Cynical click-bait headline aside, I'll cut to the chase, they don't work. There, I said it. Used with permission Baloo -Rex May But let's look at why that is, there are 3 main reasons: 1. You will think that it's supposed to take responsibility for you. This is a commonly held view, and it seems the more expensive the chair is, the more likely you will fall into this trap. Harking back to my first ever blog, you have to remember that a chair is an inanimate object, it is incapable of "doing" anything, let alone taking responsibility for you. For sure, a good ergonomic chair will provide what we call in the Alexander Technique a "mechanical advantage", but it wont be providing any guarantees. You need to provide your own guarantees. 2. There's a strong chance that you will adjust it to your current conception of comfort or habitual use, i.e. to support your current levels of collapse and effectively 3. This is probably the most pernicious of the three, you'll bring your old habits to it.
Even if the chair is set up perfectly to offer you the greatest mechanical advantage, the habitual way you use yourself will fight against this advantage. Have you ever felt that a well set up ergonomic chair leaves you feeling more tired than a regular chair? Let's face it, if ergonomic chairs were the answer no one would have back pain, and only ergonomic chairs would exist! It may seem a little unfair to single out one particular chair , but I do so partly from my personal experience and partly because it coincidently exhibits a point I've made a few timesThey're also extremely common, certainly across the Square Mile (London's financial district) where I worked for many years as an IT consultant for a number of investment banks. For me, the "Aeron" style chair fails simply because the surface on which you sit is unstable. To repeat my mantra, "if you can stand on it, you can sit on it", this is clearly not a surface on which you could stably stand, being a stretchy woven fabric.
It's like trying to stand on a trampoline, it provides little more support for your sit bones than a sofa. Maybe it's my narrow definition of what sitting is, standing on your sit bones, but I found that the Aeron strongly encourages a collapse into the back rest. That might be fine for resting/reclining, but aren't these supposed to be work chairs? As a reminder, the roots of your arms are in your back, you don't want to loose that support when you are typing away at your keyboard, it invariably leads to tense shoulders and potential repetitive strain injury. For the sake of fairness I'll mention another ergonomic chair that I've had plenty of experience with in the past. Kneel on chairs do encourage an alignment of the spine, but they leave you somewhat immobile, and freedom to move is an essential aspect of using yourself well. I find that after a few minutes I feel locked in place and rigid, and that always leads to tension and feels more tiring in the long run than sitting on a simple flat surface.
I also found it reduced the blood flow through my legs, causing discomfort. Although it should be obvious by now that any flat surface will suffice for standing on your bottom (yes I will keep hammering home my definition of sitting), there is actually one style of ergonomic chair that I do quite like. Under the assumption that you are not expecting it to take responsibility for you, I find saddle chairs to be very comfortable, and ironically, it's not a surface you can stand on easily! It looks like there's an exception to every rule, but the sit bones are still well supported. When you consider the cost of ergonomic chairs, and they don't come cheap, it is far better value, and cheaper than many ergonomic chairs, to learn to how to use a simple chair, freeing you to sit anywhere with ease and poise. "No, what we need to do is not to educate our school furniture, but to educate our children. Give a child the ability to adapt himself within reasonable limits to his environment, and he will
not suffer discomfort, nor develop bad physical habits, whatever chair or form you give him to sit upon" - F.M. Alexander, Man's Supreme Inheritance. Come and find out if the Alexander Technique is the solution you were looking for. You've got nothing to lose but your pain! Please feel free to contact me for a no obligation chat to see how the Alexander Technique can help you too. Price: low to high Price: high to low Name: A to Z Name: Z to A Page 1 of 43 2 3 4 next Adroit Gas Lift Kneeling Chair Adroit Smart Mesh Wire Controlled Armchair Adroit Very High Back Posture Chair Adroit Zag Synchronous Mesh Back Task Chair Adroit Zelo Executive High Back Leather Armchair Adroit Zig Cantilever Visitors Chair Adroit Zig Synchronous High Back Task Chair Adroit Zig Zag Synchronous High Back Task Chair with Headrest Adroit Zing Mesh Chair FREE DELIVERYfast free delivery UK and Northern Ireland CALL US NOW0800 9996055 028 90460055
KEEP ME UPDATEDto receive details on special offersThe Edge: All-in-one desk solution for modern life and workThe first 150 backers get our special limited edition Zebra print Edge Desk! We designed The Edge Desk as a complete system, with a patented groove around the perimeter (the edge!) that any number of accessories can snap into. Every accessory folds flat to maintain the slim profile of The Edge, and you can decide which accessories you really need. We've already designed a cup holder, an amazing speaker, an LED light powered by USB, and a few others. We know the best desk is a clean desk that doesn't promote clutter, so we've made it easy to keep the things you need out of the way, but still close at hand. The accessories won't be ready immediately after this campaign, but they're a huge part of what makes The Edge a game changing alternative to a traditional desk. We see more and more people living in small spaces, and we know how important it is to get the most utility out of every square inch.
The Edge Desk comes fully assembled, sets up or folds down in less than ten seconds. It fits under most beds, many couches, and in almost any closet. We all know how difficult it can be to get in the zone and start knocking out the to-dos, but where we choose to do our work makes all the difference. In our mobile working lives, we curl up on the couch or on the floor, but these positions are uncomfortable and make us less productive. The way we work has changed. Your laptop (or smartphone) can do more than an entire office full of typists, phones, and fax machines. So, why are we working on static, bulky, cluttered desks? The Edge is the perfect desk for artists, students, and professionals! Recognized as one of the most innovative inventors and marketers in the U.S. By Ad Age Magazine and named one of Brandweek Magazines “Marketers for a new generation”. Marc has led marketing for Tiger Electronics and Hasbro.Rehkemper ID is one of the most respected inventing and development groups in the nation.
With more than 100 patents to their credit, the brothers have invented numerous acclaimed toy, health and electronics items.Having led product development for products like the original Furby at Tiger, Jeff has brought hundreds of best selling toys to kids worldwide Creating The Edge has been a journey. We’ve demonstrated the desk to lots of people over the past year, and almost everyone “gets it” the moment they sit down. Some of the folks we’ve shown it to have been companies that wanted to take it off our hands and bring it to market themselves, but we realized that there was only one way we could ensure that The Edge is as amazing as it can be: to do it ourselves, all the way.The funds from this campaign are earmarked for the biggest remainig piece of puzzle: tooling for production. This is particularly expensive in our case because the tooling for the injection-molded desktop is larger than normal. That’s why we need your support: by making a pledge, not only will you receive one of the very first Edge Desks, you’ll also be helping transform the modern workspace, so we can all work more comfortably and more productively.