Guide to Choosing the Best Ergonomic Chair Suits You

In Modern life, ergonomic office chairs become quite popular, people are attaching more and more importance to their own comfort and healthy, maybe you have many questions in mind about how to choose and find out the best ergonomic chairs for you, in this article let share some information and guide on this topic. Hope these information is useful for you.

What is an ergonomic chair?

First, let's see the ergonomic chair meaning. Ergonomics, in essence, is to make the use of devices suitable for the natural form of the human body as far as possible, so that people who can use devices do not need any active adaptation of body and mind when working, so as to minimize the fatigue caused by tool use. An ergonomic chair is based on this theory, the pursuit of quality of life so that people are more comfortable and natural in use. The comfortable ergonomic chair can reduce fatigue from sitting in the chair for a long time and relieve pressure on the legs. 

The most appropriate hand support can directly reduce hand and shoulder fatigue. The height of the lumbar pillow on the chair determines the degree of lumbar fatigue, the height, and angle of the head pillow determine the degree of cervical spine fatigue, and the elasticity of the back cushion determines the comfort of reclining.  The ergonomic office chair is used for human health. In more detail, ergonomic chairs are studied based on the structure of the human body and human behavior and habits, so the chair design should fit the human body and adapt to human habits as much as possible, and meet the adaptive requirements of different groups of people. Hookay ergonomic chair cares for human health, and relieves fatigue when you work.

Who needs an ergonomic chair? 

First of all, ergonomic chairs are aimed at people who are sitting for a long time. Most modern office workers spend more than 8 hours a day in their chairs. For some special industries, they even spend up to 12 hours sitting in the office every day, especially programmers. If the chairs are not comfortable, it is easy to cause continuous pain to the neck, back, and waist, and over time, the back muscles and ligaments are damaged by excessive traction for a long time, resulting in lumbar muscle strain, cervical spondylosis, and other problems. Therefore, people who have been sitting in the office for a long time or have related diseases are in urgent need of a good ergonomic chair that has the best chair posture.

Hooaky ergonomic office chair with footrest

What are the dangers of sitting for long hours?

1) Induced heart disease: American researchers studied 2000 adults and found that for every hour of sitting time, the burden of coronary artery calcification increased by 14%. When calcification reaches a certain level, it can lead to vascular stenosis and heart disease. 

2) Accelerated aging: a study of 1500 women aged 64 to 95 by a university in the United States found that sitting for a long time accelerates the shortening of telomerase, which in turn accelerates the aging of organisms. It was also found that telomerase did not shorten if you exercised for more than 30 minutes a day. So it is necessary to exercise every day. 

3) Increased carcinogenicity: a study from the University of Regensburg in Germany found that an increase of two hours a day in sitting increased the risk of endometrial cancer by 10% and colon cancer by 8%. At the same time, sitting for a long time is more likely to be obese, and obesity is also a major cause of many cancers. 

4) Increased risk of diabetes: a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that women who sit for more than seven hours a day have a higher risk of developing certain types of diabetes.

5) Spermicidal: a study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that men who are sitting for a long time have less sperm than those who exercise more, and sitting for a long time can also lead to a decline in sperm quality. 

6) Cervical spondylosis, lumbar spondylosis

What kind of sitting posture is the correct one? 

First of all, we need to know that the function of the ergonomic office chair is that it can reduce the force on our waist. Do you know the difference of the pressure on the waist in different positions? Some postures may make you feel comfortable, but in fact, this posture is slowly accumulating damage to your waist.  After reading the picture below, you will know how much pressure different postures have on our waists. 

There is less pressure on our waist when we lie down, about 25 kilograms when we lie on our back, and about 75 kilograms when we lie on our side. The pressure on the waist when standing is about 100 kilograms. As can be seen from the picture, there is much less pressure when you are sitting than when you bend over. Basically, it can be concluded that when sitting and the waist pillow is supported in place, the greater the angle of the body, the less the pressure on the waist, and the more serious the hunchback, the greater the pressure. Therefore, either sit upright in the office, maintain the correct sitting posture, or use an ergonomic chair to assist sitting posture, the effect will be better than sitting upright. 

Through the reasonable adjustment of the ergonomic chair, the chair can be supported to the right body position, so that you can maintain a correct sitting position.

(1) Adjust the seat height so that the calves droop naturally, and the thighs and calves are 90 degrees, and the feet can be flat to the ground. 

(2) Adjust the depth of the seat cushion to ensure that the area of the leg is effectively supported and the angle between the thigh and calf is 90 °when the buttocks are seated to the innermost part. 

(3) Adjust the height of the armrest so that the height of the table is similar to that of the armrest as far as possible, put the arm on the armrest naturally, and adjust the angle of the armrest according to the habit. 

(4) Adjust the height of the chair back or pillow to the position of the third or fourth lumbar vertebrae, so that the waist pillow perfectly supports the waist and keeps the back close to the back of the chair. 

