After waking up with terrible back pain yet again, thanks to a day spent working from the couch, I was more than inspired to research ergonomic task chairs. With a variety of price points, I discovered task chairs available for nearly any budget. It's often said it's fine to pinch when it comes to everything but your task chair if you plan to work from a desk more than a few minutes daily, not only for productivity, but also your longterm health... Just remember, choosing a task chair is not a one-size fits all process. Be sure to try-on any chair in person at a showroom or store. Make sure it's the right height, and be sure to consider the three rules of ergonomics before you commit to a possible long term relationship between your backside and a chair: fit for the user, fit for the task, and flexibility of movement while seated. MORE TASK CHAIRS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:(Images: all image credit as linked)All DealsOffice Supplies Office Furniture Compare Office Chair Deals
Show Expired Office Chairs Deals Broyhill Bonded Leather Manager Chair Walmart offers the Broyhill Bonded Leather Manager Chair in Black, model no. 41129, for $71.10 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we could find by $19. It features a pneumatic gas lift, customizable seat height, tilt-tension adjustment, upholstered arm pads, and dual wheel casters. › SEE ALL OFFICE CHAIRS BrylaneHome Extra Wide Executive Office Chair FullBeauty offers the BrylaneHome Extra Wide Executive Office Chair in Brown for $199.99. Coupon code "BHSHOPUS" drops it to $149.99. With $32.99 for shipping, that's $450 off list and the lowest total price we could find. It features adjustable height, measures 51" x 27" x 22", and supports up to 500 lbs. Deal ends March 25. Don't miss a single chance to save. Here are more Office Chairs discounts. Office Depot and OfficeMax Coupons Crate & Barrel Coupons Checks In The Mail Coupons Never Miss Another Deal
Get the latest deals delivered straight to your inboxEveryone knows that sitting for hours in the office is bad for the back, but we rarely do anything about it. Backcare Awareness Week, which runs from 6 to 12 October, is a good time to change your usual office chair for one that offers better ergonomic support. But there are a lot to choose from, so to help you out, here’s our pick. 1. Humanscale Freedom Office Chair, £999, John Lewis With a backrest that automatically adapts to your body shape and headrest that moves according to how far you recline, the Humanscale Freedom Office Chair offers the latest in ergonomic technology. Plus, the snug cushions mould to the shape of your body. At nearly a thousand pounds, it’s a lot to cough up for a chair, but worthwhile if you want one of the best on the market. 2. Herman Miller Aeron Office Chair, £925, John Lewis If you are a design buff, this is the one for you. The Museum of Modern Art in New York has an Aeron in its permanent collection, so its design credentials are well established.
But this chair is not just pretty to look at – its cushions are made from Pellicle, a high tech material which avoids heat build-ups, helping prevent muscular discomfort. 3. Comfort Operator Chair, £49, Office Furniture Online It’s not a thing of beauty, but the Comfort Operator Chair is good value for its specification. The three levers allow you to vary the height of the chair and tilt the back rest and seat. Also, the curved foam provides good ergonomic support. This is the reliable Volkswagen – rather than the flashy Ferrari – of the office chair world. Available with or without arms. 4. HÅG Capisco Saddle Chair, £291, Wellworking If you find yourself fidgeting in your usual seat, try the Saddle Chair. The unique design, modelled on a horse rider’s saddle, allows you to sit equally comfortably whether facing forward or turned to the side. Free movement does not have to cost the planet though – this product is made from recycled car bumpers. 5. Classic Balance Ball Chair, £80, amazon
You are sure to be greeted with a few raised eyebrows when you bring this into the office, but bemusement could soon turn into envy. Not only is the Classic Balance Ball Chair comfortable, but the act of balancing on it also gives you a powerful core-strengthening workout. 6. Herman Miller Sayl Office Chair, £383, Wellworking Effective spine and neck support needn’t result in a sweaty back. Inspired by the design principles of suspension bridges and modelled on a ship’s sail, the webbed chair back allows good air circulation, keeping you cool. Comes in four colours. 7. Markus Swivel Chair, £130, Ikea This is one of the cheapest executive style office chairs on the market. Offering easy height adjustment and a lockable tilt function – plus a headrest for good neck support – you get all the basics for a reasonable price. Also, this product comes with a 10 year guarantee, so it won’t risk your hard earned cash. 8. Back App Ergonomic Stool, £556, Back2
When you sit on the Back App your feet are placed on the footboard rather than the floor. This allows the chair to rotate around as you move, allowing a greater freedom of movement than that offered by conventional office chairs. At first this can make your lower back feel tired, but after a week or so this should go away. For wacky style with green credentials, go for the HÅG Capisco Saddle Chair. If you are on more of a budget, the Comfort Operator or the Markus Swivel Chairs are your best bet. Office chair technophiles with money to spend should consider the Humanscale Freedom. But for sheer workmanship and iconic design, the Aeron is my top pick. IndyBest product reviews are unbiased, independent advice you can trust. On some occasions, we earn revenue if you click the links and buy the products, but we never allow this to bias our coverage. The reviews are compiled through a mix of expert opinion and real-world testingModern office chairs have grown far too complicated.
