Have you ever noticed these poor ergonomics in life?

You must know 'ergonomics'. Now there are a lot of talk about this word. You may have never talked about it, but objects such as keyboard, office chair or even light that you want to buy or you are now using are now associated with this word and we tend to buy ergonomic office chairs, ergonomic shoes, etc.

Ergonomics is important to health and safety. It is a concept meaning environment fits us persons. In office, our office chairs or tasks are designed to fit individuals so that we can do the jobs without getting injured or with better efficiency. We may feel pain or stain when tasks or tools have poor ergonomic design.

Poor ergonomics result in quite a number of serious physical problems or poor ergonomics bring us unpleasant experience such as pain, numbness, stiffness, swelling or weakness. Poor ergonomics can also injure the back.

We are actually faced with ergonomic problems every day. Ergonomically, if the office chair or computer desk in our office is poor, with the height of the worktop not matching the height of chair, we might have very uncomfortable working experience. When we choose the best ergonomic chair to sit in comfortably, bad sitting posture over the time also causes back pain. If we keep a right sitting posture and sit in ergonomically designed chair, we sit in a workplace with not enough space for better body stretch or movement, our productivity will also be affected. All those problems would just affect our efficiency and satisfaction to jobs, or even bring injuries.



We can also feel bad ergonomics during plane journey or long travel. The chairs of plane or trains are sometimes designed with just single standards. That means, they can hardly fit both tall people and petite people, wide people or slim people. We may easily develop poor sitting posture because of the non-ergonomic seats. We have to keep such poor posture for rather long hours and our knees have to be compressed by the back of chair in front. As a result back pains occur.

Lighting also has something to do with ergonomics. Bad lighting in workplace will lead to eye fatigue and over time, it just cause drowsiness to work staff. Besides, strong lighting brings about dizziness and that might also affect our mental health. It is really necessary to maintain a right level of light and still keep a proper distance between our eyes and the screen of digital gadgets.

There are too many aspects of our life that may be linked with ergonomics. Try to know more and live a life ergonomically healthy.

Pain in the Neck? Change for Correct Sitting Posture!

Do you suffer from neck pain? Most possibly, it is related to poor sitting posture. Neck pain seems very common problem among office staff and those who undertake sedentary jobs. Sitting in the office chairs or even in the car seat for a rather long time is bad to our body. But we can hardly choose not to sit. Then how to avoid pain in the neck?

Prolonged sitting itself is not good to our health. We can take more rest during our work hours. We need to get better office chairs or the chairs with ergonomic design for more comfortable sitting. But most often, we may ignore the right sitting posture. Poor sitting posture may just overly stretch our spinal muscles or soft tissues. Prolonged overstretching of these structures will finally result in pain. Besides,when we feel uncomfortable after prolonged sitting, we may change our posture subconsciously, and sometimes the seemingly comfortable sitting posture is wrong and the potential pain may be even worse.

If we pay attention to right posture, changing position may take the stretch off our soft tissues and then the pain stops. This can just avoid lasting damage. Such pain purely caused by poor sitting posture may stop as long as we change how we sit. We can never ignore any sign of pain in the neck. In that way, we may continue the state of overstretching our soft tissues. Over the time, other structures may be affected and later we may feel pain in arms or legs.

People with sedentary jobs tend to develop lower back or neck pain and this has much to do with the fact that we sit with a rounded back for hours. It is time for correcting the poor sitting posture so as to avoid the progressively worsening pain.

The point in correct sitting posture lies in the curve in our lower back. To develop a right curve in the lower back or lordosis while sitting on a stool or slouch, we need to sitting up as much as possible to keep the curve inwards. We need to relax the lordosis strain and then our upper part of the spine will get improved. Make sure our head is not poking forwards. Tuck our chin in and pull back our shoulders.

It is sometimes not easy thing to keep a correct sitting posture for a long time without lower back support. We need some tools. We need ergonomic chairs when we sit in the office for working. We need car seats of ergonomic design for adequate support to our lower back.

Try Some Easy Workout With Office Chairs

Most of us have to sit in the office, working 9 to 5 each day. Such long time of sitting and working is harmful, which may easily cause health problems like backache, shoulder pain or poor circulation. Working that long does not necessarily mean sacrificing our health. There are some workout we can actually do in the office with the help of our office chair. For better physical health and higher efficiency, try out the chair exercises.

