Parts of an ergonomic chair

Let’s do it this way.

I’ll explore different aspects of an ergonomic chair, keeping it specific each day….

Today…. hmmm let’s start from the ground and work our way up!

 

You ask… what’s the point of this picture? 

Simply that sometimes the fine print is the most important part of purchasing anything, even something as simple as a chair!

I was checking out a competitor’s website, and noticed a low price on a chair which I also carry, then noticed that they were charging for the casters!  (which come standard in the box from the manufacturer!)  Now that’s something which I consider rather…. scamish, and if I, as a consumer, realized what they were doing, why on earth would I buy anything from them? 

 

That being said, casters are important to a desk chair, obviously!  A good ergonomic chair rolls, and if you have carpet, you’re going to want hard wheels, but if you have hard floors, you’re going to want soft casters (which don’t tend to scratch the floor… as much!).  The reason for this is multi-fold….  You want the ability to easily get out of your chair, obviously, but also, when the chair moves, you’re moving!  You really don’t want to be fixed in one spot, just moving your chair around a little bit moves you around, giving you different aspects and positions, which is a healthy thing to do!

And, as usual, my normal plug- visit me at SitBetter.com… what the heck, just because!

 

Ergonomic Office Chairs

And yet again, we come to a chair which is simply horribly misused!

Not necessarily by the consumer… you… but by those who sell them! (Me!… well, not me… or I try, anyway!)

 

I’ll start with this example- on my site SitBetter.com, I refuse to sell those knee chairs.  You know what I’m talking about?  those chairs you sit on a small frame thing and rest your knees on a pad.  They are ’supposedly’ good for your back, but don’t really do much, in actuality, and in fact.. simply damage the knees!  Why destroy your knees, and cut off circulation to the feet, just in hope of relief of another body part!  So I put up a picture of a rock… here…. see for yourself… heh!

Anyway, I try to be a bit more ethical about things… and ergonomic anything is such a hot thing right now that there’s a ton of companies out there which… will sell you just anything!

Here’s another example:

Honestly…. no matter WHAT other websites might tell you, this is NOT an ergonomic chair!  It goes up and down…. it’s meant to sit in for an hour….

Don’t use it as an all day chair!

Again, people go down to Officestaplesdepotmax and buy these things for their employees to sit in for 8 hours…. and don’t even consider what sort of harm their doing!

 

Ok, ok, rant over!

 

A decent ergonomic chair has multiple adjustments, you’re able to modify the position of how you sit fairly easily, has adjustable arms, and minimizes the damage done to the body by sitting down all day long!  And note I said minimizes, for the human body was not meant to sit all day, and no matter what you sit in, you’re going to have some bit of damage!

so find a chair like the 43808, reasonably priced, has some good adjustments and is decently comfortable!  Or the other end of the scale is the Freedom chair by Humanscale (fantastic chair, IMHO). 

So this topic is simply far too long for one post… More to come!

The Other Side…..

Since I talked about the big chairs before, I thought I would balance it out with a talk on… small office chairs today….

Google search terms might include: Petite chairs, small chairs, chairs for little women, etc.

Again, as with the Big and Tall chairs, there’s a lot of people out there who are not… accomodated by normal chairs, but unlike the B&T chairs, there are very very very few small chairs identified as such! When I put together the catagory of ’small chairs’ on SitBetter.com, I set out to basically find the chairs which would have a seat depth of less than 18 inches….

That was actually tough to do! But I went through our inventory, chair by chair and at least came up with a list of chairs which fit that one detail.

Now, important- smaller chairs are usually only smaller in the seat and back, they are usually not low to the ground, nor should they, because a person still needs to be at desk height. Get a footrest, you’ll find that makes a ton of difference as well!

One thing about small chairs, if you’re looking for an executive-type chair…. you’re basically SOL. They just don’t make those comfy and plush leather executive chairs for you! You’ll end up having to put a cushion on the back to support your back… ruining the great look of that chair!

Most of them are like this chair:

Well, not most, actually… they are usually the fabric task chairs, but I just like this one!

All I can say is…. look around, pay close attention to the seat depth (and even having a seat slider is no guarantee of getting it under 18″!) and ask questions!

If you have any questions, of course you can always ask me at SitBetter.com!

Fat Mans Lawn Chair

I know, I know, what a title for a post!

SitBetter.com does not carry lawn chairs, we don’t know them well enough, but one of the leading search engine enquiries is for that, or big chairs or…. whatever. There are many many people out there who are…. oversized…. It’s actually a national… issue… but, it’s there (yep, I’m trying to be… sensitive!).

