How WHOOP Steps helps measure daily movement alongside Strain

Originally published on October 16, 2024

WHOOP Steps helps you see how much low-intensity movement fills the gaps around training, and this article explains why that missing context matters. Episode 293 of the WHOOP Podcast features WHOOP Founder and CEO Will Ahmed with Senior Vice President of Research, Algorithms, and Data at WHOOP Emily Capodilupo on the long-delayed arrival of step counting, the difference between Steps and Strain, and the research linking sedentary time to worse health outcomes.

Capodilupo also explains why a hard workout does not erase a full day of sitting, why most people likely need more movement than they think, and how to use Steps inside the WHOOP app without turning it into a one-number definition of health.

To listen to episode 293 in full, head to the WHOOP Podcast on YouTube.

Why did WHOOP add Steps now?

WHOOP added Steps once three conditions lined up: the metric could be measured with a high internal bar for quality, WHOOP members kept asking for it, and the research on daily movement became too useful to ignore. Ahmed says those three forces changed the company view from skepticism to release.

Capodilupo makes clear that the old 10,000-step slogan never drove the decision. What mattered was a growing body of step-count research showing that higher daily movement is linked with better health outcomes, even below that familiar round number. Large cohort studies, including Paluch et al. in JAMA Network Open and Saint-Maurice et al. in JAMA, found lower mortality risk at daily step counts well below 10,000 for many adults. In the episode, Capodilupo points to a practical range closer to 8,000 steps as a more grounded reference point for many people.

That shift matters most because the starting point is low. Capodilupo argues that people are often far less active than they assume, which turns Steps into a simple behavior signal rather than a badge of fitness identity. Ahmed agrees that seeing a movement total beside Strain changed his own behavior, even though he already trained most days.

Capodilupo gives the key number that shaped this release:

"The average American is getting less than 3,000 steps a day."

That is why WHOOP treats Steps as a useful daily context metric. The goal is not to chase a slogan. The goal is to make under-movement visible.

What you should take away

• WHOOP released Steps after member demand, stronger step research, and better measurement quality aligned.
• Step-count research supports daily movement as a useful health signal, even below the old 10,000-step target.
• A low daily movement baseline can make Steps valuable, even for people who already train.

If you want to hear Capodilupo unpack why WHOOP waited to release step counting, listen to the full episode on Spotify

How does WHOOP measure steps more accurately?

That demand only mattered if the number could be trusted. Capodilupo says WHOOP spent years avoiding step counting because wrist-based movement can be fooled by motions that have nothing to do with walking.

The core problem is simple: an accelerometer can detect repetitive motion without knowing whether that motion came from actual gait. That is why step counters have historically overcounted during hand-heavy tasks, casual arm movement, or other repeated actions. In the episode, Capodilupo says WHOOP only moved forward once the team felt it could filter those false positives more effectively.

She gives one vivid example from the category of bad counts that step algorithms need to reject:

"I've heard stories where somebody kneads bread [...] and they get like 17 miles worth of steps."

WHOOP addresses that problem through filtering and an on-device algorithm that lives on the strap itself. Capodilupo does not give a public percentage claim for accuracy in the episode, and the article should stay at that level. The important point is the release standard: WHOOP was willing to add Steps only after internal testing suggested the feature cleared a much higher threshold than older step counters. That also explains why a firmware update is required. The algorithm runs on the device, so the feature appears only after the updated firmware is installed.

This design choice fits a broader WHOOP pattern: new capabilities often arrive through software and firmware improvements rather than a new hardware purchase. For members, that means step detection is part of the same sensor system already used for Sleep, Recovery, and Strain.

What you should take away

• WHOOP waited to add Steps until false counts from wrist motion could be filtered more effectively.
• The Steps algorithm lives on the strap, which is why a firmware update is required before the feature appears.
• WHOOP describes the release bar in qualitative terms, with emphasis on trustworthiness rather than a public percentage claim.