Prolonged Sitting Kills Us

Have you ever calculated the time you are seated in the office chair or home chair every day? Sitting for long periods of time leads to risk of problems such as heart attack, metabolic syndrome, stroke risk, etc. The prolonged sitting contributes to slower metabolism and shorten our life expectancy. Sitting is actually killing us. It sounds terrible. But our human body is actually not built to sit all day for hours in the chair. Whether at home or in the office, most of us spend too many hours sitting.

Popular Ways to Keep Healthy in the Office

Given the nature of our work environment, we can hardly choose to not to sit in the chair. We have to work. Then how to avoid the prolonged sitting and keep us fit in the office? Is it possible to stand while working in the office for keeping healthy? It is worth noting that standing is actually not very good solution. Standing for a long time can also lead to some disorders to our legs, back or knees. Here are some ways for keeping healthy in the office.

Sitting on Ball Chair

Now there are a lot of ergonomic chairs designed for alleviating the pain caused by sitting in the chair. Yoga ball chair is one of such ergonomic chairs. If sitting is inevitable, choose to sit on something wobbly, ball chair or backless stool. Sitting on the wobbly object will force our muscle to work and help improve balance. We have to sit with back being straight, feet kept flat on the floor. This is much about active sitting and we are actually doing some movement on the ball chairs.

Active Meetings

If you can choose the form of work, choose to add a bit more activities to your work day. Try to move meetings from the conference room to the concourse and this can actually help you reduce the time of sitting as well as offer you more opportunity of walking. You may miss the important information that even a snail like pace of 1 mph can help you burn the calories twice more than sitting. When you are moving from one meeting to another, you will get outside for a doze of Vitamin D and experience different environment.

Standing Desk

Standing desk is one of the most popular office furniture now. The use of standing desk shows people realize the harm of sitting too long time in the office. They choose to work from an upright position. The upright position is better for metabolism. For better effect, the office staff now also choose the soft mat for added support.

Chair Exercise

Stretching at your desk or trying out some easy chair exercise may be one simple way to keep healthy actually. There are actually some easy exercises we can do while sitting down or we can turn to some workout with the help of chair. The chair exercise can help tune our muscles and increase flexibility.

Easy Chair Exercise for Keeping Healthy in Office

Chair exercise seems much practical for sedentary office staff even though there is no fitness equipment in the office. It is such a type of aerobic exercise in a low-impact and low-intensity way. Several minute chair exercises a day is enough, much easier than a mile run. We just do the exercise with the help of our chairs during a short break day by day. Doing exercise in the chair is also beneficial to the elderly and those with health issues or physical limitations. If you have any goal of losing belly fat, the chair exercise can actually help burn the calories. When we stretch our body by the chair, our blood will be kept moving. Just grab a chair and a few minutes of easy movement can do us a lot of benefit.

Chair Push-up

The push-up is actually not easy workout and most often, ladies seldom choose this exercise. But when you try the push-ups with the help of your office chair, you will find it much easier. This exercise contributes much to blood flow and can help strengthen the upper body. Put the hands on the edge of the chair. Start from an ending push-up position. Keep your hands apart in shoulder and the shoulder blades spread out and back straight.

Chair crunches

This is also a chair exercise for upper body. Sit toward the edge of the chair. Lean backward until you feel the core engaged. Extend both legs out slowly. Bend the knees toward the chest.

Chair Squats

Chair squat seems one of the easiest parts of the chair exercise. It is exercise for lower body. Stretch the arms forward to the heart level. Keep the rear end straight back till all of the weight of the feet falling on the heels instead of the toes. Keep your knees aligned with your ankles. Try to squat until you touch the chair, squeezing your buttocks and the front of your thighs a bit and then return to your original position. Repeat it.

Chair Dips

Try to place the hands on the edge of the chair with a bit of strength. Slowly lower your tailbone until it is two inches off the chair and drop the hips towards the ground. This workout requires some upper body strength to propel the back to the starting position. The exercise will involve most of the muscles of the upper body. Try to do the dips slowly.

