Slouch No More: The Upright Go Posture Corrector Makes You Sit Up Straight

I’ve been slouching since childhood. I slouch on the subway. I slouch at my desk. I slouch pretty much all the time, and nothing, no number of yoga classes or plank exercises, has made a difference. Where others around me are tall, noble pines, I’m the scraggly, scrunched-over Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I’ve often wondered how to improve posture, but short of being hyper-aware at all times or wear a back brace, I gave up. That is, until I went on a date with the Upright Go posture corrector.

In a nutshell, the Upright Go attaches to your back. You sync it to the app. And when you slouch, it zaps you. Not a ferocious, eye-popping zap. More like a gentle zing to remind you to sit up. It works in real-time with the app to track your posture and let you know when you’ve reached your daily posture goal. Which is a fancy way of saying: You’ve met your minutes-long quota for sitting or standing up straight. Gradually, you work your way up until, within about a week or 10 days, keeping a straight back becomes second nature.

Why should you care? So many reasons. Lest you think bad posture leads only to aching backs and shoulders, you’re so wrong. According to Harvard researchers, slouching can result in stress-related incontinence. Sexy, right? That’s because it increases pressure on your abdomen, which puts pressure on your bladder. On the flip side, when you’re hunched over the toilet, you’ll have a harder time dropping a deuce. And slouching after eating can lead to heartburn. All good things!

So while a little gadget can’t force you to stop slouching, it can certainly make you (and me) way more aware of when we’re doing it. Which is often. Very often. When you do bend over like a sad wilted flower, the app shows you what you look like. It ain’t pretty. So you get zapped and sit right back up again. The posture corrector, which is two inches wide by one inch long, fits right under your clothes and thus, no one knows about your (my) secret slouching shame.

After using this thing for a week, I’m much more in tune with how I sit, and my spine feels better. And that’s worth every penny. And every gentle zapping vibration.

Every product on Fatherly is independently selected by our editors, writers, and experts. If you click a link on our site and buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.