CrossFit athlete Thuri Helgadottir has spent more than a decade competing at the highest level. For Thuri, progress has always been about finding small ways to get better. When she changed how she incorporated Unbroken into her day, she didn't just feel a difference in her recovery and sleep. She saw it reflected in her WHOOP data.
Always looking to get better
Thuri's CrossFit journey began almost as quickly as her training did. After only around a month of CrossFit, she was already asking her coach where she could compete.
She qualified as an individual in her first CrossFit Open but competed with a team, which went on to win its semifinal. In 2011, she made her first trip to the CrossFit Games as part of a team. A year later, she returned as an individual.
More than a decade later, the motivation behind her training remains remarkably simple.
“I just have the motivation every day to try to get a little bit better and improve, because there's so much to improve at.”
For Thuri, there is always something to work on. That same mindset extends beyond training to how she approaches recovery.
Finding what works for her
Thuri has been taking Unbroken for several years and has experimented with how best to incorporate it into her training and daily routine.
Today, she typically uses Unbroken around her workouts and before bed, adjusting her routine depending on how hard she has been training and how she feels.
“I overall feel less soreness and improved wellness.”
For Thuri, however, one of the first differences she noticed wasn't only in her muscles. It was in her sleep and overall recovery.
Feeling better and seeing it in the data
Thuri uses WHOOP to monitor her sleep and recovery. After changing her Unbroken routine, she began noticing a difference in how she felt.
Then she saw something similar in her data.
“At first, I felt my sleep improving. I even saw it on my WHOOP app that I had more recovery. And I could feel that I was sleeping better. I was falling asleep better and staying asleep longer.”
During one period, Thuri shared her WHOOP results after changing the timing of her Unbroken intake. After four consecutive yellow recovery days, her WHOOP showed three green recovery days in a row.
“I started taking one in the morning, 2-3 during the day and then one before bed, and I finally got my first three green days in a row! Unbroken exceeded my expectations!”
Thuri's personal WHOOP recovery data. Individual experience.
Her sleep data from the same period also showed consistently high Sleep Performance, with a seven-day average of 96%.
Thuri's personal WHOOP sleep data from the same period. Individual experience.
More than how you feel
For an athlete who has spent years looking for small ways to improve, having data alongside how she feels makes the experience particularly interesting.
Thuri describes the biggest difference simply:
“The benefits I've been feeling since I started taking Unbroken, it's mostly actually in general just feeling better. I can feel my recovery better. And I feel like I sleep better. And I saw it on my WHOOP that my recovery was better and that my sleep was longer.”
The WHOOP results are Thuri's personal data and not a controlled scientific study. But for Thuri, they provided another way to track what she was already experiencing herself.
Part of the routine
Today, Unbroken remains part of Thuri's routine through training, competition and everyday life.
After years at the highest level of CrossFit, her philosophy is still the same as when she started: there is always another opportunity to improve.
Train. Recover. Look at the data. Get a little better.
Thuri Helgadottir
CrossFit athlete
