The core method for calculating VO2max needs power or distance measured fairly accurately, and the latter typically comes from GPS.
An 18-month-old Whoop patent application finally became public a few weeks ago, so we now know how the unusual VO2max estimate it launched in March 2025 works without GPS, and it adds options the launch version lacks.
- The patent application, US 2026/0263002, was published on 10 September 2026. Whoop first filed it on 9 March 2025, two days before my report on the VO2max launch.
- By default, Whoop works out VO2max from your heart rate while you sleep, your personal details such as age and weight, and how long you spend in each heart rate zone when you exercise. It needs no GPS, which matches what launched: a weekly score once you have 14 recoveries in 21 days.
- Run outside with GPS on, and Whoop switches to a better estimate that also uses the run. At launch, Whoop asked for runs of 15 minutes or more. The patent adds that this only lasts while you have a qualifying run in the last 90 days.
- If you stop running with GPS, your score does not jump back to the basic estimate. Whoop keeps using the basic estimate but adjusts it by the difference it last saw between the two.
- A lab test, entered with its date, beats everything else. Whoop calculates how far its estimate was from the lab result that week and applies that correction to every later score. It can also rewrite your recent scores.
- The score could update daily instead of weekly. The patent covers both.
- The correction can change over time, so a fit athlete coming back from months off is not given an unrealistically high score. The patent also mentions extra versions for nights of poor sleep or days of high strain, and for data from a VO2 sensor you wear.
What it means for industry watchers
The patent confirms that Whoop built VO2 max around the one data source it always has, overnight heart rate, rather than the GPS pace that most watch brands rely on. GPS runs and lab tests sit on top as corrections, which is why the estimate still works for members who never run outdoors.
The additions are refinements rather than a new feature: run data that expires after 90 days, and offsets that adapt instead of staying fixed. Daily updates would change little, because VO2 max moves over weeks. A patent application is not a product, and nothing changes for Whoop members until the company announces it.
Quick answers
Does Whoop need GPS to estimate VO2 max?
No. The baseline estimate comes from heart rate during sleep, your personal details and your heart rate zones during activity. GPS-tracked runs refine it, and the patent says their effect lapses after a lookback window such as 90 days.
Does a lab VO2 max test change my Whoop estimate?
Yes, if you enter it with the correct test date. Whoop said at launch that it uses the result as a calibration, and the patent describes that correction carrying forward to every later estimate.
Related: my Whoop VO2 max explainer from the March 2025 launch, the Whoop hub, and Whoop’s patents for muscle oxygen and core temperature.
Source and original research by: the5krunner and Wareable.
Last Updated on 3 November 2026 by tfk the5krunner
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- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. See the gear tfk uses. ID
