Shahesta Shaitly 

Lumo Back Bodytech review: a vibrating cummerbund to improve your posture

A belt with a sensor monitors the way you sit and how often you stand and the app keeps track of how you are doing
  
  

shahesta shaitly
'I wore it for five days and it's made a difference.' Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Observer Photograph: Karen Robinson/Observer

THE GOAL

My posture has been terrible for as long as I can remember. As a child, my parents would constantly tell me to sit or stand up straight and as an adult, a pilates instructor friend informed me that my bad posture is due to a weak "core".

Her tip, which years later comes hurtling back whenever I catch my slumped reflection in a shop window, is to imagine I'm gripping a satsuma under each armpit. It works for a bit, but then I forget. A desk-bound job doesn't help matters, so I have all my hopes pinned to the Lumo Back BodyTech. I want to learn to stand tall.

THE METHOD

An elasticised belt with a sensor attached communicates wirelessly with an iOS app. The Lumo Back BodyTech promisingly bills itself as the "world's most advanced biochemical model of pelvic tilt and core body movement".

This basically means that it picks up on your slightest movements. If you slouch, the sensor vibrates, alerting you to sit or stand straight. The belt goes under my clothes with the sensor on the small of my back, and I get things started by calibrating the sensor.

The Lumo adapts to individual users' body types so the calibration stage is crucial. Once it's ready to go, it zaps me each time it senses I've slumped a little. For the first two days, it vibrates well over 100 times. The app keeps track of my movements, giving a "Total Straight Time" and "Total Slouch Time" score every day, week or month so I can keep an eye on how I'm doing.

There's also a little pedometer, so you can see how much walking you do. I end the first two days using more "zap time" (my term) than "straight time".

By the third day, the vibrations ease a little. Tracking my progress on the app keeps me going.

THE VERDICT

This is a great idea in theory, and the technology used is impressive, if a little too sensitive - the slightest move equals a zap and is quite a distraction. I wore it for five days. It has made a difference.

A week later, I'm more aware of my posture. Every time I look at the belt – now in its box on my desk along with a satsuma – I de-slouch, so annoying were the constant vibrations.

 

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