(5) Adjust the height and angle of the head pillow to the position of the cervical vertebra to provide appropriate support for the neck. 

(6) Adjust the elasticity of the back of the chair and feel the elasticity when the back is relaxed. It is correct to feel that the resilience of the back of the chair just makes the individual feel comfortable without using any external force. it is not appropriate for the back of the chair to stretch too much.

What is the function of the ergonomic desk chair? 

The main function of the ergonomic chair is to relieve fatigue, through reasonable ergonomic engineering design to make the seat more suitable to the human body, and evenly distribute the stress points of the human body, so as to provide greater support to the human body. in turn, it can reduce the pressure on the human body and accelerate the blood circulation and reduce the heart rate, which can effectively relieve the pain of lumbar vertebrae and cervical vertebrae caused by sitting for a long time and relieve fatigue.

Here are some key functions of an ergonomic desk chair:

(1) Posture Support: Ergonomic chairs are designed to support the natural curvature of the spine, particularly the lower back (lumbar region). They typically feature adjustable lumbar support to help maintain a neutral spine position and prevent slouching or hunching.

(2) Adjustable Seat Height: An ergonomic desk chair allows users to adjust the seat height to ensure their feet are flat on the floor or on a footrest, promoting proper alignment of the legs and reducing pressure on the thighs and lower back.

(3) Seat Depth and Width Adjustment: The ability to adjust the seat depth and width is important for accommodating different body sizes and ensuring proper weight distribution. It helps prevent pressure points and promotes comfortable sitting for extended periods.

(4) Armrest Adjustability: Ergonomic office chairs often feature adjustable armrests that can be raised or lowered to support the arms and alleviate strain on the shoulders and neck. They should allow for relaxed shoulders and forearm support while typing or using a computer.

(5) Mobility: A swivel base enables easy movement and access to different areas of the workstation without straining or twisting the body excessively. Smooth-rolling casters allow for effortless mobility on various floor surfaces.

(6) Breathable and Comfortable Materials: Ergonomic chairs often utilize breathable materials such as mesh or high-quality fabric to enhance airflow and prevent excessive heat or moisture buildup during prolonged sitting.

(7) Tilt Mechanism: Many ergonomic chair for office offer a tilt mechanism that allows users to recline and adjust the chair's angle to their preferred level of comfort, promoting relaxation and reducing strain on the back and neck.

Certainly, ergonomic chairs cannot directly solve all the problems caused by sitting for a long time. If you want to be healthier, you must reduce sitting long hours and exercise more.  In addition, there are two ways to have a healthier office life: 

1) Get up more frequently (every 90 minutes). 
Everyone is advised to avoid sitting for more than 90 minutes, according to the 2016 edition of the guidelines issued by the American Diabetes Association. Therefore, when the office hours reach 90 minutes or less than 7 or 80 minutes, you can get up and exercise, pick up a glass of water, go to the toilet, and be deeply lazy, so as to avoid the harm of sitting for a long time.

2)  Keep the correct sitting posture. 
In fact, maintaining the correct sitting posture is often ignored by many people, many people are basically hunched over, but if the ergonomic computer chair is adjusted to the right position, it is also helpful to maintain the correct sitting posture.

What is a quality ergonomic chair? 

A good engineering chair, in addition to the chair surface material, frame material to be good, the more important is whether its adjustable options are enough, the more adjustable options the chair have, the greater the range of adjustment the chair feature, this seat is likely to be more suitable for different people, it can not be said that the more adjustment you get from the chair, the better the chair, but if there is no basic adjustment function, it must not be a good ergonomic chair. A good ergonomic chair design has at least the following four regulating functions. 

Office chair with Lumbar Support: A good office chair will have support for the lower back. Some of the better ones will even have adjustable lumbar support that allows the user to fit the chair to their lower back. This is important in preventing back strain that can worsen and become sciatica, a condition that can be debilitating.

Adjustability: Almost all office chairs have a height and arm adjustment; however, these are not the most important adjustments to look for when shopping for an office chair. The best office chairs have at least five adjustments with some having up to 14 different adjustments. Important features that should be adjustable include lumbar support, arm width and height, seat back width and height, seat and back angle, and tension control. Many of the supports are dial controlled while a few are controlled with a hand-held bulb pump, similar to a blood pressure cuff pump.

Wheel Base: Nearly all office chairs have a wheelbase; however, if the office is carpeted it may be necessary to get a chair with wheels specifically made for carpet. Rolling is important in preventing strain due to reaching across a desk to retrieve items that are out of reach.

Swivel Base: All office chairs should swivel freely to allow for easy access to various parts of the desk. If the chair doesn’t swivel freely, arm fatigue can result from over-extending to reach various items.

Fabric: The fabric should be breathable to keep the chair from becoming hot and uncomfortable after hours of sitting in it. In addition, it should have enough cushion to support the person sitting in it without feeling the base of the chair through the cushion.