Home Office Design Tips: To Make Your Workplace Beautiful, Functional & Ergonomic

Working from home seems popular trend for most of modern people. Home office gives us more opportunity for real comfort, efficiency and little pressure. Whether your home office is designed for daily office life, occasional telecommute, or just a room for organizing your staff, you deserve more than a neat desk and extra chair. Home office to some degree reflects the comfort of the rest of your home and even affect the whole style of your home decor. Once nicely decorated as well as functionally and ergonomically concerned, it can be a charming place that you can burn the midnight oil there without feeling depressed or tired.

There is a need to make our home office different from the office of the company. Here are some tips for designing your home office and making it more nice, functional or ergonomic.

For ideal home office design, first we need to think about some questions as follows. How often will we use the office? What possible activities we will perform in the office? Will we open our home office to our guests? What type of materials will we store in this room? What kind of furniture, equipment or accessories shall we add to the home office? We need to ask us more questions so that the home office design easier.

Generally, comfort is a priority for home office. As for comfort, we may consider the feature of ergonomics of our home office design. We need to choose ergonomic office chairs, ergonomic computer peripherals, etc.

Style comes second because if the home office is designed similar to the corporate office which is characterized by gray, white or such monotonous hues and furniture, it will convey a sense of “forbidden”, depression, dullness. We need to add color and style to our home office by choosing some colored furniture or office items, raising some green plants or flowers in the office, adding more pieces of art and such things to make it full of fun and vigor.

Function is also important, though sometimes ignored by most home office designers. It is home office where we perform some work there. Stylish sofa is attractive, but maybe it is not functional when it is used as seat. Various decorative lights are nice and can make the office vibe casual or inviting, but they may divert our engagement in the work.

Here are some other important parts that we need to consider whatever style of our home office will be.

We need to add some necessary equipment to maximize the function of our home office. We can get some USB hubs for better organization of cables on the desk. Invest in the fastest and newest equipment for higher efficiency. But never pay for the equipment that we will not use every day.

Lighting is essential for good home office. Make the best use of natural light and also well use general and task lighting for enough brightness. The overly low light levels may produce negative psychological effects such as depression. The ideal lighting is supposed to be able to cast a yellow-best. Never make the overhead lighting directly project onto the computer screen because the glare may result in eyestrain.

Make sure the furniture or office items, especially the chair at your home office is ergonomic one. Prolonged sitting is bad to our back, but we still need to do something for lessening the harms to our back. We need ergonomic chairs, ergonomic monitors, or even ergonomic mice.

Finally, color for home office is also a difficult part of office design. Colors may affect us emotionally and physically. Blue, green, and violet are viewed as cool colors, which may evoke feelings of peace and relaxation. Blue, ideal color for bedroom, is not suitable for office because it may lull us to sleep. Green is ideal color for office because it can generate calm and fresh emotions, which is also beneficial for better engagement and vitality. Yellow is a kind of attention-grabbing color, but when it is applied in the office, it may cause anxiety. Red is energetic and stirring, but usually right as accents only. For ideal home office colors, we can also choose white, ivory or gray as accent colors.

What do you think is the best office chairs?

Most of office staff may follow the daily routine of working in the office from nine to five as well as sitting in the office chair for at least eight hours. Such office life seems comfortable because there is no busy business trip, no hard physical labor. But why still a lot of us suffer from back pain?

Prolonged sitting in the office chairs has much to do with various health issues. Then a lot of people concern about the quality of office chairs. It is not right to attribute the back pain completely to the office chairs, yet ergonomic chairs or better office chairs can improve our sitting experience, thus reducing the back issues if we learn to sit in right position and get more rest during the work.

The use of back friendly office chairs is more and more emphasized among employers for a healthy working environment. We work for life, but we may never accept the fact that our better life is gained at the cost of health issues. We need better work environment, which needs to offer us a work friendly desk space and ergonomic office tools including keyboards, monitors or furniture.

What type of office chair are you sitting in right now? Is it more expensive executive style office chairs or just those plastic chairs without any adjustable features? If the case is the latter one, try to remind your boss about the better office chair. If the office chairs updated at your office are those one-size-fits-all chairs, you still need to tell you boss that this is not the best choice. Then what is the best office chair?