The reality is that most office chairs are not built for bigger people (the rated capacity for most normal chairs is 250lbs.). These are people who go down to officestaplemax superstore, buy a chair, only to find out that it breaks too soon, the padding wears out very quickly (that’s typical for even smaller people like me!) or it’s just simply too narrow to sit in comfortably all day long.

A solution to that issue are the Big and Tall chairs. These chairs typically start with a higher standard of construction than regular chairs- beefier seat pans, stronger back attachments, sturdier mechanisms, heftier bases and other modifications which make them withstand weights higher than normal. Typically, they will run anywhere from 350 to 500 lbs. rated capacity.

One thing to bear in mind, if you’re looking for a chair like this, is that some manufacturers simply take a regular chair, make a couple modifications (like the cylinder) and say it’s rated to 400 lbs. Not a good idea- consider…. So the cylinder can take the extra weight but that does not mean that the back, or the arms, base, casters, are built to take it for any length of time! Be smart… get a chair that’s going to last longer than a number of months…. Go with a chair which was designed from the ground up to bear the added weight, you’ll appreciate it!

That being said, yes, I’m aware that typically, these chairs are going to cost considerably more than ‘normal’ chairs, but…. think of it this way…. The ‘normal’ chair runs you 150 and lasts for…. 10 months, a year, so you’re spending…. ohhh to be charitable, 8 bucks a month. The Big and Tall chair costs… 300 and lasts five years, easily…. that’s five dollars a month. Prorated a much better deal! Very much so when you consider you’re buying two, three chairs in the same time frame!

There are not exactly a ton of these types of chairs to choose from, actually. At SitBetter.com, we have chairs ranging from the low $200 range up to over $500. You’re going to get what you pay for, of course, the more expensive one is leather rated to 450 and offers a flip-up armrest, making it far easier to get in and out. The less expensive one… basic, rated to 350, but still sturdy!

I’ve included pictures of the two I’ve just described, but there are more available at (blatent commercial plug!) SitBetter.com, just stop on by and we’ll talk about what you might need!

Mid-Back Conference/Manager’s chair

Well…. now on to a chair so terribly misused it’s awful!

The mid-back conference/manager’s chair.

Now, you might ask, just how is this chair misused? (And I used this particular mid-back, the B686, because I think it’s a great chair!)

Often, when people go down to the Officestaplesmax superstore for pens, paper and other etc., they’ll see a bunch of chairs there priced on sale for 39.95 which are similar to this one- fixed arms, chair goes up and down and can lean back. They think the price is great, take it home, where they are going to spend 5 hours sitting, or to work where they’ll spend 8-10.

Now, those arms are going to be hard and they’ll likely have their elbows on them all day long…. after a few months… the seat padding is seemingly disappearing…. it feels a bit creaky in the mechanism….

What’s going on?

First off, this sort of chair is designed more for conferencing, not working in all day long. It’s really meant to be sat in for an hour or so, then left all alone for the rest of the day! Far too often the aesthetics of a chair override the practicality. Second- you’ve seen those task chairs at the officestaplesmax stores- they are flimsy and certainly not very attractive. A decent task chair with multiple adjustments which is designed for computer work is going to start at the 150.00-175.00 range (and granted, those are not stylish, those are going to start at a hundred more!).

So this chair is certainly misused, but the reality is- people just don’t know! No one at those big officestaplesmax stores really knows about chairs, or how people ought to sit (nor do they really care) and the chairs they do carry, well, are mostly junk! (and that’s being charitable- some are actually dangerous!)

Now, chairs like the B686 are great for that which they’re designed- conferencing, sitting in for shorter periods of time, casual use. That’s not to say that it’s not well-built, Boss (the manufacturer) actually makes chairs which are designed for 8 hour workdays and rugged enough for some of the most demanding environments. I’m rather picky at SitBetter.com, I don’t sell things I don’t like.

When you’re shopping for a conference chair, simply always weigh the cost factor (I know you do, the chairs are usually more expensive than the table!) against functionality, durability and aesthetics.

Cost- Never go less than 80ish dollars. At that point the chair’s not likely to be very comfortable (most under a hundred aren’t, really!) nor very sturdy or durable. Unless you want to be respending your money within a couple years, spend a bit more. You’re usually better off starting around the 120 dollar range (although the B686 is only 99.00- it’s one of my special buys!)

Functionality- What are you really using it for? An hour or two at a time? Or is it going to be your primary desk chair. If it’s the latter, buy a task chair of sorts (Try this one, or any number of others!).

Durability- Is it ANSI/BIFMA certified? (I’ll get into those terms in depth another time). That just means it’s durable enough for office use. Generally (although not ALWAYS the case), the more you spend the better built it’s going to be. If you want it to last for years and you don’t have to worry about it, spend a bit more!

