Clippers Rumors: Chris Paul, others using wearable technology to stay healthy

With all the injuries to Chris Paul and the Clippers over the past few seasons, it’s no wonder they are doing whatever they can to stay healthy.

From Jawbones to Fitbits, today’s market is flooded with wearable devices that track your steps, heart rate, and sleep. But a new device from a Boston start-up company is hoping to take it a step further by helping elite athletes track even more information.

It’s not just analytics that teams want, but biometrics too.

And several of the Los Angeles Clippers are jumping on board.

It’s called WHOOP – a wearable strap that monitors an athlete’s sleep, strain, and recovery in order to better understand the body and what it needs to stay healthy.

The WHOOP strap is to be worn at all times and is equipped with five sensors that accumulate data at a rate of 100x per second. Data such as heart rate, motion and movement, and skin response is gathered. The information tells the athlete about the strain on her/his body and what kind of recovery is needed in order to obtain peak performance.

According to the WHOOP website, the strap is the “the first product engineered to unlock human performance” by measuring and calculating personal recovery, strain, and sleep needs.

All of this information can then help guide a coach, trainer, or player in designing a specific workout. Daily feedback allows a player to understand how their body is responding to such things as travel, meals, sleep and exercise.

With the new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement set to go into effect July 1, wearable technology is one area that needs to be discussed.

Some concerns surrounding the use of such devices are cyber security and the appropriate usage of the data.

I’m hoping that this can all be worked out because the technology is there and should be used to help these athletes take the best possible care of themselves.

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Whoop ~> there it is!