Modern office now put more emphasis on the style of office life. We can see the common substitute of colored chairs common for those traditionally black or gray chairs. Style is important for modern office chair and also crucial for inspiring creativity or enhancing mood of office staff. But for more efficient and healthy office life, chairs that incorporate the feature of health benefits shall be prioritized. The best office chairs shall be nicely designed for diversified office life and also consider the features of health benefits, including:

Arm rests of the office chair need to be low enough to allow the office staff to rest the shoulders comfortably. The arm rests of the chair also needs to be designed to the effect that we can bend our elbow at a comfortable ninety degree angle.

Besides, the ergonomic office chair shall be designed with adjustable seat height. Usually, we can not adjust the height of our desk, but we need to adjust the height of our office chairs because different office staff may differ in height or foot length. The height of the office chair shall be adjusted until our feet can be put flat on the floor with our arms at the height of our desk.

For comfortable sitting, we may need some extra cushioning. The chair needs to be made from breathable fabric so that we can sit comfortably for long hours.

One obvious feature of best ergonomic chair is its lumbar support. Our backs are naturally curved inward. Thus for right and comfortable sitting posture, we need to chairs to offer us enough support and this can be well done with specially designed lumbar accessory.

Do you have all these ergonomic furniture?

Ergonomic furniture witnesses a constant evolution with new technologies and our needs. Ergonomics is the practice of making the furniture fit us people, not the other way around. Ergonomic furniture has to be comfortable, prevent injury and enhance working efficiency by its design. More and more furniture tends to be ergonomic, from ergonomic chairs, desks, computer equipment, etc.

Then how many ergonomic furniture items do you have right now? If you find sitting at a desk or computer during most of the working day can be a pain, you may need to consider the use of furniture with ergonomic design. The poorly designed workstations may just worsen the pain in the back, neck or shoulders, though the pain is very common among office stuff. It is really necessary to equip your workplace with the ergonomic furniture items for reducing the amount of pain you experience. Here are some of the necessary ergonomic items we need to have.

Ergonomic Office Chair:

Ergonomic office chair is one of the most important furniture that we need, for we have to sit in the chair for many hours a day and poor chairs may just influence our comfort or even chronic conditions. Ergonomic chairs can give us extra support and they can offer enough cushioning to our lower back. The backrest of the ergonomic chair just allows us to sit at a comfy angle. Usually, ergonomic office chair can enhance productivity by at least 7% during the working day. Now ergonomic chairs come in various types and some are even designed to cater to specific health needs.

Ergonomic Desk:

Beside ergonomic chair, we still need a properly designed desk. The structure of office desk can affect the angle of our elbows, neck, wrists and influence the level of comfort when we are working by the desk. We need to get an ergonomic desk besides the ergonomic chair, which can place the monitor just in the line of our vision and make our wrists well supported. Just like ergonomic chair that can be adjusted to cater to different individual need, ergonomic desk also needs to be well adjusted for different body types.

Computer Mouse:

Computer mouse seems very trivial office furniture item, yet we have to use the mouse frequently and it needs to offer us comfort in hand. Ergonomic computer mouse can ensure our posture to be neutral while we use the computer. We can access the mouse very easily without twist or stress. Besides, ergonomic mouse has non slip surface for minimum tension in the arm when we try to secure hand placement on the mouse. Check out whether your mouse is ergonomic one. For better efficiency, an ergonomic mouse is necessary.

Ergonomic Computer Keyboard

Similar to ergonomic mouse, computer keyboard is the item that we has to frequently use for typing. For the most comfortable arm and wrist positioning, ergonomic keyboards are usually the ones with two pieces that can decrease the instance of chronic wrist pain. Ergonomic computer keyboards are not the ones that fit all. Instead, they are the keyboards that can be adjusted to meet different needs in posture or size.

Which Type of Ergonomic Office Chairs Are You Using Now?

Before asking you this question, I suppose most of you are now using ergonomic chairs in the workplace, right? Ergonomics is very important feature of modern furniture design in office area and ergonomic chairs are diversified, with a lot of different types for us to choose from.

