Do you have soreness and discomfort from being hunched over your electronic devices all day? The Stand Corrected is a stretching tool designed specifically to relieve that tension in your upper body, neck and shoulders. The designers also claim that it can help to straighten your spine and undo years of bad posture problems with regular use. Let’s go check it out and see how it works!

What is it?

The StandCorrected was designed Dr. Tom Carpenter, a certified trainer, chiropractor, and corrective exercise specialist. By elongating shortened and tight muscles in the upper body, the claim is that the device will correct posture issues and pain associated with hunching over our electronic devices all day. They even claim that the StandCorrected can reverse damage from years of poor posture is used regularly over time. 

Out of the box, the Stand Corrected is a simple device. There’s a foam tube, through which is inserted a nylon webbing strap with a series of loop handles stitched into it. A pair of Velcro strips is set in the strap at either side of the tube, to which you attach a pair of foam pads. It’s all well constructed with thick foam padding and wide, durable nylon webbing. 

Using the Stand Corrected is just as simple. Start by standing or sitting up as straight as possible. You’ll place the tube behind your neck, with the pads resting on your chest at the shoulders. Grip the strap at the appropriate-length loops for your height, extend your arms to make sure it’s centered, then bring your hands around to the small of your back. Pull downward to create tension on the pads at your shoulders and the tube at the base of your neck, and look up. If you’re doing it right, you’ll feel the stretch at the base of your neck as you gently pull the straps down and continue to look up. Hold that stretch for up to 2 minutes (Stand Corrected recommends you start at 15 seconds, and work your way up), and release.

There are some very helpful instructions on the web site to help you get started, including a video to walk you through the motions. I was able to successfully execute the stretch within minutes of opening the box. It’s that simple.

Does it really work?

Getting older sucks. I’ve had issues associated with poor posture over the past few years, and have been working to correct them with stretches and exercise. Pulling the StandCorrected out of the box, it struck me as another one of those “as seen on TV” contraptions (Ab Roller, anyone?) that looks nice on an infomercial but doesn’t actually do anything. Honestly, I didn’t believe that this thing was going to work.

You know what? I was wrong.

At first use, I could feel a difference in my neck and shoulders. You know that lovely “pop-pop” sound you get from a good stretch, followed by that sense of tension relief? Yeah. I actually got that. I made my wife test it (despite numerous eye-rolls) and she was equally surprised. 

I’ve been using it regularly for several weeks now. After working at home all day, pecking away on the laptop, I often get stiffness & soreness in my back, neck, and shoulders (again, getting older sucks). I’ll use the Stand Corrected a couple of times throughout the day, and it really helps to straighten things out and relieve that tension.

There’s also something to be said for simple convenience promoting regular use. Stow it in a closet or drawer, grab it for a quick two-minute stretch, and you’re on your way again. It’s easy to enough to use that you don’t mind strategic games several times a day. You could throw it in the drawer at the office, too… it’s also discrete and easy to pack if you want to take it with you on an extended trip.

Will it reverse alignment and posture issues over time? I don’t see any studies done with the device to support these claims. And you should consult your physician before engaging in any exercise or stretching routine, especially if you have chronic issues. I will tell you that, after several weeks of regular use, I do feel a difference. I think it’s a great addition to your regular stretching routine.

The Stand Corrected stretching device retails for between $20 and $25 depending on where you shop. It’s available at Amazon, Walmart, Sears, and Kmart. Visit the Stand Corrected site and click on the “Shop Now” link for purchasing options.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Stand Corrected. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

Stand Corrected perfect posture stretching device review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 19, 2017 at 9:45 am.

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Do you brush your teeth at least two times a day, preferably right after you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night? If you answered yes, good for you. If you answered no, I foresee dentures in your future. Seriously though, how do you make dental hygiene a habit and can the right toothbrush be the answer? I’ve been testing a quip electric toothbrush for the last couple of weeks. Let’s see if it has made brushing is my new favorite hobby.

