I am an exporting manager working in the ergonomic chair factory,it is lucky i can learn some professional knowledge on ergonomic office chairs. I would like to share some information on ergonomic chairs for those who need to work for long hours.

Please read this article patiently then it can offer some help on  buying a real good and suitable ergonomic chair.

Contents

1.What is  ergonomic chair.
2.How to choose ergonomic chair for long hour woking .

First of all, let have a look at a group of data: according to the survey: "people under the age of 40 account for 48% of patients with cervical lumbar spondylosis, and men are 3% higher than women." Among them, finance, assembly line workers, clerks, teachers, IT staffs, drivers, graphic designer and other industries accounted for the top seven of the prevalence rate.
"not only that, more than 4 million people around the world die from sitting for a long time every year!"

Let have a look at another group of datas:

For ordinary people, they have to sit for at least six hours a day, while office workers spend at least eight hours. The pressure on lumbar vertebrae in sitting posture is 2.5 times higher than that in lying down. If you do not exercise, go home from work to recharge and continue to work, there will be at least 15 hours of sitting time every day. Being sedentary has become the greatest threat to human life.

Can we sit in the correct posture for eight hours? This is impossible, incorrect posture is easy to form muscle memory, as soon as we do not pay attention, the waist will immediately collapse, wait until the waist pain, you will notice that the sitting posture has already been deformed.

Users who don't know how to choose a chair or have some daily problems can read this blog post.

What is an ergonomic chair?

Here is a summary of several key points:

 Three cores of the ergonomic chair:

Automatic chair back

dynamic support

cushion surface material (sitting experience).

Automatic chair back and dynamic support are the most critical points of the ergonomic chair, both of which are suggested to play the role of automatic rebound and dynamic support only without locking the back of the chair.

Automatic  back, dynamic support: the lumbar support is located at the waist or sacrum while sitting, giving the waist / sacrum a support, while lying on the back, the position of the waist support is automatically changed to support the lumbar L2-L4. Why sit on the sofa for a long time, the lumbar muscle degenerates quickly, and it is easy to encounter pain in the long term. Due to the sitting position of the fixed seat back, the lumbar and abdominal muscles that maintain the balance of the upper body can be at rest, when the muscle-related blood circulation is affected. When the back lock is released, the lumbar and abdominal muscles must be in a state of tension, and with some movements of the upper body, such as tapping the keyboard and moving the mouse, the muscles that maintain the balance of the upper body can relax and contract. When the springback strength of the chair is adjusted and the springback strength of the upper body and the back of the chair is basically balanced, the back of the chair can undertake part of the work of maintaining the balance of the upper body and reduce the workload of the waist and abdomen muscle group, so it is not easy to be so tired. At the same time, it can also protect part of the blood circulation and help to delay the degeneration of psoas muscle.

In addition, the chair with the waist support at the waist will be more comfortable, but it will give the waist a horizontal force, forcing the lumbar vertebrae to protrude forward, and the lumbar process may occur for a long time. 

The principle of supporting sitting posture in sacral position: some friends feel very tired at the waist because they have been sitting for a long time, so they will feel very comfortable with something behind the waist, so they will think that the lumbar support is behind the lumbar spine. Add a waist pillow or cushion to the back of the lumbar spine and support horizontally. It will feel very comfortable. The result is that the force exerted on the back of the lumbar spine will cause five lumbar vertebrae to be forced in different directions, aggravating the bending of the lumbar curvature. If you sit in this way for a long time, it will affect the normal curvature of the lumbar spine, which is bad for your health. For the same reason, the support points in the thoracic vertebrae and cervical vertebrae are not a good choice. It is recommended that the support point is on the sacroiliac joint, which is generally called sacral support (below the lumbar spine, a point above the caudal vertebra). If the support point is set here, it will be safer, combined with automatic back and dynamic support will not be so tired. In terms of comfort, it is not as comfortable as supporting the lumbar spine, but it is safe.

Cushion  material: three types: full mesh , foam , hard cushion . Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. From the point of view of sitting feeling.

Comfort:  foam surface > mesh > hard sitting surface. Air permeability: mesh > hard seat surface > soft seat surface.

Soft seat surface: the contact area between the butt and the cushion surface is large, the pressure of the body is evenly dispersed on the contact surface, and the force on each part of the butt is about the same, the sitting feeling stick is high, but because of the fillability of the sponge, it can maintain incorrect sitting posture for a long time, resulting in scoliosis.
Hard sitting surface: the buttocks mainly rely on the sitting bone to make contact with the sitting surface. At present, the popular reason for sitting hard sitting surface is that the hard sitting surface can be tied straight to the spine. The reason is that both the ischial bone and the sitting surface are hard, and if the body is tilted, it will lead to high pressure on one side of the ischium and low pressure on the other side, so it is difficult to maintain a crooked sitting for a long time.