The diversity of ergonomic chairs has much to do with the fact that chairs have to fit different individuals because of different bodies. Some people are fat or overweight, yet some are skinny. Some are tall and some are short. The chairs that fit overweight may not be the right one for the skinny persons.

The reason for different types of ergonomic chairs is partly explained by the fact that ergonomic chairs are used in different settings. Ergonomic chairs for computer programmers may not be that comfortable for dentists. People’s different budgets also decide the ergonomic chairs to be available in different types. Besides, ergonomic chairs come in different types because they are designed to realize certain function.

Though ergonomic chairs come in different types, all ergonomic chairs are similar in the role they act. Ergonomic office chairs offer best lumbar support to help us avoid back problems after prolonged sitting. Unlike traditional chairs, they provide us leg support so as to avoid circulation problems. Now all of the ergonomic office chairs are made with the principle that chairs have to fit us, which is in the past, we accept any chair given to us. The ergonomic chairs share a lot of features, such as seat depth, back weight, tilt tension, height adjustment, especially comfort. Ergonomic chairs prioritize comfort. The difference may be the fact that some of the features are fixed yet some are adjustable.

Another difference may be the design of the ergonomic chairs based on their supposed function. Here are some popular types of ergonomic office chairs. Take a look and see which one you are using right now.



Adjustable Back Support Chairs

The ergonomic chairs with adjustable back support are chairs commonly used in offices where office staff have different heights. For maximum comfort, increased productivity, the chair has lumbar back support that can best fits our curve and prevent stress to our back.

Executive Ergonomic Chairs

The executive ergonomic chairs belong to higher end chairs and usually they are the expensive chairs for executives. They are made of impressive materials, most often tailor made from high quality leather, velvet or other expensive materials.

Ergonomic Kneeling Chairs

Kneeling chairs obviously have a bit strange seat. The strange seat is designed for health benefits, which can support our back effectively. When we are seated in the kneeling chairs, the thighs drop at about 70 degrees from vertical, so that the shins support the body weight, which can helps eliminate pressure on our back. Ergonomic kneeling chairs may be effective chairs for those who suffer from back issues want to reduce pain.

Ball Chairs

From the name of the ergonomic chair, we can easily know the chair has a ball and it is a ball that supports us in a sitting position. The ball is actually designed to be used with desk chairs or computer chairs. Seated in the ball chairs, we can actually freely change our sitting position as we like. It offers us active sitting as if we can move on the chairs until we sit comfortably.

Recliner Chairs

Recliner chairs are often associated with medical function. For those who suffer from degenerative disc diseases, recliner chairs are better choice and the propped up footrests can offer best support to the feet. It can allow people to sit in reclined positions comfortably.

When Ergonomics Realized in the Office Chair Design?

Just like our shoes that we wear during most of the day, office chairs are where we spend much of our time. Not fun as shoes, office chairs put more emphasis on status and taste and affect the way our body feels. We may spend more time in picking out a pair of comfortable and nice shoes, but we usually accept the chair which is just there and choose to sit on it. We choose a pair of shoes that fit our feet, yet ignore to select an office chair that fits us.

Over the years, chair designers gradually make change to the office chairs and make it perfect. Then why is there still no perfect chair till now? Absolutely, we still haven't yet found the perfect office chair. For any better chair over the older ones, more and more features of the chairs have been improved. Read on.

Chair Design Concept of Body Conscious Seating

Thousands of years ago, hardly was there any association of chair with body. Around 3000 B.C, there were some changes in the design of chair that obviously considered comfort as one of the feature of chairs, or exactly, chairs to be designed to allow workers efficient performance. The three legged stool with a concave seat and slight tilt angle came as a hint that chairs are designed to aid the body.

Chairs with Movement of Body Deemed Immoral

Then chairs had a lot of variations, functional or nice. It was around 1860 chairs with cast iron and velvet came out, with emphasize movement or posture. Such chairs can swivel or tilt. But they were deemed immoral,

More Smart Designs of Chair Yet None Popular

Chairs that can swivel or tilt just got a lot of skeptical. The late 19th century was an exceptionally innovative time when chairs came in more and more smart designs. The smart design was mainly credited to engineers and doctors who create chairs based on studies of bodily movement and the chairs with smart design, especially with features such as adjustable backrests, seat height, seat-tilt tension and other features that can be seen from ergonomic chairs just made activities like surgery, dentistry or hairdressing easier. At that time, preference for rocking chair just dwarfed the chairs with such smart designs.

