Chairs for your home office desk
What follow is an excerpt of a great article I've recently found at Microsoft bCentral web site and it's all about the basics of choosing the right chair.
[...] Things to consider when buying a chair include the nature of the work being done — typing at a computer keyboard versus other desk work, for example — the height of the work surface and, perhaps most important, the stature of the worker.
To accommodate these variables, professional ergonomics generally agree, a chair needs to incorporate at least four key features:
- Adjustable height. The chair should be raised or lowered until the body is in a proper work attitude: upper arms hanging straight down, elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, feet flat on the floor.
To achieve this posture, a taller person might have to raise the work surface, while a shorter one may need a foot rest.
- An adjustable seat pan. The goal here is to avoid having the front edge of the seat cut into the backs of the calves and interrupt blood flow.
Also, the seat should have a "waterfall" edge that slopes in a downward direction, thus avoiding undue pressure on the undersides of the thighs.
- Adjustable armrests. The real purpose of armrests is to help the worker fully relax during the "micro breaks" that everyone should take. That purpose is defeated if can't be raised or lowered to provide comfortable support.
Armrests also can be a hindrance in getting close the work surface, so rests that either swing out of the way or are removable might be worth investigating.
- Sufficient back support. Two common failings are chair backs that either fail to provide good coverage of the worker's back, or provide no lumbar support at all.
Adjustable backs can take care of the first problem, while responding to the second one may require rolling up a towel and positioning it under the tailbone. [...]
It couldn't get any clearer that. Read the article again, print it, and keep it close when you go shopping for the right home office chair. Good luck.
Previous: learn about the correct posture. It's time to learn how to sit the right way.
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