Their underbellies have sprouted gnarly forests of knobs and levers. Their instruction manuals have thickened into tomes. On occasion, new chairs are equipped with explanatory CD-ROMs. This is absurd: Since when have we needed an animated schematic to teach us how to sit on our keisters? Answer: Roughly since 1994—the year of the Aeron. The debut of the Herman Miller Aeron chair revolutionized office furniture. Where executive chairs had once flaunted their acres of sumptuous, buttery leather, the Aeron was a sleek skeleton of metal and mesh. All interlocking parts and ergonomic contours. It was the perfect techno-throne for the Internet age, and in the past decade it's taken its place among the most well-known chairs in history—as recognizable as an Eames or an Adirondack. But all fashion is fleeting. The Aeron is looking very ante-millennial these days. While its presence behind a CEO's desk once conveyed dynamism and with-it-ness, today it suggests that the office may be due for redecoration.
There's precedent for this: Remember when the high-tech, overdesigned Nike sneakers of the late-1990s/early-2000s got gradually out-cooled by throwback Pumas? I predict the Aeron will likewise step aside as a slew of simpler, less nerdy office chairs ascend. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Aeron still remains a spectacular success, sales-wise. And my mission here is not to trend-forecast. It's to find the best desk chair out there. With this in mind, I recently tried out six popular office-chair models at a variety of price points. I brought each chair into Slate's D.C. bureau to be tested—over a period of several weeks—under real-world office conditions. I assessed the chairs based on comfort, how well they adapted to multiple postures, their maneuverability around the floor, and their aesthetics, among other factors. I conducted what office managers term a "chair rodeo," asking Slatesters to try the chairs in succession and then to carefully rank their favorites. By the end of my trials, each chair had been sat on by at least seven different asses.
(Or, as they prefer to be called, Slate editors.) So, which chair is best? My findings, from worst to first: Cachet, by Steelcase, $508 This is glorified lawn furniture. There's no cushioning here—only hard plastic, which (as you might expect) looks, feels, and very much smells like plastic. The design also steals the classic lawn-chair look, with its slatted construction. Unfortunately, as with lawn chairs, your thighs get uncomfortably extruded between those rough ribbons. One of my heavier testers (a 200-pound guy, give or take) reported that the Cachet was almost unwilling to hold his weight. This thing just feels cheaply made. Five-hundy for a lawn chair with wheels? Celle, by Herman Miller, $629 A lower-cost alternative from the maker of the Aeron, the Celle (pronounced "sell-a") turned out to be the Cachet's stiffest competition. By that I mean: 1) It's really stiff—with padding that is thin and hard, and 2) It sucked almost as bad. This chair is, in a word, unforgiving.
The moment I sat down I wished to stand up. The tiny nubs on the chair's back pad prod into your spine, as though it were a torture device rather than a piece of task-oriented furniture. The Celle seems reluctant to recline at all, and it gets quite tippy if you force the issue. Its best feature might be its ample size and sturdiness: One Slate ster described it as a "double-wide big boy," and indeed, it appears it could easily handle an XXX-L office worker. VERY GOOD, BUT NOT SUPERB: Leap, by Steelcase, $924 This is a handsome chair. I tested the black leather model—which manages to exude an executive vibe yet avoids any hint of pomposity. In addition to looking good, this leather chair is quite comfy. But it does that whoopee cushion, air-rushing-out thing when you sit down too fast. This is an embarrassing flaw, and it also makes me worry about the seat's long-term durability—I feel a more solid construction wouldn't count on the seat to compress and reinflate like this.
