Most office workers spend at least eight hours a day sitting in an office chair, accounting for nearly half of their time apart from sleeping. In this case, it’s very important to choose a comfortable chair, which can not only improve the work efficiency of employees, but also relieve physical fatigue and reduce the pressure brought by work.
In fact, for office workers, sitting for a long time is a great health hazard, which may lead to various problems in the body, especially in the spine. Although we all know this problem, it’s hard to avoid working in front of a computer for long hours in order to make a living. In addition to maintaining good posture, one thing we can do is to choose a set of suitable desk and chair.
So, how to pick an ergonomic office chair from all the products on the market?
1. Height
The height of the chair should be chosen according to the actual situation of oneself. If the office chair does not meet your own conditions, it won’t be comfortable, and can easily cause the diseases of the lumbar or cervical spine.
So when buying, be sure to choose an office chair that allows you to land your feet on the ground smoothly, which can greatly reduce the risk of occupational diseases. Of course, it is best to choose a height adjustable office chair, so that different users can adjust it according to different situations.
2. Weight
The quality of a chair can be identified from its weight to some degree. In generally, a good chair weighs more than a bad one because a good chassis and barometers weigh a certain amount.
An office chair’s quality can also be seen from the hardware accessories. Good office chairs usually use hex screws that are not easy to slip, while inferior ones are more likely to use unsteady cross screws, which may cause the back of the office chair to skew, shake or creak. But this is only one of the factors to judge. To evaluate the comfort of a chair, it is best to actually try it.
3. Chair Chassis
The chassis of a frequently used chair should have sufficient bearing capacity, with flexible and balanced chair legs.
According to research, the 4-claw chair leg can easily lead to unstability, and although 6-claw chair leg has more contact points with the ground, it’s more likely to trip users. So a chair with 5 claws would have a better performance in daily use.
4. Neck Pillow
Most ergonomic chairs have a neck pillow to support your neck vertebrae as you lean against the chair back. Especially when you want to take a nap, if there isn’t a neck pillow, you can only bend over to sleep on the desk, which not only affect your breathing, but also squeeze your face.
5. Cushion
The cushion of general office chair is usually sponge made, but in recent years the cushion material is more diversiform, mesh cloth is also a commonly used kind especially in summer, since sponge cushions are stuffier in terms of long time sitting.
When choosing a comfortable chair, you can press the cushion with the palm for 5 to 10 seconds, and then release your hand to see whether the cushion’s return elastic force is strong enough. If it rebound quickly, then the cushion can support your hips better.
If you already have a regular used chair but the cushions aren’t thick or stiff enough, and your hips get sore from sitting too long, you can also add a separate seat cushion to improve the hip support.
6. Chair Back
People’s back is not completely straight under the natural state, so the correct sitting position should also have an arc. The back of a chair with reasonable radian can give your waist a proper support that won’t make you tired in long-term use.
Also, it’s best to choose a chair with an adjustable back. If so, you can adjust the tilt angle of the back to suit your actual needs in different sitting positions and directions.
7. Chair Arms
While your hands may be busy with using keyboard and mouse on your desk most of the time at work, there are some times you can finally keep your arms on the armrest like during lunch break or talking with others.
A pair of armrests with appropriate height can make your arms drop naturally and form a comfortable sitting position to take the pressure off your neck and shoulders. And just like the chair backs, some seat armrests can also be adjusted to rise or fall.
When you are trying out a chair, you can sit on it in a natural position and put your hands on the armrest to see if it’s comfortable.
8. Try It
When choosing a chair, many consumers pay more attention to the appearance and the instant experience sitting on it. But in the office, we don’t sit for seconds, we sit for hours constantly. There’s a big difference between the instant comfort we get when we’re sitting down and the comfort we get when we’re using the chair for a long time.
From the perspective of long-term use, it’s not enough to just consider the stress on your hips, but also the effects of prolonged tension on your neck, waist and back. So when choosing an office chair, you should not only try it out, you should also vary your sitting position and angle, and try to evaluate how it feels of using it comprehensively.
Best view i have ever seen !
Best view i have ever seen !