Lumo Lift – Posture coach and activity tracker

Posture is an important but often forgotten part of our daily lives. With plenty going on in our hectic and busy schedules, it can be a real challenge to practice the mindfulness needed to identify and correct poor posture.

Modern televisions, computers, and automobiles have forced people to spend far longer sitting down than standing up. Typically, we now sit for 13 hours a day, sleep for 8 and move for just 3.

For some time, scientists have warned us of the risks of sitting too much, but lately the news seems to get and more dire sounding. One professor has even worked out from statistical analysis that chairs kill more people than smoking! While it is important to counter the negative effects of sitting by standing up at least once every hour and getting more than 30 minutes of activity every day, you should also be mindful of the way you sit.

Essential reading: Why sitting is slowly killing you and what you can do about it

Lumo Lift is not your average wearable although it does track steps taken, distance travelled and calories burned. This little device, that is worn just below your collarbone, addresses a metric that few other fitness trackers do, that being your posture. The wearable tracks core position, upper body position and other nuances of posture.

The way you sit affects everything from your health, appearance, communication, mood and even productivity. Poor posture is the leading cause of back pain, which is the most common reason for missed work days, lost productivity and costly doctors bills. If you work at your desk a lot, sitting up straight is beneficial for your health.

The Lift is made up of two tiny devices, the tracker and a small, square magnetic plate. The polycarbonate tracker houses the internal components, while the plate holds the Lift in place on your clothes.

The device comes in three color options, white, black, and silver, and includes a black-and-silver metal plate by default. You can team this up with 10 different colours for the clasp.

So how does it work?

Step 1: Affix the small Lumo Lift sensor on your clothing with the complimentary magnetic or bra clasp. As the technology relies on body motion tracking, the Lumo Lift is best worn on snug fitting shirts that allow the sensor to stay close to your body. You can keep it hidden under your clothes, or keep it visible as a fashion accessory.

Step 2: The Lumo needs to be told exactly what you consider good posture to be. Simply pop it on and double tap the button. You’ll feel three vibration buzzes that signal that you are all set. You can realign it at anytime using the same method.

Step 3: The Lift has two main functions: the “align” mode, which keeps a record of frequent posture throughout the day and rates it; and “coaching sessions”, which track a wearer’s position and reminds them in the form of vibrations when slouch.

According to Lumo, the Lift works by “detecting curvature at the top of your spine, in addition to the positioning of your shoulders, chest, and upper back.” Using angle displacement as a measure, the biomechanics monitoring sensors in the device allow for the Lumo Lift to know when your body slouches away from your ideal posture.

The Lumo Lift is unique because it addresses a specific problem in a way that hasn’t been done before. Rather than constraining body movement to force good posture, or passively tracking current activities, the Lumo Lift takes it one step further and encourages a change in behavior to coach you into becoming more mindful of your posture.

The battery is a lithium polymer one and you’ll get five days of use on a full charge. To charge, you simply pop the tracker part of the Lift into the magnetic cradle, which is attached to a USB cable. The device also has a 32 megabyte memory, which is enough to store 4 weeks worth of data.

Lumo Lift Gadgets & Wearables may get a commission

Being able to consistently sit and stand with a posture that supports overall health and well-being involves learning with the body as well as with the mind. The Lumo Lift situates learning in real time, permitting you to make the steady small adjustments that quickly become vitally useful habits in daily life.