WHOOP wants to slow time – and the Gulf is listening

Arabian Business

6 days ago

In the Middle East, wellness is no longer about routines. It's about metrics. Health in the region has become a numbers game – measured in stress thresholds, hormonal trends, and, increasingly, physiological age. Clinics track everything from gut biome to glucose levels. Corporate executives wear rings, wristbands, and patches that claim to measure sleep quality and cognitive load. It is a market built not just on aspiration but on data. So it's fitting that WHOOP, the wearable once known for tracking elite athletes, is positioning itself at the centre of the Gulf's billion-dollar well-being economy.
'My name is Stephan Muller. I'm the Director for WHOOP in the Middle East,' he says. 'Unlocking human performance has always been in our DNA. It's something that's extremely important to us. But we're so pleased that we're now focusing additionally on healthspan.'
WHOOP tracks health, not just fitness
That shift has a name: WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG. These aren't your average smartbands. They're built not just to track your workouts, but to act as mini-diagnostics labs on your wrist. 'We've come out with new hardware that includes things like heart screening, blood pressure insights, insights to your hormones and a few more other things that we can talk about,' says Muller.
It sounds clinical because it is. WHOOP MG is the company's first medical-grade wearable. Designed to surface insights typically reserved for hospital settings, it can monitor everything from cardiovascular strain to long-term hormonal health. The headline feature? WHOOP Age.
'It shows you the pace at which you're aging. For example, I'm 35. My WHOOP Age is currently 30, which is great. But it's also because I'm putting in the effort into working out, eating healthy, sleeping well, etc. That number can change very, very quickly depending on my lifestyle.'
Ageing, in this context, is not a passive process. It's a daily fluctuation. One day of sleep deprivation or poor eating habits can tilt the balance. WHOOP doesn't just track your health – it reflects back the cost of your lifestyle decisions in stark, sometimes uncomfortable terms.
'If I'm going through a stressful period, if I'm not eating well, if I'm having, you know, short nights of sleep, I will increase and accelerate my pace of aging very quickly. And it's measured by nine different metrics that we measure on ongoing basis at WHOOP,' says Muller.
This isn't just tech; it's behavioural psychology embedded in design. By creating a tight feedback loop between your actions and your health score, WHOOP turns wellness into a measurable, gamified discipline. And the company is reengineering its business model to support it. 'It was one membership option for everyone. Now we have three membership options. We want to make sure that we are as customised and personalised to the needs of our members,' Muller explains. 'We have One, Peak and Life.'
One gives you the fundamentals. It's targeted at those who want core performance data without the clinical detail. Peak offers more advanced performance insights, including recovery patterns, sleep cycles, and strain metrics. Life – the top tier – adds the hardware ridges that double as a 30-second heart screener. 'It's something that we found extremely important to include. And I'm actually wearing the top tier on this – you'll see these ridges here on the side. Effectively, what you do is you'll hold on to that for about 30 seconds when you have your WHOOP app open, and it'll give you your heart screener within that 30-second period.'
It doesn't stop there. Blood pressure readings are now continuous, provided you calibrate with three cuff-based measurements. That level of constant, passive monitoring is what elevates WHOOP from a lifestyle device to a preventative health tool. 'It gives you your estimated blood pressure on a consistent basis,' says Muller. 'One important thing to note, though is that in order to get the most accurate insights possible, you do need to provide three readings with the cuff. At first, you upload those insights onto the WHOOP app, and then from that moment onwards, it can accurately read your blood pressure on ongoing basis.'
In many ways, WHOOP reflects a broader shift in how people engage with healthcare: less reactive, more predictive. The platform isn't just used for peak performance anymore. It's targeting professionals, frequent travellers, parents – anyone whose life feels like an endurance sport. 'I think with our entry into healthspan and coming up with a medical-grade device, I think we're targeting a much broader audience. I think a lot more people are going to benefit from WHOOP that maybe weren't as attracted to it or as spoken to before.'
Gulf leads in wellness innovation
That broader audience is already emerging across the Gulf. From Saudi's AI hospitals to Dubai's biohacking clinics, the region is racing ahead of the global curve on health innovation.
The UAE alone has announced multiple national strategies tied to well-being, digital health, and AI-enabled diagnostics. WHOOP fits seamlessly into this narrative. Not just because of its hardware, but because of the mindset it represents: one where individuals take responsibility for their biology.
WHOOP is convinced that this mindset shift is permanent. And now, with a battery that lasts longer than ever, it's doubling down on that opportunity. 'It's a really exciting time for us. We also have a much longer battery life, which is something that might seem small for certain people, but if you're a WHOOP member at this point, it's something that's really exciting for a lot of people as well.'
In a market focused on peak performance, WHOOP isn't just selling a wearable. It's offering a second chance at time. And for a region investing so heavily in longevity, prevention, and optimisation, it may be exactly the kind of device the future demands.