WHOOP launches Strength Trainer

WHOOP rolled out its Strength Trainer feature on May 21, 2026, expanding how its app measures gym sessions beyond heart-rate-driven effort. The company said the tool tracks weights, repetitions and sets, then uses that data to calculate muscular load and fold it into WHOOP’s Strain score. The update addresses a longstanding problem for wearable trackers, which often capture running or cycling more directly than lifting sessions with stop-start effort. WHOOP published the launch through its product channels and has matching support documentation live in its help center. ### Why did WHOOP add a separate tool for lifting? WHOOP says Strength Trainer is designed to quantify “the impact of your strength training” by measuring the work done in resistance sessions, not just the cardiovascular response. In its support documentation, the company describes the feature as a way to measure muscular load by tracking weights, reps and sets. The gap WHOOP is trying to close is straightforward: heart rate alone can miss part of the training load in weightlifting, bodybuilding, functional fitness and other muscular-focused sessions. WHOOP’s current Strain documentation says the score now reflects both cardiovascular load and muscular load, giving users one combined exertion measure for the day. (support.whoop.com) ### How does the feature work inside the app? WHOOP’s support page says users start Strength Trainer by tapping the action button on the home screen and selecting the feature, then choosing either an in-app workout or a custom workout. The session view includes a timer, current and average heart rate, heart-rate zones, and set, rep and weight tracking. (support.whoop.com) The company also says users can build workouts by naming them, adding exercises or supersets, and selecting from the exercise library. If an exercise is not in the library, WHOOP says users can add a custom exercise and still receive a muscular-load calculation. ### What exactly changes in WHOOP’s Strain score? WHOOP’s Strain support page says Strain is a personalized, non-linear score from 0 to 21 that measures total exertion. (support.whoop.com) The company says that score now incorporates both cardiovascular load — based on heart rate — and muscular load, which captures the work muscles do during activities such as lifting, HIIT and yoga. WHOOP categorizes the scale as light from 0 to 9, moderate from 10 to 13, high from 14 to 17, and all-out from 18 to 21. The company says the score is logarithmic, meaning it gets progressively harder to add more Strain at higher levels. ### Which workouts count toward muscular strain now? WHOOP’s activity list marks a range of categories where muscular strain is automatically calculated, including weightlifting, powerlifting, bodybuilding, HIIT, functional fitness, yoga, rucking and rowing. (support.whoop.com) The company says Strength Trainer provides the most accurate and individualized measurement for strength work, even though some strength-based activities already contribute to muscular strain automatically. WHOOP also lists Strength Trainer as an included feature in its current membership benefits page, alongside heart-rate zones, VO2 max estimation and AI-powered coaching. ### What else is tied to the rollout? WHOOP’s support materials say users will “soon” be able to upload a Strength Trainer workout through WHOOP Coach, the company’s in-app AI coaching tool. (support.whoop.com) The workflow described by WHOOP would let users type in or upload a photo of workout information, then edit the generated session before starting or linking it. (support.whoop.com) WHOOP has already published the live support pages for Strength Trainer and Strain, and its membership page lists Strength Trainer as available now. The next feature tied to this rollout is the WHOOP Coach upload flow, which the company says is coming soon in the app. (support.whoop.com)