Here are the top eight features you should consider when buying a desk chair:

Feature 1: Does the Chair Support Good Posture or Bad Posture?

First, good posture is a critical feature to look for when buying a desk chair. The chair should be adjustable to a height where your feet can rest on the floor comfortably. The thighs should be square in relation to the floor and fully-supported meaning that they do not slope down as you sit. A very important aspect of this is the back lumbar support. As you sit, there should be a 90 to 105-degree angle formed by your torso and upper legs. Of course the chair should tilt back but not so easy that you fall. And overall, the chair should allow posture changes easily and frequently.

Some chairs are created just for the purpose of helping you strengthen your core posture support muscles and reverse bad posture. The most common form of these is the exercise ball chair (see below), which can be a great way to get a core work for improving posture while at work. If you want a more traditional office chair, here are some more features to take into account.

Feature 2: Chair Type

Second, the type of desk chair is important too. There is the heavy use chair that should be a first choice among those who sit at a desk for very long hours. Typical occupations benefiting from the heavy use chair are computer programmers, web designers, and receptionists. The key to a chair like this is that the person sitting in it can tilt it in any direction while the entire chair moves with the tilt. The end result is that there is constant back support. This has the effect of reducing fatigue.

Another type of chair is the moderate use chair. This chair is good for those who are not constantly at their desk but moving throughout the office. This would be characteristic of a middle manager or line supervisor. Some of these chairs have knee-tilt mechanisms that allow one to lean back in the chair but keep the feet on the ground–unlike the heavy use chair where all parts of the chair move. Without this mechanism, there would be a lot of discomfort over extended periods of time. The moderate use chair typically has a more-stylish look than that of most desk chairs.

A third type of chair is much more elaborate and that is the executive chair. The executive chairs are somewhat like the moderate use chairs but much more plush and comfortable. They have an executive “look” about them. Of course these chairs focus on style and comfort but they are not for extended periods of sitting and are good for executives who are running in between meetings as well as spending a significant amount of time on the phone and computer. Executive type chairs give a look of authority in their style.

Feature 3: Back Lumbar Support

The back rest of the office desk chair should be studied closely prior to choosing your chair. Many don’t know the term lumbar but they do know about the curvature of their spine at the lower back. This is known as the lumbar region and the back rest of the chair should support it while seated. You will find that you will become very fatigued without this support. See if there are mechanisms to maintain the lumbar support irregardless of the chair position.

Feature 4: Chair Height

There should be a mechanism to quickly and easily adjust the chair height. The height of the chair should be such that the thighs are horizontal with the floor. Some older chairs make you have to twist a cylinder at the neck of the chair to adjust the height. The problem is that you cannot quickly adjust it like those with convenient levers. Improper chair height will quickly cause you to get fatigued plus cause circulation problems. If the chair is too high, you’ll find yourself bending forward to see the computer screen and keyboard. If it is too low, you’ll find you will have circulation problems in your legs and will have to raise your arms too high to type.

Feature 5: The Seat Pan

The best type of seat pan for a desk chair is one that has a rounded or waterfall edge at the front. The seat pan is basically where you sit. The seat pans with rounded or waterfall edges take pressure off of the legs and help with circulation. There is a mechanism known as a forward slider that will adjust the depth of the seat pan. You are trying to adjust to three to four fingers between the back of the knees and the front edge of the seat pan so that there is optimum circulation to the legs. The width of the seat pan should extend at least one inch on both sides in order to have the best comfort. There should also be a tilt adjustment so that one can keep the pressure in check at the back of the thighs. Optimum leg circulation is the key here.

Feature 6: The Arm Rests

Arm rests are critical to taking tension off of the shoulders and neck. The arm rests should be quickly adjustable for different tasks such as one position for reading.

Feature 7: Fabric

You will want to choose a fabric that “breathes” well so that you don’t sweat a lot. Of course you will also want to choose a fabric that is appealing to the eye.

Feature 8: Stability

This goes without saying. You don’t want a desk chair that is unstable for safety’s sake. This chair should tilt with you but not to a point where it easily topples over. Casters should be hard for carpeted floors and be coated with rubber for hard surfaces.

In summary, take the time to carefully shop for your desk chair. Injuries due to poor posture can be very painful and counterproductive. You need to remember you will be in your chair a lot. If you are uncomfortable or even just slightly irritated by the chair you are sitting in, it will most likely increase over time so that you will find that it interferes with your productivity and even your mood. Being just a little unhappy about your chair will affect you every time you sit in it. And any back pain form your chair can affect you 24/7 not just when you are sitting.