Aesthetics- This, aside from cost, usually drives the purchace! Does it look good? Fit into the environment? Oh heck, let’s face it, most want it looking better than feeling better! Just weigh that against the other determinations! (quick story- took a Humanscale chair to a customer a couple weeks ago. High end law firm, top floor of a downtown highrise and I see in their conference room the cheapest looking conference room chair imaginable! Good Grief, people!)

So weigh what you want, need and can afford and get the best you can!

Well, on to the actual chairs!  From here on out we’ll be discussing the different types of chairs, what they’re generally used for and even talk about specific chairs you might like…. So on we go!

Task chairs.

These are usually like the one pictured to the right. Some amount of adjustability, arms or not, and more ergonomically designed than simply conference-style chairs.

You’ll find task chairs can range anywhere from 80 dollars to a thousand and generally speaking, you are best off spending a bit more, rather then less.

Some features to consider when looking at a task chair:

Back height adjustment- some have a ratchet back which makes it easy to move up and down.

Seat slider- moves the seat in and out, accomodating different leg lengths.

Other adjustments- allowing the angle of the seat to be adjusted as well as the angle between the seat and back

Adjustable arms- might be able to be adjusted in and out as well as up and down.

Usually there’s a choice of fabric colors, sometimes only a few, other times…. well, almost too many!

So again, task chairs can be varied, and you can certainly bet you’ll be happier with one that costs three hundred than one that costs 80…. maybe!

Just keep in mind how much time you’re sitting in that chair. If you’re sitting there for 8 hours… pay the money… if only an hour or so a day…. you’ll get away with paying less….

Any questions at all, just ask or visit me at SitBetter.com and ask me anything you like!

Finally on to the chairs!

Well, amazing how I can ramble on before I get to the main point of this blog!

Chairs.

If you’re sitting in an office chair (whether at home or work) for hours and hours every day, don’t go down to the local Officestaplesdepotmax. Yeah, you can buy a chair down there for 50 bucks or something, but…. you get what you pay for! (poor english, I know!)

So, especially online, how can you gauge the quality of a chair?

Such a good question, most times, you can’t!

Far more often than not, you’re going to be shopping hit or miss. You might find reviews of a chair somewhere, but…. people generally only write reviews if they are unhappy with a chair, and then it’s not really the chair’s fault so much as the people who sold them the piece of….

You could ask the people you’re buying it from, but how honest are they really going to be?….

Most of them have never even seen the chair, any more than you have. To them it’s simply a picture on the internet as well! Let’s face reality. Most internet retailers do NOT stock the items they sell. You order the item, they order it from the factory who ships it straight to you- the e-tailer NEVER sees the item!

Most of the items I sell at SitBetter.com, honestly, I do not stock. However, I do have a 40,000 square foot warehouse/showroom, so I get to see a lot more than almost everyone. I have made trips to manufacturers, sat in the chairs they had available and reviewed them. I also have years of experience, myself and co-workers, in knowing the quality of manufacturer’s craftmanship, overall and with individual chairs.

One great example is one particular chair (well, more than one, but…. this is a good one).

This is the FL642 Faux Leather chair from Office Star.

I sat in this chair when I visited their warehouse in Ontario, CA and was immediately impressed by how comfortable the chair was. When I saw the price, I was even more impressed!

When I got back home, I immediately called the rep and told him to bring a sample down for everyone else to see. He did, and everyone else was impressed too!

Now, this chair feels good, but one bit of warning, it’s made from a leather which is infused with a polymer, making it more durable than normal leather, but losing most of the ‘breathability’ of normal leather. But at the price, it’s really worth it!

Oh heck, I’m not really here to sell you a chair (heck, had to try though!), just to demonstrate that I do know most of the chairs that I sell on (BCP- Blatant Commercial Plug!) SitBetter.com.

That being said… I still don’t know much!

So make sure you ask questions, but know what questions to ask!

What are the right questions? Here are some I ask customers:

1. What are you doing in the chair- Working on the computer all day long? One the phone? In and out of it all the time? Signing papers, meeting clients?

2. How much time do you spend in the chair- 4 hours, 8, 14?

3. Do you want it pretty, modern, leather, etc?

4. Do you have a budget? (almost a stupid question, eh?)

5. Do you want an ergonomic chair?

Asking those questions, and assessing how someone sits, I can narrow down pretty close what someone is looking for in a chair and get them that leather executive, inexpensive but sturdy ergo task chair, Big & Tall chair or ultra-modern Manager’s chair.

So the next posts, I’ll get into the different sorts of chairs and for what each might be used.

Sitting on a rock!

Before I say anything else, I want to make a plug for a favorite cause, if I may.

