The Workout Heart Rate (WHR) feature records heart rate readings while you exercise and, in combination with daytime heart rate measurements, Live Heart Rate, and nighttime Resting Heart Rate (RHR), presents you with a complete, 24-hour heart rate graph.
Workout Heart Rate is only available on the Gen3 Ring.
How Does WHR Work?
How to Use WHR
Things to Keep in Mind
More Information
How Does WHR Work?
The Oura Ring Gen3 uses green LEDs to take heart rate readings in the daytime, but excessive movement during workouts causes too much interference for passive heart rate measurement to record accurate readings (see Troubleshooting Gaps in Heart Rate Graphs for more information).
When Workout Heart Rate is activated, the Oura Ring increases the sampling rate of the green LEDs, which improves the accuracy of its readings. Upon completion of your workout, the Oura App will display a graph of your exercise heart rate, as well as a Reward Insights card on the Home tab.
If you take your phone with you, with location services enabled, the app will display a map and route of your completed workout (see Location Services for Activities for more information).
How to Use WHR
- If you want to record route and distance details, make sure that location services are turned on before you work out, and take your phone with you. Otherwise, you can leave your phone at home and the ring will still record your Workout Heart Rate
- Tap the "Record workout HR" button in the "Activity Goal Progress" card on the Home
tab
- Or select "Record workout HR" from the Action menu (plus button)
- Select workout type
- WHR can currently track walking, running, and cycling. Other supported workouts will be added as they become available
- Hit record to begin. You can pause and resume your workout recording at any time
- When you're finished, tap "Pause" and then "End workout" to stop recording WHR
- Remember to stop your workout in the app when you’re done, otherwise the ring battery charge may be affected
- View workout details (including your average, minimum, and maximum HR), as well as Reward Insights that show your WHR in the context of your Oura scores or your recent workouts
- You can edit your workout the same way you would edit a manually added workout
- Your WHR readings will be color-coded orange in the heart rate graph on your Home
- Tap on the Home
Things to Keep in Mind
- WHR may impact your ring battery life if left on for too long. You will receive a reminder notification if your workout has been running for more than three hours
- WHR is available on the Gen3 ring only
- Workout Heart Rate (WHR) is not the same as passive daytime heart rate measurement. WHR uses a higher sampling rate to accurately record your pulse during exercise. Daytime heart rate measurement takes a reading of your pulse at lower intervals throughout the day
- Workout Heart Rate (WHR) is not the same as Automatic Activity Detection (AAD), though they do work well together. Be sure to enable your phone's location services, keep the Oura App running, and take your phone with you during workouts to receive route and distance information in addition to heart rate readings
- Oura prioritizes manually recorded WHR workouts over workouts imported from third-party apps. This means that if you record the same workout through Oura's WHR feature and another wearable, only the WHR data will show in the Oura App
- The calorie value associated with a WHR-recorded session is calculated from the selected workout type, duration, and intensity (same as a manually added workout). Your measured heart rate will not affect the workout's calorie count
More Information
Learn more about WHR on our blog