The Leap does recline smoothly, and even at full lean its wheels remain steadily rooted to the floor. At this price, though, it ought to be a radical step forward in office furniture, and it's not—it's just the same old sit. Aeron, by Herman Miller, $899 Down goes the champ. Don't get me wrong—this is a very good chair. Its "pellicle" mesh is the grippiest fabric on any of these seats, and it instantly conforms to your haunches like a futuristic hammock. Many still find the Aeron's iconic style sexy and desirable, even a decade on—at least one Slate editor coveted my sample Aeron from the moment he first laid eyes on it. But over time, all flaws are brought to light. As I suggested above, I feel the Aeron's look is somewhat dated. There are functional problems, too. If you recline to put your feet up on your desk (my preferred office posture), the Aeron becomes seriously tippy. And if you roll around your office—say, from your desk to an adjunct reading table—you'll find the Aeron's wheels are stiffly resistant to changing direction.
They don't swivel smoothly in their casters. Finally, the Aeron refuses to adapt to different sitting styles: The plastic contour rails that shape the seat will allow only standard positions. For instance, if you want to cross one leg under the other, you're out of luck, because the contour's plastic edge will dig into your ankle. The Aeron's had a fantastic run, but it's time for another top dog. WINNER—FOR THOSE WHO PREFER HARD, SUPPORTIVE SEAT-BACKS: Let's B, by Turnstone, $399 Personally, I'm not a fan of this chair. But it seemed important to make a distinction for those who (like one of my testers) have seen the decades take a toll on their backs. If you want a stiff seat-back that forces you to sit completely upright, this is the chair for you. The lower-back area on this seat is incredibly hard, with no give whatsoever. Don't bother trying to recline—you can loosen the seat-back tension to do so, but the chair doesn't seem to like it. With its sky-blue, pilly fabric, the model I tested looked like it had been stolen from the bridge of a Star Trek ship.
And my testers liked that the fabric was grippy, which prevents your bottom from sliding forward and drawing you into a slump. Bottom line: This is a tremendous value at this price—so long as you are not inclined to recline. Liberty, by Humanscale, $955 I can't say enough about this chair. The child of design legend Niels Diffrient (who has worked with the studios of Eero Saarinen and Henry Dreyfus), the Liberty is as functional as it is elegant. This sit is the bomb. Let's start with the seat-back: pure mesh, with no support beams of any sort that might dig into your back. The seat-back's structure comes simply from the seams of the mesh's three-panel construction, giving the back its shape, its firmness, and its ability to conform to your body. As the Aeron previously showed us, mesh is not only attractive but reduces the chair's weight and increases its airflow (perfect for those who tend to have sweaty backs). Me, I'm a constant recliner. There's some evidence that reclining is the preferable posture for spinal health.
The further you recline, the more your weight gets transferred from your spine to the chair's back cushion. I looked for a fully reclining office chair (a design known as "zero-gravity"—like the position astronauts sit in), but it seems everybody stopped making them about five years ago (you can find zero-gravity chairs for the home here). Even though it's healthier, and for some might be more conducive to high productivity, full recline has failed to catch on—no doubt because it just looks too lazy in an office setting. Anyway, my fellow recliners will adore the Liberty. The joy of this thing is in its lean. As your shoulders go aft, the chair-back tilts itself so as to press forward against your lumbar region (instead of leaving an unsupported gap there, as most chairs do). No matter how far you recline, the Liberty never feels at all tippy. And, there are no knobs and levers to contend with. The Liberty is designed to use your own body weight as a counterbalance. You needn't adjust any tension settings—just lean to whichever angle you like, and the chair will comfortably stay there.
It feels natural, like it's an extension of your spine. The total lack of adjustment knobs makes a ton of sense. Most people are not the first to use their office chairs. By the time you get a third-hand chair, the settings have been messed with hundreds of times and the instruction booklet is long gone. Even if you manage to figure out what each lever does, you often feel unsure of yourself—with so many possible adjustment permutations, you always suspect that you've chosen a suboptimal mix. My one complaint with the Liberty is that they took the anti-knob mania a step too far. There are no adjusters to raise or lower the armrests. This can be a problem when trying to pair the chair with higher or lower desk heights (or for a person with a particularly long or short humerus). But this is nitpicking. Here we have the Aeron's logical successor. Every bit as sleek, without the superfluously techy features. The Liberty was the most expensive chair I tested, but in this case, it's well worth it to pay a bit more for the good sit.