What is WHOOP?
WHOOP is a screenless band you wear all day and all night. It has no display, no buttons and nothing to start: it reads heart rate continuously and turns that into three numbers: Strain for what you did to yourself, Recovery for whether you're ready to do it again, and a sleep score. There's no watch face to check, which is the point.
The Strava part is worth being precise about, because it changed. For years the integration only ran one way: WHOOP recorded, WHOOP posted to Strava, and Strava couldn't tell WHOOP anything. As of WHOOP's May 2026 update it goes both directions. Activities recorded on Strava (or routed there from a Garmin, from Zwift, from a lifting app) now import into WHOOP automatically, and WHOOP treats an imported activity the same as one it recorded itself: it contributes to your daily Strain and counts toward the Healthspan metrics. Going the other way, WHOOP-recorded activities post to Strava carrying activity type, elapsed time, calories, heart rate, that activity's Strain and your Recovery score, plus the GPS route if you enabled Track Route when you started it.
What WHOOP is not is cheap or optional. There's no free tier and no way to buy the band on its own. Hardware comes bundled into an annual membership, currently $199, $239 or $359 a year in USD depending on tier, all of which include the sensor, a band and a charger, plus a lifetime warranty on the device. The one way in without paying is a one-month free trial of Peak, which ships a certified pre-owned WHOOP 5.0.
Key Features
Strava activities import, and they count toward Strain
Turn on "Import from Strava" and anything that lands in Strava flows into WHOOP: GPS, distance and pace for cardio, power and cadence when the original device captured them, and for strength sessions the actual exercises with sets, reps and weights when the source app logged them. Each import is labelled with where it came from ("Garmin Via Strava" and so on) on the activity details screen. Crucially it isn't just decoration: an imported workout contributes to daily Strain and to Healthspan metrics like strength activity time and zone-based activity time.
WHOOP posts to Strava with Strain and Recovery attached
Cardio activities recorded on WHOOP upload to Strava automatically, and you pick whether that's all activity types, a specific list, or one-off from the Activity Details page. You also pick which graphic rides along on the Strava post: a heart rate graph, a Strain view or a Training State view.
Strength Trainer sessions arrive on Strava with structure
If you enable Strength Trainer as a shared activity type, WHOOP sends the whole session rather than "Weightlifting, 30 minutes": the exercise list with weights, total volume lifted, and the muscle groups that feed Strava's muscle map.
Heart rate broadcast over Bluetooth
The band will broadcast live heart rate over BLE to anything that accepts a standard HR strap: pair it in Strava's own record screen via the heart icon, or to Zwift, Peloton, a Wahoo ELEMNT, a Garmin watch, or a Concept2 PM5. It keeps broadcasting even if your phone is out of range. Bluetooth only. WHOOP 5.0 and MG do not support ANT+.
Deduplication between the two
Record the same session on both and WHOOP keeps the version with the richer data rather than logging it twice. WHOOP also won't push an activity back out to Strava if it originally arrived via Apple Health or Health Connect, which is the usual cause of duplicate posts in setups like this.
What doesn't cross
WHOOP Age, Pace of Aging, ECG and Blood Pressure Insights are never shared with Strava. Recovery activities aren't sent either, because Strava has no matching activity type. Unclassified activities, the ones WHOOP labels simply "Activity", don't post until you classify them. And WHOOP doesn't retroactively update a Strava post: link a workout to Strength Trainer after it's already been shared and Strava keeps the old version. GPS is unavailable for members with South Korea set as their country profile.
Who It's For
- Strava users who want recovery data they didn't have to log: the band answers "should I do the hard session today" from HRV and sleep rather than from feel
- Lifters whose gym work has never shown up properly on Strava, and who now get exercises, weights and a muscle map on the feed
- Multi-device athletes running a Garmin or a Wahoo head unit for rides but wanting one training load number, since anything reaching Strava reaches WHOOP
- Anyone allergic to a subscription should look elsewhere: there is no free tier and no one-time purchase
Does WHOOP sync with Strava, and which way?
Both ways, as of WHOOP's May 2026 update. WHOOP-recorded cardio and Strength Trainer sessions upload to Strava, and Strava activities import back into WHOOP. Older documentation describing it as WHOOP-to-Strava only is out of date. WHOOP's integration settings now have separate "Import from Strava" and "Export to Strava" toggles.
Do Strava activities count toward my WHOOP Strain?
Yes. WHOOP says an activity imported from Strava is treated the same as one WHOOP recorded itself: it contributes to your daily Strain and counts toward Healthspan metrics including strength activity time and zone-based activity time.
Is WHOOP free?
No, and there's no free tier. It's an annual membership: WHOOP One at $199/year, Peak at $239/year and Life at $359/year in USD, each of which includes the sensor, a band and a charger. There is a one-month free trial of Peak that ships a certified pre-owned WHOOP 5.0. Monthly billing exists but isn't a standard signup option. It's offered to members who've completed a 12-month commitment, and availability varies by location.
Do I have to buy the WHOOP band separately?
No. The hardware is bundled into the membership price rather than sold on its own: One and Peak ship a WHOOP 5.0, Life ships the medical-grade WHOOP MG, and the device carries a lifetime warranty for as long as you're a member. WHOOP 4.0 owners who don't upgrade keep their device and are moved onto Peak at their existing rate.
Why do I get a 404 error connecting WHOOP to Strava?
The integration doesn't unlock until you've finished WHOOP's initial four-day calibration period, which is when Strain Target appears on day five. Try to connect before that and you get the 404. On Android there's a second cause: Strava's authorisation link has to open in the WHOOP app rather than a browser, which means enabling "Open supported links" for WHOOP in your phone's app settings.
Will my heart rate from WHOOP show up on my Strava activity?
Only if you turn on Health-Related Data in Strava. Open Strava, go to Profile then Settings then Data Permissions, and set Health-Related Data to Access Allowed. WHOOP heart rate then uploads with your activities. Note that average and max heart rate can differ slightly between the two apps because Strava trims non-moving time.
