s not consistent all the time. It’s a shame that Apple Watch doesn’t have a recovery score built-in specifically now that the Ultra exists.
It should be noted that the biggest difference is whoop does not charge for hardware Apple does. if you factor that into the cost its significant. The only reason I have an Apple Watch is because it was a gift. I find it hard now to justify the cost for the whoop any more. Otherwise if I had a classic watch I definitely would keep the whoop. That said I also use a Garman for when I mountain bike or road ride. So it made things extremely complex trying to get out at one point I was starting all three devices for comparison. The great thing about the Garmin is its not dependent on my phone. One device please, that can survive 6-8 hr gps based workout. Still looking, but great vid. Thank you. Will try those apps and others in comments.
I do agree that you should factor in that whoop doesn’t charge for hardware but the Apple Watch has so many other features making it worth the hardware cost.
I wish my Garmin Vivoactive 4S was more sensitive to my actual sleep. My RHR is often 50-60, especially with increased activity, running, and training. I'm on an Android so won't be going Apple anytime soon.
Nice BT! I have been waiting for this one to come out. I went to an Apple Watch 7 in November and have a few apps that I like, but these look awesome. Especially Athlytic.
Hey Brandon, Doesn’t the Health and fitness app in the iPhone give all that info? We can’t see the sleep tracker, but for the respiratory and heart rate we can see without any problem.
Hey Miguel, yes the health app will show you all of your HR data if you’ve got an Apple Watch, but it doesn’t interpret that data and doesn’t help you to know what to do with it. Apps like Athlytic are valuable because they guide you.
I went from a Whoop 4.0 to the Apple Watch Ultra. It’s only been a few days using the Athlytic app, but so far I like the possibility of what this app can do, compared to Whoop. Watching some other AW test, seems like the AW itself is more accurate than the Whoop. However, the AW doesn’t seem to track HRV quite the same way as Whoop. Which one is more reliable? How can this be tested for? I’m currently still wearing my 4.0 opposite of the AWU. So far, the recovery rates are much different from each other. Whoop is saying 27%, and AWU is telling me 75%. I do understand that AW doesn’t sample HRV at the same frequency, or at the same time in a sleep cycle like Whoop does. All very confusing, but hoping the Athlytic app will just keep improving as time goes on. Awesome videos btw!!
Yeah there’s a lot of differences going on. HRV isn’t the only stat that contributes to recovery so remember that, and each company has their own algorithm in accessing recovery. But RHR, HRV, the output from the day before, neurological stress, sleep, sleep stage amounts, they all contribute to recovery. Apple Watch takes readings once every five minutes unless during a workout - it’s around 12x per min. You can see all this data in the health app. For HRV the Apple Watch records less than that. Only 8x in 24 hrs(I’m using my records) & If I remember correctly they take the lowest number for HRV. Now you can turn on afib detection and improve the number of times HRV is recorded. I haven’t turned it on yet though. I will. For the whoop they are taking metrics 1000x per minute of everything. They use all the data, and in a roundabout way the info from the journal. They average out the HRV readings from a certain stage of sleep that research has shown the most reliable and relatable way of pulling HRV. What I have seen is that the Whoop is the closest to how I actually feel with recovery. Apple Watch has better sensors, more accurate sensors but perhaps the algorithm running them, and how the data is interpreted is not as accurate as whoops real world application and interpretation of their data.
How have you found Athlytic performs long term? I've been comparing it to Whoop for the last four months, and Whoop is still way more accurate/realistic. I think it may be because Whoop has 1.5 years of data, and Whoop on a few months. Thoughts?
Well I think two things make whoop more accurate, whoop has the distinct advantage of its algorithm calibrating to you the individual, and second the sheer amount of data the whoop can take in a day compared to the Apple Watch and I say the watch because analytic can is being hamstrung by the watch only measuring 12per min during exercise and once every 5 minutes when at rest.
Love using the Athlytic app. I didn’t like wearing a watch and the whoop - just too much stuff and I’m old - I like a watch. ;-) I get enough info on the app and it’s a lot less $$ too.
brandon, you mentioned the whoop was better for intraworkout data, but it looks like i’ll be gifted an apple watch pretty soon. i need something to continuously monitor my bpm during my cardio sessions. would the Athlytic (or any other app that you recommend) app be able to handle this for me?
for sure nearly every fitness tracker will read heart rate related metrics - the Apple Watch doesn’t do it nearly at the same rate whoop does but it’s very accurate
The only reason I’m leaning towards the whoop is the ability to use it doing jiu jitsu. I’ve tried some bands with my Apple Watch but haven’t had great results
the whoop 3.0 impact sleeve fits the apple watch. You need to turn on "unlock apple with iPhone" in settings. Start a workout out and then enter it in.
@@tomwebb10 that’s good to know: I am using it because of the peripheral heart action cardio that is involved in BJJ fluctuates heart rate more than other types of cardio which the Apple Watch because of its 12 readings per minute usually misses. The whoop will measure this because it can take far more measurements per min.
@@BrandonTalbot I’m thinking about switching from whoop to Apple watch. For this reason do you know if there’s a way to continue to use the whoop sensor for HR tracking during BJJ without continuing the subscription?
Great video Brandon. Thanks. Apps are something i will be happy to see on Your chanel. Also it would be great to get some tips what to do with all those data ... 😉 btw - also awesome production of this video 👍
I think the whoop is great but it’s too expansive. To spend like every year nearly 300 dollars that’s crazy. But I like the idea and the stats of whoop
David that’s a great question, unfortunately I’m not on the android platform so I’m not sure. But I should get another phone so I can be better versed on the android side
Great video! But the fact that whoop measures bpm 100 times per second and the accuracy is way better than apple sensor is why you shouldn't be ditching it anytime soon. Still a no goodbye whoop haha.
