The FuturePractice Blog

12 February 2022

Oliver Patrick

Football, Whoop and Me

This weekend just gone took the shape of many before, and many more to come. Driving the children between sporting activities, playdates and anywhere else they wish to go. No wonder many people pine for their childhood years ago. Having an in-house chauffeur is surely a luxury we miss as we age.

One of the weekend events always stands out from the others though. My sons' Saturday football session. It stands out as I have the honour of being the co-manager of his Under 9's team and it is probably the highlight of my week. Digging into my inner Mourinho has been a constant pleasure since I took up the role back at the onset of the first COVID-19 lockdown. It was a wonderful and fun challenge learning to train a group of 8 years olds who couldn't be within 2 meters of each other – but in fairness to COVID, it made us a passing team from day 1!

The Saturday session is notable not just for the explicit joy it brings me (and thankfully my son/others) but also the significant exhaustion I feel in the hours afterwards. The introduction of a wearable piece of technology has given great insights into why this fatigue occurs and what we, as wellbeing professionals, can gleam from the data gathered.  

I wear the Whoop band. For me, alongside the Oura ring, Whoop have produced the first mainstream wearable technology that showed me something I did not already know about the interface between my lifestyle and my physiology... Read the full post