Useful Resource for Better Office Posture

Get Fit While You Sit

FitBall Exercise Ball Chair – with Choice of 55cm Ball

Ergonomic Office Chair at a Great Discount

High Back Mesh Ergonomic Task Chair With Adjustable Arms [BT-6001-GYBK-GG]

Improve Your Existing Chair With Lumbar Support or a Pillow Wedge

POSTURE PERFECT MASSAGING BACK SUPPORT CUSHION WITH MEMORY FOAM. YOUR SEAT SOLUTION.

Angel Sales PosturePro Lumbar Support

Stress Wedge – Office Chair Pillow, Pillow for Chair, Chair Pillow, Chair Cushion

Edwin Passorio
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/top-8-features-to-consider-when-buying-a-desk-chair-92003.html

Technorati Tags: back lumbar support, Bad Posture, desk chair, good posture, office chair

If you actually take some time out to calculate the hours that you spend at work and those, that you spend relaxing at home or with your loved ones, you might be in for a surprise. Most of us devote eight hours or more at our workplace every day, trying to meet deadlines, planning our next move, completing projects and so on.

It is no wonder therefore that most of us have no time to devote for our personal development and well-being. As a result, we fall prey to a number of lifestyle diseases like back pain, spinal problems, obesity, high blood pressure and the like. Junk food, stress and a bad  posture are the main culprits that lead to an unhealthy lifestyle riddled with diseases. Little do we realize that simple things like an office chair back support could also help us in making our lives a little better.

An office chair back support is ergonomically designed to fit in with the natural posture of your spinal cord. This ensures that whenever you are sitting at your desk you are assured that your body doesn’t slump into a bad posture, which leads to a variety of back problems. Spinal problems which start out as minor cramps can turn into lifelong diseases which at times becomes crippling for the individual if proper care is not taken at the right time. Getting an office chair back support should be one of the first precautionary measures that can be adopted to prevent back-ache from arising. In case you already suffer from a back problem then an office chair with proper back support becomes crucial. The long working hours that you keep at work will now become much more comfortable if you decide to use an office chair with back and posture support.

Most of us tend to ignore minor symptoms as and when they show up. It would be advisable to approach a physiotherapist and get medical help at early stages itself. Simple exercises that include stretching the tired body muscles can be surprisingly effective if practiced on a regular basis. Additional precautions will include a healthy diet, regular meals, and a form of physical exercise, which could also include sports and of course support devices like an office chair back support. A person who works from home or simply looks after the housework can also benefit form an office chair back support if he or she uses it at home whenever the person is sitting at a particular place for a long duration of time.

A healthy routine, medical supervisions and customized equipments like an office chair back support can go a long way in promoting a healthy lifestyle for most of us. It is completely up to us whether we want to lead our lives in an active manner by taking small precautions and measures or do we simply want to waste our lives by ignoring the signals that our mind and body gives out to us. Maybe its time to wake up and take notice!

Matt
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/an-office-chair-back-support-lets-you-have-a-proper-posture-199324.html

Technorati Tags: back support, office chair for back support, Office Posture, Posture Support

Sitting in front of a computer all day may seem like an easy job for your body, but in actuality, the desk posture we slump into at the office can create strain, soreness, and even chronic neck and back pain.

If you suffer from chronic neck pain, shoulder pain, or back pain, you may find that it helps to wear a corrective posture brace during the work hours. Posture braces can be a great way to remind the body of how it should hold itself: shoulders back, spine erect along its proper curve, neck straight. This alignment counteracts the unnatural pressures created by poor desk posture and provides much needed relief to those back, neck, and shoulder muscles. Although a posture brace may seem uncomfortably stiff at first, by helping to correct your posture, it can provide long-term pain relief in the long run.

Even better, a posture brace offers other benefits as well. As your posture improves, so does your overall appearance—who doesn’t want the confident, regal bearing that comes with good posture? Wearing a corrective posture brace for a couple of hours throughout the day also gives you a good workout even as you sit at your desk. A good posture support brace encourages the postural muscles in your body to engage, toning the core muscles of the body and even burning a small amount of extra calories per day.

For best results, wear your posture brace for twenty to thirty minutes at a time, three to five times throughout the workday. It’s important to also work at keeping a good desk posture while you wear your brace, so you’ll find that there is a limit to how long you can wear the posture brace in each sitting. Wearing a brace for longer periods of time will tend to make you forget about it and slip back into your slump despite the brace, which of course, isn’t the result you’re looking to get.

