Most of us could improve our posture, particularly anyone working in an office environment, spending hours at a time sitting at a desk or slumping in the sofa watching TV. 

Straps and braces have been used to help either correct poor posture or help train the body to recognise what good posture should feel like. But as with all health and fitness devices, they only work if you are disciplined enough to use them.

The Upright Go 2 is a small smart device that you wear to not only alert you when you are slouching, but also to show you how best to sit and stand to relieve stress on your spine.

Everything you need to improve your posture is in the box, except the self discipline to use it.

Perfect posture in a box

The device is small yet carries out two important tasks to help you sit up and stand in a strong postural position. The first part is the vibration that alerts you to a less than ideal posture and the second part is the overall tracking of your every move to give you a history of when you are sitting and standing in a strong position – and when you are not.

The kit comes with the device which is about the size of a thin dishwasher tablet. You place it at the top of your spine using an adhesive that stays in place yet is easy to remove.

The kit also includes a USB cable and charger, as well as several reusable stickers and wipes to get you off and running (or standing).

Battery life

The Upright Go 2 should deliver a few days' use before requiring a charge. 

Goal setting for better posture.

Does it work?

The Upright Go 2 promises improved posture after two weeks. After using the device for a couple of weeks and sharing it with other users, we think this claim does have merit. 

However it's not fool proof; you need to be motivated to follow the instructions and follow the setup procedure and calibration properly to ensure you get good accurate feedback. For a first-hand review, read Marianna's story below. 

Rewarding good posture

If you have a fitness tracker or watch, you'll be familiar with the way data is presented over time, with various goals to be met over a period of time. Setting specific goals will hold a strong appeal for many.

Setup

The setup process is deceptively simple: put in your height, weight and age and you are ready to start sitting up straight.

Unfortunately, the simplicity seems to allow a lot of room for error in the setup as the device only works as well as the person setting it up. If you don't calibrate it properly, the device will simply ignore some poor posture positions.

The device is small and unobtrusive, but may stick to long hair.

Case study: Marianna's story

Marianna had noticed her posture gradually getting worse while working from home (WFH) and thought the Upright Go 2 could help her develop better habits. 

"My WFH setup ticks all the right boxes – ergonomic office chair, laptop stand and USB keyboard so I can work without putting stress on my head and neck," she says. "The trouble was that my desk was also my dining room, which meant I needed to set it up every morning and pack it away every night.

I'd start to get twinges after hunching over for too long or I'd get a dreaded case of tech neck

"I found myself slipping into a pattern of not bothering to set up my nine-to-five office and would work with my laptop plopped on the table – or even just on my lap when I wanted a change of scenery and worked from the couch. 

"Unsurprisingly, my posture suffered and I'd start to get twinges after hunching over for too long or I'd get a dreaded case of tech neck. Despite this, my bad habits continued."

You can check your stats to see how you're progressing.

Perfect pattern breaker?

After seeing several targeted ads for the Upright Go 2 on social media, Marianna thought the gadget would be the perfect pattern breaker. 

"After downloading the app to my phone, it was easy to use – every day I'd stick the device to my back and set it to recognise a strong posture so that it knew when to alert me if I was slouching," she says. "This was its 'training' mode. You could also switch over to 'tracking' mode, which notes how much of my day was spent slouching.

"I had the version that adheres to your back using a sticky strip (you can also buy a necklace adaptor instead). While it was small enough to hide under my top without anyone noticing, I have long hair and the adhesive backing would sometimes get stuck to it, which was annoying. But once it was on I could easily forget about it. At least, until it started vibrating.

Bad vibrations

"The first few days I got a real buzz out of using it and checking my stats on the app to see how my posture was improving over time," says Marianna. "But I was surprised at how often it would buzz for poor posture when I moved slightly to write something down or answer the phone. 

"After a bit of trial and error adjusting the settings, I managed to reduce the buzzing I'd get for those small blips in posture so that it would focus on prolonged bouts of slouching."

'Frustrated'

"After about two weeks I found my posture had improved, but the honeymoon was definitely over," she says. "I lacked the motivation to wear it, became angry when it buzzed at me and overall was just frustrated I had to pay attention to it like it was some sort of WFH posture Tamagotchi. 

I became angry when it buzzed at me… like it was some sort of WFH posture Tamagotchi

Marianna, Upright Go 2 user

"Turns out that was just the inspiration I needed to introduce some permanent solutions and sort out my home office for good. As annoying as it is to set up and pack down my little workstation every day, it's a more effective and permanent solution to my posture problems than being buzzed every few minutes." 

Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.

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