If you want to hear Capodilupo go deeper on false step counts and filtering, watch the full episode on YouTube.

How are WHOOP Steps and Strain different?

Once measurement cleared that bar, the next question became meaning. Steps and Strain measure different parts of activity, which is why WHOOP now shows both instead of forcing one metric to do every job.

Capodilupo is direct that Strain remains the stronger training metric. Strain uses heart rate to estimate cardiovascular load across activity types, so it can reflect intensity, duration, and effort in ways a step count never can. If you want a deeper primer on how WHOOP builds around Sleep, Recovery, and Strain, the older explainer on what WHOOP measures remains useful context.

Steps, by contrast, measures movement volume. It treats a walk, a run, or a stretch of time on your feet as accumulated locomotion. That makes it helpful for understanding whether you moved through the day, especially at low intensity. It also means step count compresses very different efforts into one unit. Running a mile and walking a mile can produce a similar step total while creating very different physiological loads.

Capodilupo puts that distinction in the clearest terms of the episode:

"Strain is an infinitely more useful metric. I 100% still stand by that. [...] Steps and strain are actually very orthogonal, meaning they're measuring different things."

That distinction becomes even clearer in activities that barely involve steps. Swimming, rowing, cycling, and many lifting sessions can create meaningful strain with very little stepping. The same is true for muscular load in the gym, which is why WHOOP built tools such as Strength Trainer to add context that heart rate alone can miss. Steps adds another slice of the same picture. It does not replace Strain. It fills a gap around movement.

What you should take away

• Strain estimates cardiovascular load, while Steps measures how much locomotion filled your day.
• Steps can capture low-intensity movement that does not raise heart rate enough to drive much Strain.
• Low-step activities can still create meaningful load, which is why WHOOP keeps Steps separate from Strain.

If you want to hear Capodilupo unpack why Steps and Strain belong side by side, listen to the full episode on Spotify.

Why does daily movement matter if you already train hard?

That distinction leads to the practical reason Steps belongs on WHOOP. A tough workout in the morning can sit next to a very sedentary day, and those are two different signals.

Ahmed uses himself as the example. He can lift hard, hit a high Strain target, and then spend the rest of the day sitting in meetings. Steps exposes that gap. Capodilupo says internal beta testing helped the team see the same pattern across the office. People kept their workout habits the same, started walking more during the day, and then reported feeling better, sleeping better, and feeling more focused.

Her explanation matches published research on sedentary time. Trials and reviews on interrupting prolonged sitting show benefits for post-meal glucose and insulin responses, including a review by Dempsey and colleagues and an earlier Diabetes Care study on breaking up sitting with light walking. In the episode, Capodilupo ties that directly to real life: moving after eating produces a healthier glucose response than sitting still.

She makes the mechanism concrete here:

"If you eat and then you move versus you eat and then you sit, you have a higher glucose spike and it lasts longer."

Capodilupo also links more movement to less tightness, better circulation, lower stress, and better mood. WHOOP members who want to connect those behavior shifts to changes in Recovery and Sleep can also use the WHOOP Journal to track the routines that seem to move their data. Ahmed says the step number itself became motivating for him in a way he did not expect. Walking meetings, short movement breaks, and even recording a podcast on a treadmill became easier choices once movement had a visible score.

This is also where Steps can support broader health goals. More daily movement will not explain body composition on its own, though it belongs in that conversation, which is why the discussion around body composition fits well beside this episode.

What you should take away

• A high Strain score does not tell you whether you stayed sedentary for the rest of the day.
• Short bouts of walking can support healthier glucose responses than staying seated after meals.
• Steps helps expose the gap between training hard and moving consistently across the full day.
• Walking meetings and brief movement breaks can change behavior even when formal workouts stay the same.

If you want to hear Capodilupo go deeper on sedentary time and post-meal movement, watch the full episode on YouTube.

