Marijuana Boosts HRV – so says WHOOP Data
More: Detailed WHOOP Review and accuracy analysis
I find the statistics on marijuana usage from WHOOP quite incredible. These statistics were recorded by WHOOP users who have tagged certain days as ones in which they have used marijuana. WHOOP has then correlated those days against other performance metrics. There are some very interesting findings, at least I thought so.
Firstly, it’s important to note that WHOOP users are almost certainly way more active and fit than the average population. Additionally, it’s possible that a certain type of fit person might use marijuana while a different type of person might not. It’s also important to consider that WHOOP has gone in search of correlations rather than starting out with a theory and then testing it. With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the findings.
Who uses the stuff (or at least tracks it)?
It seems like about 1 in 10 of you do. Jeez. I’m surprised. And it’s mostly relative youngsters in the 20-29 age group who most often use it.
When?
Perhaps unsurprisingly the recreational nature of this is skewed heavily towards the weekend
The Kicker
Here’s the crunch. The only stat here that might be significant is that HRV is 3ms higher (ie ‘better’) for those NOT taking marijuana. Even rHR is higher for those who take it, in my naivety I assumed it was a relaxant.
Take Out
There you go. Your parents were right. Don’t do drugs.
As whoop concludes
Overall, we saw no significant impact to WHOOP members’ next-day recovery after logging marijuana use.
Thinking about it, some people may have tagged Marijuana meaning CBD/cannabis oil
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correlation != causation
it is quite reasonable to think that mj users might do so because they are stressed. the differences are not statistically significant anyway
yes and a i said above, theyve effectively done a data mining exercise to find the correlations. if you check enough things then one of them will correlate…that’s how a lot of ‘science’ works to get results but it should be frowned upon
id actually say that isnt true for most, some may be medical users but more likely they’re recreational users that just enjoy a smoke to unwind rather than alcohol as there isnt a hang over and its less damaging. obviously speculation but from my experience with cannabis smokers, most do it to unwind rather than because they’re stressed.
Sorry to be a bit off-topic, but regarding HRV is there still a way to “trick” some Garmin watches to save HRV data during a workout? I found an old article of yours that mentions something about putting a fit file in some directory but the file seems missing…
just enable HRV…it’s in the system options menus somewhere. you’ll need a chest strap
Can’t find it on an Instinct 2. Seems weird since it’s a recent watch, but really can’t find it anywhere…
system/data recording/
same place as where you set smart recording
it might not be on the Instinct at all.
Not sure if its a stupid question but why is it the chest strap is needed when the watch will monitor HRV during sleep? im not massively clued up on fitness tech.
a chest strap is better for use in sports.
it captures hrv data more accurate at all times but optical hr is ok for rest HRV ie sleep
Yh it’s not there. Which seems really strange since it captures HRV during sleep. Anyway, thanks for the help.
yes but hrv during sport can only come from a chest strap.
i assume it’s just not an instinct-level feature
Yes, I’m using a chest strap. But apparently the Instinct line doesn’t have this feature…
i use cannabis daily (for chronic pain) and find my HRV goes way up when i am on a tolerance break. i run 3 times a week and gym 2-3 times a week and my HRV sits around 45 when i am using. Literally the day i stop for a tolerance break my HRV will go up to 60+
i havent noticed much of a difference in my RHR as it tends to sit low 50s whether i am consuming or on a tolerance break.