For fastest results, engage in some type of core strengthening exercise, such as yoga, Pilates, the Alexander Technique, the Egoscue Method, when you’re off work. These types of exercise will further help develop the core muscles that hold your body in its proper, strain-free alignment. Regular practice of posture corrective exercises can supplement posture brace wear, structuring a strong, healthy, pain-free back.

Technorati Tags: corrective posture brace, posture brace

For those people who work in an office, sitting in an office chair without adequate back support can create a great deal of stress on their lower back. This can happen to anyone who works long hours sitting in the office chair. Our back portion is build on a highly complex mechanism and even with the use of modern advanced technologies pin pointing the exact cause of low back problems can be difficult. At the middle of our back is the spinal cords linked with a sophisticated inter linking of vertebrae and various bones in the back. The spinal cord is linked by a complex array of muscles and bones that are attached with one other very minutely. There are many back problems that can occur as a result of some change in the spinal cord. These changes often happen due to an injury to the neck or back or can be due to sitting on the office chairs.
Any shift in the spinal cord alignment can cause the muscles to tighten up and go into tremor thus making the muscle work continuously. It happens mostly in the seating position while working and sitting without a proper office chair back can lead to many ailments. The back ailment can also lead to poor posture that stresses the soft tissues and joints in your spinal cord. For all those people specially working in an office, sitting in an office chair can either cause or exaggerate the lower back pain. This problem can also happen due to today’s lifestyle that often includes longer time of sitting at home watching TV or working on the computer, also during the commute to and from work and many other related works. And so, it is this sitting position that poor postural habits tend to develop and create problems like back pain, etc.
The seat of the chair has to be comfortable so that a person can sit comfortably for a longer period of time. Make sure the seat has enough elastic foam padding to reduce the stress on hips and thighs. It needs to be wide enough to provide at least an inch of space on either side of your body so that you can sit properly. The Waterfall type seat shape can lessen the pressure on the back of the thighs. If your chair has the seat depth controls then you can adjust the front edge of the chair accordingly. If the back side of your legs touches the edge of the seat of chair, then you will not be able to lean against the chair’s back support. Office chair back support is meant to give you the true comfort while sitting on the chair.
You must look for a chair that has an adjustable back support option that elevates or lowers to a height and supports the curve of your back. The lumbar curve helps to uphold a good posture by simply filling the gap between the spine and the seat and thus supporting the natural inward curve of your lower back. You must ensure for the adequate lumbar support which is must to avoid the stress on your spinal cord. A chair’s backrest should be designed slightly curved to follow the natural form of your spine. Well-cushioned arms that can be adjusted in height and width can help you to maintain the straight wrist posture for computer work thus reducing the muscular pains in back and shoulders. The armrest that are too high will not allow your shoulders to relax while those that are too long will prevent you from getting close to your desk and will surely cause discomfort.

Matt
http://www.articlesbase.com/equipment-articles/office-chair-back-support-is-meant-to-provide-all-comfort-136357.html

Technorati Tags: Office Posture, Posture Support

If you’re looking to improve bad posture, give yourself a pat on the back. Improving your posture will not just make you look taller and more confident, reversing bad posture can increase your energy and well-being immensely. Here are four ways to improve posture throughout the day without spending any great lengths of time.

1. Adapt posture supportive daily habits . One of the greatest influences on posture is how you sit, stand, and move throughout the day. If you sit a lot, educate yourself on proper sitting habits. Here is a helpful video on proper desk posture.

2. Do corrective posture exercises. Learning proper office posture and integrating active sitting and corrective posture exercises in your daily routine will go a long way towards reversing bad posture.

3. Consider using a posture support brace. While not a panacea in and of itself, a posture brace can be a great reminder to sit and stand straight.

4. Do reverse stretching to reshape bad posture. This is one of the most overlooked ways to improve posture. In reverse stretching, you put your body in the opposite shape of your habitual holding patterns. If you stay in the position for 5-10 minutes, you’ll gradually begin to reshape the connective tissue that keeps you locked into a bad posture.

In our next post, we’ll review some of the different types of fitness equipment for reverse stretching. 

Technorati Tags: Bad Posture, Desk Posture, Forward Head Posture, Improve Bad Posture, Office Posture, posture brace, Posture Support