Mesh : living between the soft sitting surface and the hard sitting surface, with both advantages, the buttocks are neither evenly loaded, nor concentrated in the sitting bone, and have a certain restraint effect on the verticality of the spine, so it will not cause local pain in the sitting bone. Nor will it make it comfortable to sit askew for a long time, thus avoiding the physical shortcomings of both soft and hard surfaces. The quality of mesh cloth does not lie in domestic or imported, but in the applicable situation.

All three kinds of cushions have advantages, but they also have disadvantages. Hard surface (wood or PVC, etc.) sitting surface and mesh (nylon mesh cloth, rattan surface, hemp surface) sitting surface has a certain oppressing effect on the body, the advantage is that it can achieve a certain effect of upright sitting posture, the disadvantage is that there is no soft surface (sponge chair, leather surface, etc.) cushion comfortable.

How to choose an ergonomic chair for long hour working

How to judge whether a chair is an excellent ergonomic chair, I will pay special attention to the following  points.

First of all, consider the workmanship of the ergonomic chair (sitting, safety).

Chair base: five-star base > bow base > four claw base, chair foot bear the weight of the human body, related to the durability of the chair. In addition to the shape of the chair base, the second is the material. General four kinds of materials: nylon feet, welded iron feet, cast aluminum alloy feet. Nylon feet (nylon + fiber) low noise, low cost, toughness is not necessarily comfortable. Aluminum is rigid, more solid, noisy and expensive to pollute. When the nylon foot is first made, it has a load-bearing capacity of 1.3 tons, and after three months, the internal water balance can still exceed 1.1 tons. Yes, it is in tons, and the nylon material is very strong. Aluminum alloy is divided into national standard and BFIMA, the national standard is now 800kg BIFMA is 1136kg. Basically, users can choose either nylon or aluminum alloy according to their weight. The key depends on the dosage of the manufacturer. For example, 10klg aluminum alloy bearing 1136 kg 7kg can be 768kg. As long as the manufacturer passes the test, it doesn't matter whether it's nylon or aluminum alloy. Therefore, weight is not a factor in choosing the material of chair feet.

Note: the material of chair foot is the place for manufacturers to reduce the cost.
Nylon and aluminum are the mainstream materials of chair base.

Chair back: the back of the chair depends on the resistance to horizontal tension. If the resistance to horizontal tension reaches 136kg, safety is guaranteed. Carrying horizontal tension is an indicator of the strength of the back frame, and it is easy to break the back of some cheap chairs. The material of the back of the chair has little effect on the sense of sitting. The two mainstream materials are nylon + fiber or PU, but there should be others.

Using such a chair is undoubtedly a hidden danger to your own safety. Chairs in large factories do not have to worry about broken back, air pressure bar explosion, gaslift explosion and so on. The thickness of the gaslift is generally in 2mm-2.5mm, and the 3mm steel plate of the gaslift does not matter and has little impact on safety. It's just that the word "thickened" is used by businessmen to make it look better.
Armrest : mainly focus on functionality, the material pu is the best, pu material is skin-friendly.

Secondly, evaluate the adjustable ability of the chair. (Mechenism)

How many adjustable functions does a chair have? most of the cost of a chair is the Mechenism, and the adjustment device for the whole back of the chair is installed in the Mechenism The second is the armrest and headrest, in the purchase process, better to focus on the mechanism ‘s function. The Mechenism is the most difficult to understand. We just need to know what mechanism has and what function it has.

Seat back: focus on the back angle and whether you can lean back and lock it. The seat back angle of 105 °is the most comfortable state, but different people are different. 105 °is only a reference. You can adjust the rebound force to find the right angle by not locking the back of the chair.

Headrest: at present, the best is the 6D headrest: a large range of height adjustment, a certain range of front and back adjustment.  Headrest is not only a tool to support the head / neck, but also an accessory to expand the adjustable range of chair height. How can a chair become popular? the height adjustment of the back of the chair must be large.

Armrest l: there is nothing to say about this, as long as you meet your work needs. Height adjustment, left and right, rotation. Choose according to your own needs.

Many people oppress their thighs when using chairs, and one of the reasons may be that the height of the chair is too high. Correct height adjustment: put your feet flat on the floor and bend your knees 90 degrees.