The Studies Behind The Upright Pro Posture Trainer

In our modern world, it’s easy for most of us to get stuck behind computer screens or get caught up with our desk jobs and eventually start growing unhealthy posture habits that overtime, can seem impossible to change. Luckily, advanced biofeedback technologies made it possible for anyone to improve a bad posture while still maintaining a busy schedule. UPRIGHT PRO - an ultra-wearable posture training device based on this technology- is helping hundreds of thousands of people with poor posture conditions from all around the world.

The team behind UPRIGHT PRO decided to conduct several studies by collaborating with multiple institutions and companies to help raise awareness about proper posture habits, test their posture trainer’s efficiency on a larger scale and educate us more about its potentials.

Why Performing Studies about Upright PRO?

As a relatively new brand in the industry and even compared to its tough competitors, Upright promised some really impressive results regarding portable posture training … but such results had to be supported with hard facts and real data, which is exactly what Upright did.

Upright trusted the efficiency of its device and started teaming up with physical therapists, clinics and relevant prestigious corporations, in order to conduct several studies in various environments and provide full transparency regarding the quality of their product and the accuracy of their promised results.

Upright conducted their studies in two different environments: Clinical and Corporate environments.

1- Studies conducted in a clinical environment:

Upright teamed up with a hospital and 3 clinical institutions (Kessler Rehabilitation center, Kupat Holim Leumit and Sport Clinic). They provided several Upright PRO devices and detailed information regarding the way Upright PRO works. The main goal behind the studies was to:

• Test UPRIGHT PRO’s efficiency in achieving a better posture on the long and short term.

• Test UPRIGHT PRO’s for use outside clinical environments (and test independently).

The Sport Clinic Study:

Sport Clinic is a private physiotherapy institution, mainly focused on treating injured athletes; its owner is a well-experienced professional who was a former PT for several sport clubs. The study was conducted on 9 regular patients at Sport Clinic treated for postural deficits and pain/discomfort conditions. Each patient was given an UPRIGHT PRO device and a custom training plan (designed by the owner of the clinic himself) where they were assigned to wear the device 8 hours/day throughout their 6 weeks training period. The patients were also required to fill out questionnaires about their posture/back pain throughout the study and rate their pain/discomfort using the Visual analyze scale (VAS).

Results:

• All patients gradually noticed a visible improvement in their posture.

• Patients with pain/discomfort conditions noticed a complete relief of pain at the end of the treatment period.

• All patients were highly satisfied with their posture at the end of the treatment period.

Professional’s opinion:

- Ido Dana M.PT stated that he was “stunned” by the results of the study. He was overwhelmed by UPRIGHT PRO’s biofeedback capabilities, and saw great potentials in solving other physiotherapy challenges.

The Kupat Holim Leumit Study:

This time, Upright teamed up with Kupat Holim Leumit to conduct another posture trial with the help of 7 leading physiotherapy clinics in Israel. 4 patients with upper/lower back pain and bad posture syndromes were given an UPRIGHT PRO device and a custom training plan that required them to sit an average of 8-10 hours daily wearing this device and as usual the participants would have to fill out several questionnaires and rate their comfort, level of satisfaction with their posture and their overall posture awareness.

PS: This study also covered children with a development disorder with the help of Susan Solomons (a pediatric physical therapist).

Results:

• Patients noticed major improvements in their posture.

• At the end of the trial, all patients were more aware of their posture.

• Patients suffering from back pain were completely relieved of their pain at the end of the treatment period.

• Two patients actually decided to take UPRIGHT PRO home and continue using it outside of the clinic.

• An 8 years old girl and an 11 years old boy felt a complete relief from their back pain at the end of the trial.

• Children with development disorders felt highly comfortable while sitting with an upright posture.

Professionals’ opinion:

- Susan.S, MPT thought that UPRIGHT PRO contributed directly in patients’ ability to stimulate back muscles responsible for maintaining an upright posture. She also thought that UPRIGHT PRO helped children with development disorders to feel more comfortable and relieved from their back pain

- Achmed Agabia. DPT, head of Leumit clinic in Netanya confirmed that patients were able to perform more functional activities with less pain after training with UPRIGHT PRO properly.

The KESSLER Rehabilitation center Study:

KESSLER rehabilitation center treats more than 38,000 patients per year, Upright’s team chose to collaborate with 5 physiotherapy clinics associated with this centre for another posture trial. The study was lead by MS. Kavita Patel, DPT where in each one of these clinics, a patient was enrolled to participate by wearing the UPRIGHT PRO for a dedicated period, defined in the training plan.

As always, all data regarding patients’ pain levels, posture status and overall satisfaction with posture was collected throughout the entire training period.

Results:

• Kessler rehabilitation center gave a very positive feedback about UPRIGHT PRO in which they emphasized on its simplicity and easiness to operate.