The beginning of 20th century witnessed an emergence of various aesthetically influential office chairs, yet they were chairs without body-conscious design. Designers seemed less interested in making the chair fit the human body than the surrounding decoration.

Chairs for comfort or laziness?

In the 1920s, the idea was popular among designers that those chairs designed for comfortable seating was intended for laziness and it was common for workers to sit on backless benches. In response to declining productivity and illness, especially among women, a swiveling chair with a curved backrest that could be adjusted to suit the height came out. I was said to solve problems caused by slouching in the chairs.

Chairs Tend to Be Cool in 1950s and 1960s

Who popularized the term of ergonomics? It is clear that during the second World War and about 100 years later, this term occurred and chair researchers did more research about the workplace and our bodies, yet ergonomics was almost strange to designers or consumer. Aesthetics suppressed developments in body-conscious design.

Early 1970s Witnessed the Popularity of Ergonomics in Chair Design

Technology is useless unless any influential person embraces it and still makes it look decent. It was in early 1970s that chair designers started to have any interest in ergonomic principles. At that time, ergonomics notion was still not mature and even oversimplified.

Ergon Chair Introduced Ergonomics to a Broader Audience

Modern manufacturer Herman Miller released its Ergon Chair n 1976, and the chair just brought the notion of ergonomic seating to a greater audience. Though still without any moving parts, the chairs offered critical posture support and that made it a really big deal.

After 1970s, ergonomics chairs got more and more improved in aspect of style. Chairs could adapt to the human movements and offer comfort and support in a less elegant way. Later, various styles of ergonomic chairs appeared, such as the kneeling chair.

In 1980s, ergonomics got all the rage. More and more ergonomic chairs went into office areas and this had much to do with the computer related injury in the era when computers became an office staple. The Aeron Chair is probably the only ergonomic office chair that people outside the chair world know by name. The ergonomic chair offered lumbar support, incorporating a molded pad into the curvature of the backrest. This just inspired designers to make a chair fit an individual just as shoes do.

Now, modern office chairs got more and more improved and tend to benefit both mind and body. Modern office chair can swivel around and that we can sit on it in all directions. The emergence of many impressive chairs just made the word ergonomic utterly meaningless. There is no standard way to define whether a chair is ergonomic or not, but a lot of questions like “What is comfort?” or “What should an office chair accomplish?”occur. The stand up desks just create sit-stand work stations. A lot wonder whether we choose to sit or stand.

Chair Purchase Tips: Parts of Ergonomic Chairs That We Should Check

Assuming that you have potential office chair purchase, which parts of the chairs will you pay more attention to? Ergonomics seems a must have feature especially when the chairs are intended for frequent use in corporate working area or home office. Ergonomic feature makes the office chairs more comfortable to sit in and can help us improve efficiency. But ergonomic chairs are not the chairs that can solve all the possible health issues caused by prolonged sitting.

There are still a lot of chairs parts we need to check when we buy a new chair. Besides, some factors may just set apart an ergonomic chair from a normal one. Here are some tips that we need to consider so as to get the best office chairs for our needs.



Adjustable seat:

The seat has to be adjustable and this is a very important ergonomic feature. When the seat is adjustable, we can make sure its height just appropriate to the other furniture we use when we sit for working, such as computer monitors, office table. Usually, people with different body proportions may need different adjustment of the seat height, tilt tension, etc so as to achieve the best adjustment for different heights.. The height of the chair needs to be adjusted via a lever on the side.

Sturdy chair base:

We need to check the base of the ergonomic chairs we buy. Commonly, ergonomic chair has stable leg base which offers support to the remainder of the seat. If the chair has less than five legs, it is likely to tip and can not guarantee safety when we sit on it. The chair base has to be equipped with castors for easy movement.

