How An Ergonomic Office Chair With Lumbar Support Helps Build Good Posture

The purpose of an ergonomic office chair is to ensure the greatest comfort for its user. How does the office chair to meet such an objective?

Here’s how… it satisfies the user according to his/her specific needs. It could be for easing the arms and wrist. Or it could be all about supporting the user’s lumbar for all we know. The main aim is to provide support, especially for the user’s lumbar for a greater comfort.

Ergonomic office chairs with lumbar support are usually ones that ensure great posture for the user, making it the most recommend and demanded a type of office chairs. The reason is that it deals in correcting and maintaining a good structure of the user’s spine. Also to its ability to provide good posture, it can also ensure comfort and prevention from back pains or sicknesses.

Why is ergonomic office chairs with lumbar supports so important?

Sitting for long hours in the office may sound like an easy thing to do. Well actually, it is quite hard and very dangerous to one’s well-being. Especially when there is either no lumbar support or the lumbar support isn’t good enough for the users, It would lead to a lot of stress on the lumbosacral discs, which will cause a person to have poor posture and stressed joints in the spine. Those are the reasons why lumbar support is quite important in an office chair.

Here’s what the user of a regular office chair will experience…

During long hours of office work on office chairs with no lumbar support, it is expected for users of such chairs to develop bad posture. It happens as it is natural for him/her to hunch or slouch which could lead to bad posture as said before.  The slouching and hunching is caused by the user shifting his/her body weight forward. This thereby leads to increasing the stress on soft tissues, discs, and joints.

Having an ergonomic office chair with lumbar support at one’s disposal is crucial and it is a big help in avoiding bad postures. Also, all those back aliments mentioned earlier. With a lumbar support, the part of the user’s lower spine will naturally curve inward in such a way it reaches his/her belly. This is will then lead to the filling of a void between the user’s lumbar spine and seat. Greatest lumbar support and comfort are attained this way.

The user’s neck is another reason why a lumbar support is very crucial. Since the lumbar support helps to align the user’s head and spine in such a way it doesn’t cause pain. The fact that lumbar support deals with such. It will mean that the part located between the user’s head and his/her body is very likely to be affected. Thus making the lumbar support a more important component to consider.

The US National Library of Medicine had done a study which found out some facts about lumbar support. They discovered that a lumbar support pillow that accommodates the users posterior pelvic happens to be more effective. And it was effective according to several terms like the promotion of the neural spine, improving both subjective and so on. It was generally for individuals will lower back problems.

How does the ergonomic office chair with lumbar support reduce back pain?

As said before, sitting in an office chair all day in your workplace will cause physical problem like back pains and so on. Sitting is not the problem, but keeping one’s body in such a static posture is unnatural for a human being. After all, the movement is life and humans need to move. They can afford to be stuck for no longer than a few hours or so.

In this age where people make ends meet by sitting on an office chair for long hours, there is no choice for humans but to adapt. And they did that with the use of an office chair. Over time the standard office chair was not enough so it was then improved to an ergonomic office chair. It possessed features which are designated to meet the user’s specific needs.

The type of ergonomic chair that will be discussed is the one that focuses on ensuring full lumbar support. There is a guideline to follow when setting up an ergonomic office chair.

The guideline coming up should be able to explain the best way to set up a lumbar support-oriented office chair. This way it will be easy to understand how the ergonomic office chair with lumbar support helps to improve posture, reduce back pains and support the user’s lumber.

Guidelines for setting up an ergonomic office chair

Before setting up an ergonomic office chair, it is best to know what is needed. Which parts are to be adjusted? What is necessary to improve comfort? Those are the questions to answer before commencing the setup. Also, the questions will shape the steps and the sequence in which they are to be followed.

There two steps in this guideline to follow. The first step in setting up an ergonomic office chair is to determine the best height of the desk that will go with it. This step in particular determined by the type of work that is being done. And also the height of the worker.

For instance, a worker in customer services wishes to get the perfect office chair. The first factor he/she will consider is the height of the desk. For tall people, they usually have tall desks and shorter people use desks of low height. Thus the height of the office chair should be close to or like the height of the desk.

After getting the perfect workstation, the next step the user should take is to adjust the office chair according to his/her preferences. All to ensure the best comfort and the least stress on the user’s spine.

Here are several physical proportions the user should consider when choosing the best office chair. With these factors considered the user should be able to support lumbar, reduce back pains and improve posture.

The measure of the Elbows

In an ideal office chair, the user should be able to seat closely with his/her desk. It will be done in such a way that the upper arms will be parallel to the user’s spine. Also, the hands should be able to rest comfortably on the desk surface. This way the user will be able to work with ease as he/she uses the keyboard or works on paperwork.

