Only recently did I report that there’s now an app that aims to help reverse the (postural) damage that is often done when you spend long hours behind a desk – it’s called Computer Relief (Rx), by Yoga MD. Well now I’ve got a review copy, and can give you an idea of what it’s like!
So, there’s nothing to complicated in the concept – we’ve all caught ourselves, at one point or another, hunching over a Laptop, monitor, desk, game console, or some such other piece of consumer electronics. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t do our backs and shoulders much good at all – if you consider your spine should be an S-shape, and you hunch in a C-shape, you can imagine that there’s some stress there that is not good!
But enough of that – this app, as I mentioned before, aims to help you remedy that. Fortunately, it’s quick to start up, and clearly laid out (bizarrely, I’ve seen a few iPhone apps recently, that definitely needed to back to the school of user interface design!):
As you can see, there’s a selection of options on-screen after the splash screen – you can choose from Poses (probably the most weighty part of the app, where the bulk of the content is), Relaxation Audios, or a Diary – which obviously you input the data on (funny that!). On top of that, you’ve also got YogAlerts (reminders), and some social network integration, should you wish to recommend the app.
Let’s dig in to the poses section though, because that’s really where it’s all at:
You get a list of sub-sections, and then from this you can choose to get visual and audio descriptions of chosen move:
On top of that, you can also have a text-based description of the move to refer to (which is curling page you can see in the image above).
So how does it all hang together? Well, I’ve given it a go, and I have to say, it seems to work pretty well. I think in the medium-long term I’m going to want to use it in the middle of a day at work, because often I get aches after a few hours staring at the screen. But even from a preventative perspective towards the start of the day, the fact that you are consciously spending time to do a couple of moves means that you bear it in mind more often.
At the end of the day, it’s one of these things you have to try to see if there’s benefit for you – but one thing is for sure, and that is that having all the info in your pocket (in an app) is really handy – so on that basis, and for the good info, I’d recommend you give it a go!
Verdict: posturally correct, and very useful!
Computer Rx – YogaMD/£1.79 [iTunes link]