2 Weeks Using Upright GO!

I knew these were going to be a success when I first saw them come out in 2015 (I think it was), but there was no way I was going to spend 200 dollars on something that would probably go down in price after a year or two. Try jumping ahead to 2020 and they have an updated version that's way better and much cheaper. Win! (Honestly, bodily health shouldn't be put on hold for a "better, cheaper model" of something, but here we are.)

Today, I find there is no better time for me to work on my posture. With the amount of sitting I do as a Stage Manager and the majority of my home activities involving editing and surfing the web, you'd think I would've started working on my posture a little sooner. But I always had the Upright in the back of my head and as 2020 rolled around, I decided the time had come.

My reaction the first time I put it on for training: Holy crap! Almost right away my back was sore. I knew my posture was bad, but not like this! But that really only made me more determined to succeed and make this thing work.

I noticed at the end of day 4 that I was still slouching and pretty heavily too. Upright sent me an email talking about "tech" neck, which if you're unfamiliar, it's in reference to the the head/neck sitting in a forward position when having stared at a screen or device for too long. The email recommended a way to correct this, so instead of focusing on just my back, I began to focus on my neck as well.

It said if you have your shoulder blades up against the wall and your head is not touching as well, then your neck has probably been affected. So I laid down on the floor and started watching "Avengers Endgame." Flat on the ground, I made sure my shoulder blades were tucked back and my neck was in the correct position; I began to gradually feel the shift in my body.

I lie there for a good chunk of time before I allowed myself to sit up and I could feel the difference almost right away. Speaking of which, this whole back adjustment thing is very uncomfortable, so get ready to put yourself through some discomfort if you decide to try a posture trainer. Although I worked on my posture a little more than may have been suggested, this was the sort of fix I had been looking for; No one said it would be easy.

On day 5, I focused a lot more on keeping my neck in the proper position, especially when I was looking at my laptop or phone. This was a little more challenging, but raising that awareness was very helpful for me. I was confident the results would be worth it in the end.

On day 12, I was out walking and I tried to keep an upright posture the entire time. It was actually quite painful. I had my neck bundled up so that it wouldn't get hit by the wind, but this simple awareness of my posture when walking surprised me and revealed to me how hunched I usually am. It was a relief to relax after that walk I can tell you, but it was definitely a wake up call.

By day 13 and 14, I was starting to adjust my own posture without the trainer!

I'll continue to update this post as I see my posture change, but I will say right away that it's important to keep up (no pun intended) the posture trainer even after 2 weeks in order to sustain the habit. But I would recommend this trainer; Small yet powerful.