How do you use Steps inside the WHOOP app?

Once daily movement has its own lens, the feature has to be easy to use. In the episode, Ahmed and Capodilupo describe Steps as part of the normal WHOOP experience rather than a separate tool.

The first requirement is a firmware update. If Steps is missing, the update path in the WHOOP app is More, then Device Settings, then Advanced, then Firmware Check. After that, Steps begins accumulating in real time through the day, just like other live metrics.

WHOOP also lets you see Steps inside many activity views, which gives the number context that a daily total alone cannot provide. Ahmed mentions squash, tennis, and golf as examples where step count adds another layer to performance review. A round of golf may produce modest Strain and a large step total. A court sport may show similar Strain on two days while step count reveals very different movement patterns.

Capodilupo also explains how to personalize the feature. Steps can be moved into your top stats, reviewed over longer trends, and set against a personal daily goal inside your weekly plan. She shares the early benchmark the team saw across the platform:

"The average member is just over 8,000 steps a day. [...] Roughly 2,000 steps makes a mile."

That mile estimate is intentionally loose. Capodilupo points out that stride length changes the math, which is why Ahmed and Capodilupo covered similar treadmill distance during the recording while finishing with different step totals. Use the conversion as a quick mental model, not as a precision rule.

The larger point is usability. Steps becomes most useful when it sits beside the rest of your WHOOP data, where you can compare movement volume with Sleep, Recovery, and Strain over time.

What you should take away

• Steps requires the latest firmware because the counting algorithm runs on the strap.
• The WHOOP app shows Steps in real time, inside supported activities, and across longer trend views.
• A personal step goal makes the feature more useful than a generic one-size target.
• A rough guide of 2,000 steps per mile is helpful, though stride length can change that estimate.

The bottom line

• WHOOP added Steps after measurement quality, member demand, and step research all supported the release.
• Steps and Strain answer different questions, with Steps describing movement volume and Strain describing cardiovascular load.
• A hard workout can coexist with too much sitting, so daily step count adds context that Strain alone does not provide.
• Published research supports more movement and less prolonged sitting as useful for outcomes such as mortality risk and post-meal glucose control.
• WHOOP treats Steps as a behavior signal that can motivate walking meetings, movement breaks, and more time on your feet across the day.
• Steps now appears in the WHOOP app as a live metric, within supported activities, and against a personal daily goal.
• Capodilupo says the average WHOOP member records just over 8,000 steps per day, which sits far above the sub-3,000 average American level cited in the episode.

Frequently asked questions about things discussed in this episode

How does WHOOP measure Steps?

WHOOP measures Steps through an algorithm that runs on the strap after the required firmware update. The count appears automatically in the WHOOP app and updates throughout the day.

How does WHOOP separate Steps from Strain?

WHOOP keeps Steps and Strain separate because they describe different parts of activity. Steps tracks movement volume, while Strain reflects cardiovascular load from heart rate across many activities.

What does WHOOP do for workouts with few or zero steps?

WHOOP still captures those sessions through Strain and activity tracking. Swimming, weightlifting, and other low-step modalities can place a large load on the body even when step count stays low.

How does WHOOP show Steps inside the app?

WHOOP shows Steps as a real-time daily metric, inside supported activities, and in trend views over longer time windows. People can also move it into top stats and set a personal step goal.

What does WHOOP do for people who train hard and still sit most of the day?

WHOOP exposes that gap by showing low movement even on days with a solid workout. That extra context can nudge post-meal walks, walking meetings, and short breaks that Strain alone may not highlight.

What does WHOOP suggest for a daily step goal?

WHOOP lets you set a personal goal because the most useful target depends on your baseline and routine. Capodilupo says the average WHOOP member is just over 8,000 steps per day, and the old 10,000-step slogan is only one reference point.

With Steps now sitting beside Strain in the WHOOP app, the hours between workouts become measurable instead of invisible.