It is fair to say the world of ergonomic office chairs includes more than its fair share of jargon, which can at times be a little overwhelming.
We think it is important to keep your eye firmly on the basics when selecting an ergonomic office. In this regard you should be looking for a seat with adjustable height, a backrest that tilts and lumbar support and if you are ticking the box on these main elements you are going to be going a long way to getting things right.
Seat and adjustable height
Height adjustment comes as a standard feature with the vast majority of ergonomic office chairs, but it can be missing, where design and fashion have overtaken ergonomics. So it pays to double check it particularly when you have your eye on a chair with a designer feel. Our general rule of thumb is that the seat should be set at the level of your knees when you are standing beside it.
Over and above the basic height adjustment there is sometimes the ability to tilt the seat itself. That adjustment arises because it is considered advantageous for the lower back if the seat can allow your thighs to point down slightly towards the knee.
The main other considerations are the seat width and depth.
In terms of the seat width you basically want a bit of gap on either side – a good rule of thumb is an inch on either side.
When we are talking about depth the ideal position to aim for is being seated with your back touching the back of the chair, but with a gap of around an inch gap behind your knee. Some ergonomic office chairs have the facility to adjust this, which is important if people of different heights are going to be using the chair. However, if you are going to be the only user you just need to ensure it fits for you.
Backrest and tilt
The consensus is that the ideal is that the seat backrest should finish just above your shoulder. In order to cater for this some ergonomic office chairs have height adjustable backrests. Where chairs do not have this feature one often sees that the backrests have high backs to make sure at least that coverage is achieved. As a matter of stylistic design one often sees a range of different heights, sometimes referred to as low, mid or high backs.
Another very common adjustment is the backrest tilt. There are a number of bells and whistles to give your eye on here, such as the how far the backrest tilts (usually expressed as an angle), whether you can adjust the tension (effectively how much force needs to be applied to move the backrest) and whether it can be locked into position. The adjustment of the seat back rest angle is also often linked to the seat pan position.
If you are want the ability to work in a more reclined position then we would say that to give you a degree of flexibility you should be looking for a tilt in the region of 130-135 degrees, although do not be overly concern if this is not available as the practical reality is that the majority of people prefer an angle significantly less, somewhere in the range of 110-115 degrees.
Extending above the backrest one often finds that ergonomic office chairs include headrests. While it is the case that most people work in a position where their heads are supported by their own neck muscles, if a head support is important to you, then you should be looking for one on which the height and depth are both adjustable.
Lumbar support
When people thing of ergonomic office chairs, the feature that they are most likely to have in mind whether they realise it or not is lumbar support.
In order to address lumber support, many chairs feature a chair backrest which seeks to effectively fill the curve in the lower back which is evident when you are sitting it a good posture position. In order to address the fact that we all come in a range of different shapes and sizes many ergonomic office chairs have should to address this by introducing an adjustable lumbar support. In this regard there are two types of adjustment, the main one is effectively the amount of support which seeks to fill the curve in your lower back. That is helpful to account for the fact that people naturally have a different amount of curve in their lower back. The lumbar support also sometimes has an independent height adjustment.
Armrests
The ideal position for your arms is one where they are in a relaxed position and your shoulders are level, i.e. the positioning of your armrests should not make you feel like your shoulders are being forced up or too low. There is some variability in the time of adjustments available, but height and width are then main ones. On occasion the armrests can also adjust so they rotate outwards. Armrests which lift up completely are a design feature which allows you to ‘take them or leave them’ and is handy sometimes to roll chairs completely under desks where space is at a premium.
Overall as we said at the outset if you get height adjustment, tilt and lumbar support right you are going to go a long way to getting an ergonomic office chair which will work for you.
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