• The center thought that UPRIGHT PRO was very efficient when it comes to improving a bad posture and relieving all sorts of back pain/discomfort.

• J.S. a 40 years old female was highly satisfied with UPRIGHT PRO’s performance and her overall body posture after the end of the training period.

• In 2017, KESSLER started selling UPRIGHT PRO through their Physiotherapy clinics.

Professionals’ opinion:

- Kavita Patel, clinical specialist PT stated that the improvement made in her patient’s posture and pain levels were excellent.

- Kessler rehabilitation centre’s Physiotherapists were impressed with the detailed instructions that come with device and thought that the UPRIGHT PRO can be easily used independently outside clinical environments (at home or at the office).

The ASSUTA hospital Study:

By teaming up with the ASSUTA hospital, Upright conducted its 4th study inside clinical environments in which an 18 years old gymnast looking to improve his posture and relieve his back pain was given an UPRIGHT PRO device and a special posture training routine to help him maintain a good posture throughout his workout routine.

As he went on with his posture training, and even though his workout routine’s difficulty and intensity had increased over time, this gymnast was gradually able to hold a more correct posture for longer time periods, with less pain and fatigue. Later that year, he managed to win a silver medal in 2016’s Rio Olympics.

2- Studies conducted in a corporate environment:

The second batch of studies was conducted in a corporate environment where the Upright team put UPRIGHT PRO under more tests by collaborating with several corporations such as (EY Israel, SIEMENS, SAP Software Solutions). A certain number of employees in each corporation were given an UPRIGHT PRO device and custom training routine. They were asked to wear the device for a dedicated time throughout their 6-week training period. The objective of this study was to:

• Boost employees’ confidence, increase posture awareness and relieve their back pain/discomfort.

• Increase employees’ productivity and save lost work days caused by back pain.

• Lower companies’ health expenses.

The EY Israel Study:

Upright chose EY Israel to team up with on a corporate wellness initiative. EY is a member firm of Ernst & young Global limited which is a global leader in assurance, tax, transactions and advisory services. The main problem presented by EY Israel was that the employees’ poor posture resulted in constant back pain, lowered their productivity and caused numerous cases of missed work. In this study, 31 employees were given an UPRIGHT PRO trainer. They were asked to train twice a week for 6 weeks ( 5 to 60 minutes a day).

Results:

• 71% of employees reported partial relief in their back pain and 29% reported a complete relief from their back pain.

• Productivity levels were increased by 57%.

• 76% noticed major improvements in their posture.

• 85% of employees became more aware of their posture.

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Users’ feedback:

Ohad Cohen:

“I really enjoyed using UPRIGHT PRO, especially the positive side effects it gave me when using it –increased focus at work and higher productivity accordingly.”

Rafael Bar Moshe:

"A wonderful device that upgrades your quality of life.”

The SIEMENS Study:

For the next study, Upright decided to partner up with SIEMENS, A multifunctional electronics and electrical engineering company with thousands of workers. It is reported that electrical engineers spend 8 to 12 a day slouching behind computer screens causing a high rate of bad posture for most of them, SIEMENS wanted a solution for that.

9 Siemens employees were given an UPRIGHT PRO device, a custom generated training program that suits their personal profiles and were asked to follow this program solely in the workplace.

Results:

• 33% of these employees stated that their back pain has disappeared.

• 55% noticed an increase in their productivity.

• 100% of employees participating in this study stated that their posture improved at the end of the Pilot.

• 88% became more aware of their posture habits..

Users’ feedback:

Ram:

“…UPRIGHT PTO raised my awareness to posture. Thank you for the opportunity in this pilot!”

Alex:

“I definitely feel the change in my posture from using Upright…”

The SAP Software Solutions Study:

SAP is a multinational software development corporation; they teamed up with UPRIGHT to contribute in raising posture awareness and increase employees’ productivity levels. Just like the former studies, a small group of 13 SAP employees were given an UPRIGHT PRO Trainer and were instructed to complete a custom training plan and all the data regarding their pain levels, posture status and posture awareness was collected.

Results:

• 60% of employees felt more productive while working.

• 100% were motivated to continue using the UPRIGHT PRO even after the end of the pilot.

• Participants’ posture has improved by 70%.

• 90% felt that using UPRIGHT PRO at work is more efficient than using it at home.

Users’ feedback:

Ariel.T:

‘’ ...I became more aware of my posture... The Upright became my real office companion.”

Aryhe.S:

“It took only a few sessions with Upright to make me aware of my posture and that of those around me…”

 

Conclusion:

Upright teaming up with large clinical institutions and global professional corporations showed a great level of trust in the effectiveness of their UPRIGHT PRO device. The results constantly showed posture improvement for most users in all environments. The results reflect UPRIGHT PRO’s efficiency in achieving a better posture, relieving back pain and raising posture awareness in a timely manner.