The optical HR sensor is way, way, way more accurate in the Apple Watch than the Whoop 4.0, in fact it is the most accurate wrist based optical sensor on the entire market and not by a small margin. However it only samples constantly during workouts and then outside workouts only checks you every 5-15 minutes vs whoop which is always measuring you. Whoop is also accurate during these restful times so Apple’s advantage is mainly limited to workouts in particular those where Whoop is really poor such as weight lifting etc. Apple also gives you all the same data as whoop like HRV, respiration rate etc. but does very little to interpret it unlike the whoop app which gives you the info in a more actionable way. That’s what the video is about… leveraging 3rd party apps willing to give you actionable data with the apple watch’s superior hardware. I still like Whoop but it has very real issues with accuracy and if it isn’t accurate then all it’s recommendations may be off. Apple Watch is incredibly accurate but doesn’t really give you recommendations.
At 0:36 you showed your Apple Watch face and said “see your whoop data here.” Is there a widget for whoop that lets us see our data from our whoop on our watch??
I am getting the whoop, waiting on it to be delivered... I was going to get the sleeve for my arm but my seeming non muscular arm is bigger than the arm sleeve they offer. I was kind of hoping to get it out of the way mostly so I don't break it or anything like that in the gym...
@@BrandonTalbot thanks I'll have to look into the bicep band and probably a extra battery so I have less downtime like I have with my garmin watch when it needs to be charged...
@@justplanefred you won't need the extra battery pack! The whoop lasts ~4 days per charge, and the battery pack charges in like 30 minutes. Only time you'll need a second battery pack is if you lose it.
My whoop has stopped working over 7 times and customer service hasn’t refunded the money I paid upfront for 18 months worth. Save your money! They are thief’s.
Checkout Fitbod. You can get a free trial (I can also send you a few workouts as well). It's pretty sick. You just connect it to your Apple Health app, select what you're trying to do (bodybuilding, powerlifting, etc) and then enter the gym equipment you have. It will give you a workout to complete and keep notes of muscles worked and when they're like to recover again. There are probably more features I'm missing but its' good for muscle recovery imo.
To be honest at £369 for a series 7 I think I’ll go with that. Whoop was winning for me but I really didn’t like the idea of still paying such a high(ish) monthly subscription after the initial 2 year subscription. Watching this video with your review of Athlytic has totally sold me on the apple watch with the pro version of Athlytic. I doesn’t seem like there’s much between both and it that’s the case then Athlytic is the clear winner for me.
Well it does and it doesn’t - the sensors are reported to be “the best” but the watch’s algorithm is what hinders it. Because it’s a smart watch and it’s got a screen, apps, and a million other functions they couldn’t allocate enough power to make use of the sensors. So it only takes one reading every five minutes, or 12pr min when running a workout, that pales in comparison to whoops 1000pr min.
@@BrandonTalbot yes true youre right about the algorith but there’s a guy on youtube who did a scientific study and he used the polar h10 chest strap wich is one of the most accurate device to mesure the heart rate and the apple watch 6,7 and se was better than whoop and 50 other smart device but somehow when he did the study on the sleep test accuracy it the apple watch perform very poorly so how knows 🤷🏼♂️ i dont think there is a device that perform well in all categories
sleep apps can't measure sleep, it's not possible, if you actually want to get your sleep measured you can go to one of those sleep labs, where they wire you up completely, it's the only way to track deep sleep, rem sleep, etc, idk what these apps actually do but it ain't real
The crap battery life on Apple Watch is a pain. New generation of Garmin watches are up to 30 day’s battery. Why can’t Apple do that. You need two Apple Watches and it’s still a pain. Whoop is amazing and gives accurate data over so many metrics.
@@BrandonTalbot yep but Garmin was 6 days and now 30 and also solar options. In reality I think most people charge their watches at nighttime so how can they get sleep data. I’ve two Apple Watches and one Garmin. The Garmin data is way more accurate than the Apple data on a watch rotation basis hence having two of them. Thanks 🙏
Yeah I get that, but it's not a 2000 nit screen running millions of computations a second... it's just different. It would be awesome if Apple added solar, but I doubt it's gonna happen. And the Ultra has much better battery life so there's no longer need to charge at night you can get 36hrs solid of battery unless you're doing an ultra that day.
WHOOP app is soooo bad. I get demotivated when I open the app. Hardware is great but the app is like a teenager created UserInterface with very bad eye for important stuff. They should fire UI and UX team right away.
@@First.Last.99 holy shit yes someone has a different opinion than you. Here’s why I like it, because everything I NEED to know is on the first page that opens. I don’t dive into all the super deep stuff but every once in a great while.
@@BrandonTalbot cool, I'm looking at most important things one good brand as WHOOP should solve in their app ASAP to be a better successes. Having such a bad UX and UI and a steep and unnecessary learning curve is not acceptable on their level. And whoever knows apps, UI and UX knows their team who created this experience is not a good team. There is no question about it. I respect ur amateur opinion and I'm glad ur happy with UX in the app. Would never put that on my 2+ million users, specially not after 12 years in the field.
@@First.Last.99 yes I’m not an expert at UX but I also for this job an exposed to a LOT of different apps, and communicate extensively with my community on these products. And the app isn’t something they complain about.