WHOOP's Garmin Problem

We’re back.

It’s been a busy week across consumer health, with several notable launches and developments reshaping the industry.

In today’s issue, I’ll be covering Garmin’s CIRQA Smart Band and why it could be WHOOP’s biggest challenge yet. We’ll look at Garmin’s brand advantage, the growing concerns around WHOOP’s subscription model, and why its future may extend beyond consumer wearables.

Coming up:

• The growing consumer backlash against WHOOP on Reddit
• Samsung’s push to turn wearables into AI health assistants
• The rise of protein-powered everyday foods

Let’s break it down.

WHOOP’s subscription model is ageing like milk.

With the recent launch of CIRQA, Garmin’s screenless smart band, WHOOP now faces one of its most credible challengers from a company with decades of trust in the fitness market.

CIRQA retails at $199.99 USD to buy outright, putting it $100 above competitors like Amazfit’s Helio Strap and Google’s Fitbit Air, all of which give consumers something WHOOP can’t: ownership.

When you compare that against WHOOP’s entry-level subscription price of $199/year across the US, Mexico, Canada, EU, and UK, it becomes obvious why some customers might be having second thoughts and why potential buyers are looking elsewhere.

WHOOP’s reputation on Reddit is also becoming a problem.

Glance at r/whoop and you’ll quickly see former users and unhappy customers discussing subscription costs, frustrating customer service experiences, and whether the product is still worth the price.

That matters because Reddit is full of exactly the type of consumer WHOOP has traditionally targeted - health-conscious, tech-aware people who research products before buying.

WHOOP still has one major advantage however: their marketing.

The company has done an incredible job building an aspirational brand through elite athlete partnerships and influencer-led growth, although it’s unclear whether that continues to outweigh concerns around pricing and value.

With Apple, Samsung, and other major players yet to show their hand, WHOOP’s consumer position looks increasingly vulnerable, but that may not be its biggest opportunity.

Their recent hiring and research direction suggest the company is increasingly positioning itself beyond consumer fitness and towards healthcare. If they successfully pull this off, the subscription model may actually become their biggest advantage.

But for the average consumer, it’s currently a tough sell.

→ Emerging products to watch.

We’re talking sandwiches, electrolytes, and Kim Kardashian.

Lunchly, the food brand backed by MrBeast and Logan Paul, unveils Lil Sammies, a crustless sandwich snack containing 13g of protein per serving. The release adds another player to the growing high-protein snack category, as brands compete to reinvent familiar foods around rising consumer demand for convenient, protein-focused options. Explore further.

Puresport has launched Ultra Electrolytes Pomegranate, a limited-edition hydration formula co-created with British Olympic sprinter Amy Hunt. The electrolyte blend combines sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium to support hydration during intense exercise. Despite their rise as a mainstream fitness product, ultra-endurance athletes remain one of the very few groups where supplemental electrolytes have a clear performance rationale. Find out more.

UPDATE, co-founded by Kim Kardashian, debuts a new energy drink powered by paraxanthine, a caffeine metabolite designed to provide smoother energy without the jitters and crashes associated with traditional caffeine. Human research on paraxanthine is still in its early stages, but you can bet the marketing claims won’t be waiting around for more data. View product.

The spotlight is on Samsung.

Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watch ecosystem pushes further into AI-driven health insights, combining new smartwatch hardware with features like AI nutrition analysis, expanded health monitoring, and more proactive wellness guidance. The move highlights the wider evolution of wearables from passive tracking devices into tools that interpret data and help users make better health decisions. Dive deeper.

Say hello to a new way to monitor gut health at home.

Throne has released an AI-powered toilet camera designed to track gut health through at-home monitoring, aiming to capture health signals that traditional wearables cannot. The offering displays a transition in preventative health from periodic check-ups towards continuous, passive monitoring. This tackles a major limitation of services like ZOE, where a single microbiome snapshot risks becoming outdated almost as soon as it’s captured. Read more.

→ The latest moves in consumer health this week.

iHerb has introduced a Sport Certified destination featuring supplements verified through third-party testing programmes such as NSF Certified for Sport, Informed Sport, and Informed Choice. The initiative aims to make it easier for athletes and consumers to find products that meet higher standards for quality, transparency, and banned substance screening.

Garmin Health’s new report examines how wearable data, AI, and digital health platforms could enable scalable prevention through earlier intervention and behaviour change. The report highlights real-world examples where biometric insights are being used across healthcare, research, insurance, and wellness programs.

Nestlé and Platinum Equity have formed Peranel, a 50/50 joint venture combining more than 30 water and premium beverage brands, including S.Pellegrino and Perrier. The new company aims to accelerate growth in premium hydration, functional beverages, and global water markets.

Peakspan has been proposed as a new way to measure ageing, tracking the period where people maintain 90% of their peak physical or cognitive performance. Unlike healthspan, it focuses on preserving function and capability rather than simply avoiding disease.

→ Inno Supps, Ashwagandha Chews

Ashwagandha has become one of the fastest-growing ingredients in the supplement space.

Up until December 2024, Google search interest in ashwagandha was comparable to creatine, though creatine has since shot far past it due to its mainstream adoption. Nevertheless, ashwagandha continues to trend upwards, with interest growing steadily over the last five years and consumer attention spanning TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit.

Supplement databases like Examine provide another signal of its popularity, with ashwagandha consistently ranking among the most researched ingredients.

The key issue is that demand has created a race to the bottom.

A quick search for "ashwagandha gummies" on TikTok Shop returns dozens of white-label products alongside a small selection of established brands. Many are launched through third-party platforms like Supliful, requiring little more than a Canva label and a $49/month subscription. As a result, speed often takes priority over evidence-based dosing and third-party testing with dosage verification.

That’s why I like what Inno are doing.

Rather than launching another generic gummy, they've differentiated the execution. Travel-friendly, individually wrapped, clinically dosed, with a distinctive positioning.

The individually wrapped format is the clear standout. The majority of gummy supplements are not designed with portability in mind, making this a simple but meaningful improvement to the user experience.

With several established brands only launching creatine gummies recently, Inno Supps are already applying the same thinking to ashwagandha, positioning themselves somewhat early in a category that still feels underdeveloped.

🛒 Click here to explore their chews.

We’re keeping with the theme of wearables.

Every day, millions of consumers turn to their wearable to track recovery, sleep, and readiness scores, but many still don’t know what these numbers mean, why they are tracking them, or how to use them.

I’ve spent the last 3 months deep in various consumer wearable subreddits, and these issues are incredibly common.

Users will regularly ask questions like:

“I feel good, but my recovery score is 37/100. What does this mean?”

This web app helps decode the wearable health metrics you track by explaining the human science behind them (or lack thereof) and highlighting which ones are worth your time.

If you’re collecting more health data than you know what to do with, this might help you make better sense of it.

→ Start decoding

This week focused on laying the groundwork for the publication, including:

TL;DR: I spent a lot of time getting everything documented, repeatable, and easier to hand off if I eventually bring someone else into the process.

This coming week, I'll be venturing back into the big, bad world of short-form content creation. From AI-slop LinkedIn to doomscroll TikTok, I'll be there.

Wish me luck 💀