Chair bases now come in different finishes and most often, a heavy duty nylon one can be quality one. For those overweight people, chase of metal base might be ideal. We need to avoid cheap plastic chair base, which may lead to injury. If you need a chair strong enough and still not heavy one, choose the chair with aluminum base, and usually such chairs are more stylish. For more durable chair that will not easily scuff, choose the chrome one.

Supportive arm rests
For comfortable sitting, the chair also needs to have supportive arm rest so that we can get our lower arms and wrists ideally positioned and sit with the best posture to reach a mouse or keyboard with little effect. The arm rest has to be adjusted to suit different arm length as well. For an ideal arm rest, it has to be wide enough for easy entry and exist and high enough for proper posture.

Chair back:

Next, check the chair back, which is one of the most important part of chair, a part that supports our back. Usually, ergonomic chair has no standard back rest and the back rest reclines once it receives a certain amount of force. When we sit suddenly, the back rest can absorb force from our upper body so as to help reduce the impact on our body. The tension can just be adjusted based on our weight. The back of the chair also needs to be firmly padded for best fitting our lumber curvature.

Remember we buy the chairs with the aim of controlling our seating position, not the chair. We need to better check these parts to make the chair best fit us. We need to check the major parts of ergonomic chair, tension back rest, adjustable seat, supportive arm rest and durable base.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Ergonomic Office Chairs

Ergonomic office furniture such as ergonomic chairs is one of the most important elements for modern office environment. The wide use of ergonomic furniture in modern workplace has much to do with various health issues that occurred especially after the use of computers in the office. Ergonomic chairs have improved health problems such as pain to the back, shoulder or neck after prolonged sitting. Though now standard practice for modern office, ergonomic chair is not perfect and still a lot of issues remain.

Among all the different ergonomic products for modern office, ergonomic office chairs are one of the widely used furniture. Compared to the traditional office chairs, ergonomic office chairs are flexible in that they can be adjusted to fit different users, offer lumbar support and reduce stress caused by prolonged fixed sitting posture.

People have different body figure and we need chairs that offer us different needs. For example, for those overweight people, a large chair that can support heavy weight is needed. If you sit in standard chairs, they are at risk of injury or the chairs may easily get broken. For those people with different height, chairs need to be adjusted for offering the most comfortable sitting posture so that they can work comfortably before the computer for 8 hours or even more. For those with chiropractic conditions, the chairs still need special supports.

When we get a new ergonomic chair, we need to have a check at the chairs and adjust the chairs for its maximum ergonomic effect. Usually, the chair has to be comfortable and all parts of the working area can be easily accessible from the chair.

It seems that ergonomic chairs are really great chairs that have solved so many problems. Actually, nothing in the world is perfect. Here are some cons of ergonomic chairs. Now in the market, we can see too many ergonomic chairs. Almost every chair we see is associated with ergonomics. Yet some of the chairs are non adjustable or badly designed. Such ergonomic chairs are actually a hazard.

The chairs may hardly allow us to reach things in our office. Check out the ergonomic chairs you use and see whether they are pressed too close to the desk. In this way, the chair may place stress to our body. Besides, when we believe the ergonomic chairs can help us avoid back pain or neck pain, we may seldom stand up from the chair for some movement. The chair just allows us restricted movement, bringing us further stains on our muscle and actually the chair never solves the problems of prolonged sitting.

Ergonomic furniture actually still affects our posture. For example, there are some ergonomic desk, or exactly a bench which we still lean forward. The spine or back problem is just waiting to happen.

Anyway, when we upgrade our furniture to ergonomic one, we shall never depend on the ergonomic furniture for avoiding the possible health issues.

Chairs That Explains When Style Meets Function

Chairs are the furniture that offers us basic function of sitting and they are very common furniture at home, in the office, in the library, in the public areas, etc. They are functional. Yet they can also be stylish. Here we would like to share some of the chairs that are both functional and stylish. You may find them in the office or you can bring home such chairs that say when style meets function.

This is a chair with the design concept inspired by skull. Do you dare to sit on such chair? It is much about a surreal piece of furniture that prioritizes the art elements, with a brain footstool go complement it. It is actually designed with inspiration of still life paintings by the Dutch masters in the 17th century. The lines of the chairs are spectacular. Just imagine the idea of incorporating  death into the enjoyment of life - comfortable seat in such a cozy and attractive chair and living in the moment. That’s a really nice piece of art.