Every day, people go to pet shops and other commercial places to buy a kitten, dog, whatever. And every day, kittens and puppies are put down at animal shelters. Granted, the Humane Society and the like do all they can to help, but they always need funds. More importantly, is for people to actually go down and adopt a pet. Not only is it good for the health of the pet, but studies have shown that pets actually improve the health of people!

So get your kid a kitten, sure…

But please check out the local animal shelter first!

Ok, so now on to business…. well, my business- (crass commercialization here- notice the screen flash quickly with that subliminal message? Dang, you missed it? Hmmm have to get that darned thing working, it was supposed to flash SitBetter.com).

I’ve noted the past few days that you can buy the nicest chair in the world, and you may as well sit on a rock or milkcrate for all the good that chair may do you if you’re not sitting in it correctly. I mentioned the foot rest and monitor arm and the final real essential piece needed is a keyboard tray.

This picture to the right illustrates how many people work at home.

Monitor well back, keyboard and mouse on top of desk, this is a situation which is fine for a half-hour doing the bills.
Not for an hour, two, or eight while at work!

 

 

 

Now, look at this guy- he’s going to sit there for eight hours, working all day, hunched over in positions his body was not meant to be in for 5 days a week, 48 weeks a year.

 

 

 

What sort of damage do you think he’ll end up doing to his body, firstly, and how do you think he feels when he goes home at the end of the day? Likely sore and surly!

 

Now the next option:

 

Notice how relaxed he now is. Sitting back, comfortable.

By bringing his keyboard and mouse down, his whole upper body relaxes and you can bet at the end of the day he’s a much happier camper!

It’s good to get a keyboard tray which only goes from 0 to -15 degrees, but again, any keyboard tray which brings the keyboard down from on top of the desk is far better than none at all!

So…. do remember: Adjust your environment to suit your body, don’t adjust your body to fit into your environment!

Ok, so all the really necessary accessories out of the way, I’ll start talking about different chairs from here on out.

And do visit me at SitBetter.com and we can actually chat about it!

 

More thoughts before getting to the chairs…

Yep, you know it, what else would I say?

When it comes to sitting at your desk all day….

DONT MONKEY AROUND!

(My apologies to all the simians out there who actually sit right!)

As I said yesterday, there are other things to consider before purchasing an ergonomic chair….

Visual by www.PDImages.com

Today, it will be monitor arms.

With todays flatscreen monitors, people found they have all sorts of new real estate on their desks, and despite the recent decline in real estate values, the sort that’s on top of your desk will always be in short supply!

Soooo, they take the monitor, put it allll the way to the back of the desk, put the keyboard right in front of it, and end up having to lean out of the chair just to see the monitor!

Remember that rock from yesterday? Yep, for all the good any chair is going to do you….

Try getting a monitor arm, they really do work.

Now some are better than others, granted, but frankly, any of them is better than none!

I use, here at work, a humanscale M4 monitor arm, (another crass commercial ad: Available at SitBetter.com!) and frankly, I love it! It gives me tons of desk space, it’s very stable and it’s highly adjustable.

I can put paperwork underneath it, swing it out of the way when I want to, and bring the screen up close when I need to use it (fine fine fine, I’m always on the computer so it’s always right there!).

In other words, monitor arms are great space AND back savers.

It’s not just the chair….

Well hello again!

In the hunt for a good chair for you, one thing most people don’t consider is that how they work at the desk means they could be sitting on a rock, for all the good the chair is going to do you.

I’ve seen some rather…. interesting search terms on google- chairs for short, petite chairs, chairs for petite people, chairs for small, chairs for tiny people- you get the point?

If you’re not that tall, try using a foot rest. The type that move are great, allowing you actually move your legs while seated increase blood flow and reduce pressure points. In fact, had a 5′2″ customer in this morning, the second thing I showed her was a foot rest and she was amazed at the difference in how she sat.

Think about it, when you’re shorter, the weight of your legs is not supported, so they are actually pulling your body out from the back of the chair. When your legs are supported, you end up sitting back into the chair as you’re supposed to do. It really does feel good, try it!

Here’s a picture of the Humanscale foot rest (commercial plug- ) available at SitBetter.com

Some like how this rolls easily, but I’ve found that is not a universal preference. Sitting in a chair with wheels on very thin carpet, floor mat or hardwood floor, some people find themselves actually moving about a bit much.

This is not a problem in areas with thicker carpet, since the chair does not tend to move easily.

If you feel that may be an issue for you, try this sort. It does not move as easily, and there are little rubber stoppers on the legs to keep it stable, in fact.

Again, the main purpose of these is to give the feet a platform on which to support. There are many out there from which to choose, just consider that it’s going to help adapt your environment to your body type, which is a far better thing than trying to force your body to adapt to your environment!

For more information (of course, another crass commercial plug!), contact me here or at Sitbetter.com!