What is it?

quip is a compact electric toothbrush that has been designed to ditch gimmicks like Bluetooth connectivity, USB charging, reminder LEDs to change the heads, etc., in favor of creating an easy to use toothbrush that will help keep your teeth and gums healthy.

What’s in the package?

You can purchase a quip toothbrush with or without quip toothpaste. quip sent me a kit with the brush and a tube of their mint toothpaste paste.

The toothbrush is available in six colors. I was sent the copper version.

Design and features

The quip toothbrush is very compact for an electric toothbrush. It’s barely larger than a traditional plastic handled toothbrush.

The quip brush has a CNC’d aluminum handle with a bead-blasted matte finish.

The brush is made of plastic with a small flat brush head at the end of the handle, that has soft rounded DuPont nylon bristles that are surrounded by a row of rubber “fingers”.

The back of the brush head has a rubber covering with the quip logo and short nubs that can be used to clean your tongue.

As you will notice, there isn’t an obvious charging socket or USB connector built into the handle of the quip toothbrush. You might notice the power button though. It’s built into the white part of the brush head where you see the q. Pressing this button turns on a 2-minute brushing timer.

The brush head can be removed when it needs to be replaced after 3 months. It can also be removed if the AAA battery in the handle needs to be replaced. Rubber O-rings keep the mechanism water-tight.

A toothbrush holder is included with the quip. This holder has an adhesive strip on the side so it can be attached to your bathroom mirror or wall. It can also be used as a travel cover like you see above.

Let’s brush!

Since the quip toothbrush runs on one AAA ordinary alkaline battery, you don’t have to worry about charging it up for your first brushing session. All you need to do is remove it from the package, rinse the bristles, add a pea-sized blob of toothpaste, press the q button on the handle and brush your teeth.

If you’ve used other electric toothbrushes, you won’t be impressed with the way the quip feels against your teeth. Although you can feel the vibration in the handle, the bristles don’t spin or even move at all.

The vibration sensation might cause people to think that they can just hold the bristles against their teeth to clean them without actually moving the brush back and forth across their teeth and gums.

Even though the brush bristles don’t move, the vibration feature is useful because the toothbrush pulses every 30 seconds to prompt you to move to the next quadrant of your mouth. After 2 minutes, the brush pulses twice and stops vibrating to let you know that the brushing session has ended.

One thing I noticed about the quip’s aluminum handle is that it gets slippery after toothpaste and spit start running down your hand.

The toothpaste

I was also sent a tube of quip mint toothpaste. I normally use Sensodyne Pronamel toothpaste and found the quip toothpaste to have more grit than what I’m used to but the taste of the paste was just fine and it cleaned my teeth fine as well.

Final thoughts

Do I think that the quip toothbrush cleaned my teeth better than a manual toothbrush? No, not really. But I do think the quip helped me brush longer than a manual toothbrush? Yes, the 30 seconds per quadrant pulsing feature really does help you do a more thorough job of cleaning your teeth and gums.

But here’s the thing. You can go to Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, or one of many other stores and buy a manual toothbrush (with a small head and soft bristles – because that’s the best for your teeth and gums) in a pack of 4 for only $5 or so. That’s much less than what you will pay for the quip toothbrush.

A quip toothbrush starter set without the toothpaste costs $45 and you’ll then be billed $5 every three months to receive a replacement head. That works out to $60 a year. You can save $5 if you prepay $55 for a full year. You’ll also need to replace that AAA battery 3 times a year because quip doesn’t include a battery in their brush replacement kit. So let’s add another $4 for a pack of batteries to make a yearly cost of $59 a year assuming that you go the prepaid route. That means the quip will cost you $54 more a year than buying a 4 pack of manual toothbrushes for $5. The only features missing when you go with a manual toothbrush are the holder/travel cover and the 2-minute brushing timer.

While I like the look and feel of the quip, I don’t see it as a better value than a traditional toothbrush.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by quip. Please visit their site for more info.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

quip electric toothbrush review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 19, 2017 at 11:00 am.

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