It is well known that sitting all day is bad for your health. There are negative effects on your posture, leading to back, neck, and leg pain, and sometimes a sedentary lifestyle can lead to more serious conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and deep vein thrombosis.
If you have to sit all day for your job, it can be harder to do something about this problem. Sure, you can eat a healthy balanced diet, you can exercise regularly, and take breaks to stand as much as possible while at work. But when it comes down to it, you’re still spending most of your day sitting, slouching, or slumped at your desk. Ergonomic chair designers know this and build their chairs to naturally encourage a correct sitting position.
So what can be done about it? How can sitting be made healthier? Two words: Ergonomic Chairs!
What is an Ergonomic Chair?
Anything designed ergonomically is designed to work better for you and your body. So for a chair, this means adjustable heights, backrests, and armrests. It means more support in the right places, and room to move easily elsewhere. A standard office chair is built to some level of ergonomic specification. Most of the time this is just a swiveling height-adjustable seat; there is so much more the right ergonomic chair can offer!
What are the Benefits?
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Posture Support
Sitting properly would probably feel unnatural to most of us since we are so used to slouching or hunching forward in our chairs. This is achieved through lumbar support or ergonomic chair back support, armrests, headrests, and adjustable tilt settings for the back of the chair.
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Reduced Pain
When a chair is designed to support the natural pressure points of your body when you sit down, sitting becomes more comfortable not only in the short term but all the time. All those sore spots on your neck and that twinge in your lower back will start to disappear as your body heals in its correct and natural positioning.
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Increased Blood Circulation
Proper posture and support not only help relieve aches and pains but also helps with a much bigger issue: circulation. Easing joint pressure and tight muscles allows the blood to flow more freely around the body, improving our overall health and reducing inflammation. Not only can this help us feel better, but it can also actually reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, deep-vein thrombosis, and depression.
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Adjustability
The truly great thing about ergonomics is that it demands our environments work around us and work for us, to make things easier. For most ergonomic products, that means adjustability and customization have to be a top priority. Ergonomic chairs will have a high level of adjustability, as already mentioned. Armrests, backrests, seat height, lumbar support, backrest tilt, seat tilt, seat firmness, backrest firmness; the best ergonomic chairs will allow you to adjust all of these features, and maybe even more!
Also, read How to Choose a Good Ergonomic Chair
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Increased Productivity
All the above are great to hear from a human viewpoint. Anything that can make our lives easier and more comfortable is great. Something that can make us healthier while also doing the former? Even better!
But from a business or management viewpoint, there is another plus-side to all the points already mentioned. That’s right – when people are happier and healthier, they are more productive. There have been several studies conducted over the years that prove time and time again that ergonomics, comfort, and health are integral to a thriving and productive workspace.
So if you’ve got back pain, poor circulation, or an office full of achy, unproductive staff, try out an ergonomic chair and see how treating your body well can benefit you!