7 features of a good ergonomic chair

7 features of a good ergonomic chair

If you are looking to invest in an ergonomic chair but don’t know what features to look out for, then this is a straightforward guide to what is important, and why it is important!

Seat height
The human being come in many sizes, so it imperative that chairs do too!  You should be able to sit with your hips back in the chair and both feet flat on the ground to be in the most ergonomic position.  On today’s market, if an ergonomic chair hasn’t got a quick height adjustment feature, then it can hardly be called ergonomic, and really isn’t worth considering!  The height adjustment also means that the chair can be used by others, whether family members of co-workers and still be considered ergonomic for them!

Seat depth and width
Your inside joints of your knees should never be touching the front edge of the chair when seated right back in the chair, it is recommended that you have a 5-7cm gap.  This will help to reduce the risk of pressure behind the knees, rubbing and longer-term aches and pains.  It will help your feet stay flat on the floor, thus contributing to good posture.  If your inside knee joint is touching, then it is likely that your hips aren’t far enough back in the chair, which is bad for your back and neck.  Ergonomic chairs such as the HAG Sofi have an amazingly versatile adjustment to make sure you get this right!

Seat tilt
The seat of any ergonomic office/working chair should always be flat or slightly forward tilted to promote a natural and neutral pelvis position.  Steer away from chairs that only show the seat pad in a tilted backward position, as even though they may look comfortable, they certainly won’t be in the long run!  Some chairs, such as the BMA Axia have an innovative function within the seat pad to allow the front half of the seat pad to tilt forward for your femurs, whilst the back half stays in position to support your pelvis!  Overall, if the seat isn’t able to tilt, but is at least flat then it will be sufficient to enable good posture – view everything else as an ergonomic bonus!

Active Seat Movement
This isn’t essential but is a hugely beneficial feature of some ergonomic chairs. Active seat movement mechanisms mean that you are always sitting in balance. This equilibrium allows you to naturally tilt backwards and forwards easily and enable the user to naturally shift position in the chair during everyday workflow.  This means that small adjustments don’t have negative impacts on your posture, but it is essential that you set this technology up correctly for your individual needs before using for the first time.  A good example of a chair with this technology in the HAG Sofi, featuring the signature HAG in Balance® Mechanism.

Lumbar support
A good quality well designed lumbar support supports the natural curvature of your back, which is different for everyone, so therefore it needs to be adjustable in a chair.  We need to question any chair that has non-adjustable lumbar support (usually the cheaper chairs) as these assume that everyone’s body shape, spinal curvature, height, and back health are the same! Whilst lumbar support supports the curves in the lower back, it means that at the same time it is taking strain off this area, and taking the strain off the upper back, neck, and shoulders which normally be adversely affected in the lumbar area isn’t well look after.

Backrest recline
The angle of the backrest is another part of the chair that really cant be considered as a one size fits all solution. Ergonomic professionals and posture specialists recommend that the backrest is set up to give a 90–100-degree angle to the seat when seat is level. For perfect posture, your head and shoulders need to be directly above your hips, so the backrest should be straight, or slightly reclined as outlined above.  This will prevent the build-up of tension on the lower back and works best in tandem with a good lumbar support. Further adjustment for stretching is invaluable, so ensure that the backrest on your chosen chair has a good amount of spring/adjustment.

Swivel feature
The swivelling office chair is almost a given, a cliché, or pointless adjective that’s added to a standard office chair to make them seem more desirable – but let’s face it, they are pretty much all swivel chairs now.  And that is a good thing. Mobility is key when working at a desk, and the tiniest movement from the bearings on your chair that make it swivel are all taking pressure off your body.  If you are sitting in an office chair now, look behind you, and see how much effort and strain of that action your swivel mechanism saves!  The swivel feature can reduce the risk of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) when performing routine tasks throughout the day and preserve the suppleness of your joints and bones.

Summary
Make sure any chair you buy exhibits these features, as they are the core of what you need to achieve great posture.  If a website doesn’t display the information that you need to establish this, then either find another website that does, check the chair manufacturer’s website, or give them a call to check.

It is always a good idea to check your existing chair if you have one. Do you need to replace it?  Sometimes, the best thing to do for instant improvement is to make sure the chair we are sat on right now is set up correctly!  If you don’t know, find out where it came from and see if there are any manuals or tips on the manufacturer’s website.

Remember – a good chair doesn’t automatically mean good posture.  The best ergonomic posture chair in the world will be no good unless you ensure that it is set up correctly!

If you follow guides on posture, the buying a good chair will give you the best chance to achieve it.
Cost:  consider the value on your health before considering the cost of the ergonomic chair because they certainly aren’t cheap, and yes you can buy an office chair online for £50!  Buy a good chair for around £1000 and it will easily last you 20 years, which only equates to £50 per year, if you average that over a total number of 250 working days in a year, it amounts to only 20 pence per day for the luxury of having increased health, comfort, and lowered risk of illness!  The resale value of a good ergonomic chair also around 30-50 percent of new price even after 10 or more years, so if you are worried, go for a more well known brand such as RH, HAG or Herman Miller so you can be assured of demand if you ever wish to sell it.