The key point here is that the user’s elbows must be at angle 90 degrees to the armrest. If not the users should adjust the height of the office chair till the elbows reach 90 degrees. For Tall users, it should be adjusted upward and for shorter users, it should be adjusted downward.

This factor is important to the lumbar because the placement of the user’s arm has an effect on his/her spine. The correct placement will provide both comfort and good posture.

The measure of the thighs

In an ideal office chair, one must be able to slide his/her finger under their thigh at the leading edge of the chair. If the chair happens to be too tight even for a single finger, the solution will be to adjust the feet with an adjustable footrest.

In the case of tall people, the working desk should be raised up to the height of the office chair can be raised. This will allow the user to align his/her spine in such a way it gives the user a good posture.

Calf measure

When seating on the ideal chair, the user should be able to put his/her clenched fist between the back of the user’s calf and the front of the office chair. If this is not possible then it means the office chair seat pan is too deep. The best solution is to have an office chair with lumbar support, or if it’s not present, it is possible to improvise by adjusting the office chair forward.

Finding the right chair that is able to accommodate the user’s fist between his/her calf and office chair is best. The reason is that the user will be able to seat in a good position that will help improve his/her posture.

Support for the lower back

The user’s office chair must have a cushion or some sort of lumbar support. So that he/she can avoid slouching and hunching which comes as a reflex that shows the body is trying to get comfortable. The long hours of slouching and hunching can cause a lot of issues to the user’s spine and comfort. This makes this factor very important to consider.

If an office chair possesses a lumbar support, the user enjoys little or no stress on his/her back. Long hours of comfortable work and an assured good posture is guaranteed with the lumbar support present.

Armrest

The armrests of an office chair help to ease the shoulders and arms of its user. This way the user’s upper spine will be at rest and there is less chance of him/her slouching forward on the chair. The armrests are also known to help correct the posture of its user.

Resting eye levels

How does this affect the lumbar and posture of the user? Well…here is how it happens… as the user sits on the ergonomic office chair he/she must close their eyes. After, the next thing to do is adjust their head forward and then slowly open their eyes. Once the eyes are open the user must be able to stare directly at the computer screen without really moving the head.

If it results in the move, the head in a direction that is not on the same level as the computer screen then there will be strains on the user’s upper spine. To avoid this the best solution is to either raise or lower the seat in such a way that the user’s eyes are leveled with the computer screen.

Final verdict

All these factors mentioned above all have two things in common. The first is to reduce the stress on the back of a user and the second is to ensure a good posture of the user. There are certain ergonomic office chairs that have all the factors mentioned earlier in this post. Each of the components identified with these factors can be adjusted according to the user’s preference.

These chairs are all from Autnomous.ai. The company specializes in the manufacturing and provision of office furniture and equipment. Their office chairs are the focus here and it includes the ErgoChair 2, Autonomous MyoChair, and the OsmoChair. These models are sure to improve their user’s lumbar and maintain good posture in the process.

Review of autonomous best ergonomic chairs

1. ErgoChair 2

ErgoChair 2 is one of autonomous flagship ergonomic chairs. It has all the components needed to ensure the user’s comfort and productivity in the workplace. These components are adjustable so it gives the user the power to choose his/her preference for the greatest comfort. The adjustable components include the armrests, headrest, backrest, seat height, and lumbar support.

With the adjustable lumbar support and backrest, the user of the ergo 2 will enjoy the great support of the spine and lower back. And also with the help of all the adjustable components the user is guaranteed a good posture as long as he/she seats on the office chair properly.

2. Autonomous MyoChair

This chair is simple and its design shows there is a special function and that is to provide the best support for the user’s spine. Like the ErgoChair 2, there adjustable parts which will help a lot in finding that perfect posture for several situations to come.

The features of this chair include the following: armrests, backrest, lumbar support, and seat height. Also to those features, there are two extra special features such as the headrest and the leg rest. They happen to be both adjustable like the other components, but they are also detachable which makes it easy if the user wishes to go minimal.

The adjustable lumbar support, backseat, and armrests are major contributors to ensuring the safety of the user’s spine. As for the special features, they help to ensure good posture and circulation. This is possible with the 3-D adjustable headrest and the detachable leg rest.   

Read more...

An Uncomfortable Office Chair can Reduce Productivity - Here are 10 Reasons Why

Distinctive Features to Look For in Adjustable Office Chairs

5 Smart Tools to Prevent Eye Strain at Work

5 Best Lumbar Support Pillows for Back Pain

Sitting All Day? Not With Height Adjustable Standing Desks