Getting the fit right on a WHOOP band

Why fit matters more than people think

The WHOOP sensor reads heart rate through the skin. If it is not held against it, light escapes between the two and the reading drops out: erratic heart rate during training, gaps in overnight tracking, an incoherent recovery score in the morning.

So before blaming the device, it is worth checking the fit. It is the most common explanation for tracking that looks wrong.

The benchmark

The band is right when you can slide one finger between strap and wrist, but not two. The device should not move when you shake your arm, and the skin around it should not be blanched.

Position: about two fingers above the wrist bone, towards the elbow, never on the joint itself. On the bone, the sensor loses contact every time you flex.

Day and night do not ask for the same thing

Under exertion the arm swells and the band needs to be slightly firmer so the device does not slide. At night it can come down a notch: circulation slows, skin marks more easily, and sleep tracks perfectly well with gentler contact.

A lot of red marks in the morning come simply from a training setting left on overnight.

If the wrist marks or itches

Three causes, in order of frequency: the band is too tight, it is staying damp, or it is not being washed enough. Redness under a sports band is nearly always mechanical irritation rather than an allergy.

Loosen a notch, rotate the device a few millimetres each day to move the pressure point, and give the wrist an hour of open air daily. A ribbed lining, like the one on our bands, reduces the contact surface and lets air through: it marks noticeably less than a solid weave or a silicone strap.

One size, really?

On a woven elastic band with a sliding clip, yes. There are no fixed notches: adjustment is continuous, which is precisely what lets you change it through the day. That is the main advantage of a weave over a band with holes.

All our bands are one size, fully adjustable, with a steel clip — the plain colourways as much as the Already Late models.

One size, several settings

All our bands are one size and adjust at the steel clip: Lavender, Blush and Azure take up a notch and keep their tension.