This is also a cool chair that well combines the style and function, which are less common to seen. The seat is a wall and sofa as well, separated by a stretchy membrane separating the space in between to offer a very relaxing sitting area that allows two people to interact with each other who sit at the two sides of the wall. It is functional in that it can be used as a seat and also vertical hammock.



This is a chic chair with three dimensional model created by a computer program. The curves of the chair just explain contemporary style. It is a chair about form following function. The metal material, the curves and the sleek surface all make the chair modern one. Maybe ladies will more love such chairs.

It is a chair that looks as if it is not durable and weak. It is a chair made from steamed bend wood, inspired from boat building techniques. Sitting on this chair is a bit like floating on a small boat. It is a modern chair with classic style. Place it in the office or use it at home. It is functional and also nice accessory.



This is a chair with the shape of coffee cup. It seems much proper furniture in the coffee bar. Get such a chair home and sit on it. It can also be used as an office chair. It is a chair and also a work of pop art. Made from scented cedar, the chair just gives out natural scent. Sitting in such a designer chair and enjoy a cup of coffee. That is really a fantastic experience.

Tips on Buying New Chairs: Ergonomics, Comfort, Durability & Budget

Face it. We have to spend most of the time sitting, at home, in the office, at a coffee bar or in a library. Everyone, from students to bosses will have to sit for extended time period. A well designed ergonomically sound chair shall be a top priority for our office or home. A comfortable chair can help with improved productivity, health and even mood.

It is know that people who sit over 8 hours a day are more likely to suffer from muscular-skeletal disorder. Sitting in a wrong chair may even increase the risk. A well chosen chair will survive for many years and offer ergonomic need, comfort that allow the chair to better fit us. Yet a poor chair may worsen our back issues or other maladies. There are too many chair choices available and usually, it is hard to find a perfect chair for everyone, which is because different people have different needs. But when we choose a new office chair, there are some things that we need to look for in a ideal office chair.

Adjustable

We human body have different shapes and sizes, which decides the chairs for different people need to be different, or exactly, the chairs have to be adjustable in sizes or shapes. Now most of the office chairs have adjustable parts and this just help make the chairs better fit individuals. It is important to find a chair with adjustable seat height, angle of backrest or other parts such as armrests and headrest. The more adjustable parts, the better the chair can suit different people.

Ergonomic

Ergonomics is now much about making the chairs adapt to people and make daily sitting more comfortable. As an ideal ergonomic chairs, they have to offer good lumbar support. When we sit in a proper posture, the chair back can naturally follow the curve of our spine or an ergonomically sound chair will force our spine into the natural S shaped curve. In this way, prolonged sitting will impose little pressure on our back.

Comfortable

Chairs have to be comfortable to sit in. For a comfortable chair, it has to prevent us from being tired or hit by aches. For maximum comfort, we can buy a chair with proper padding or other elements for extra comfort we need during prolonged sitting. For a comfortable chair, the materials of the chair also count a lot. Usually, a leather chair can be much comfortable than wood chairs.

Durable

If a chair offers us ergonomics, comfort and adjustable features yet falls apart within months, it can never be called a good chair. It is very important to know whether the chair is durable enough. A durable chair will have long lasting materials. Most often, the man-made foams or fibers may easily tear. For a durable chair, choose the one with metal joints or structure.

Budget

Budget is always what we care about. We do not have to spend thousands of dollars on a new ergonomic office chairs, especially when we have limited budget. Now ergonomic office chairs that can offer us more functions have been less expensive because of the competition in chair industry. We need to compare and try as more chairs as possible.

Tips on How to Make the Office Chairs More Comfortable

Whether you work from home or in the office, you know that sitting in the chairs isn't really comfortable as it seems to be, especially if the chairs are of poor quality. We all have to sit in the chairs, and the chairs may just feel right or not comfortable. The proper office chairs, I am guessing, is the chair that can be adjusted to the most comfortable sitting posture and offer the best back support. Is your chair comfortable enough? Here are some tips to make our sitting more comfortable.

One of the easiest ways to make the sitting comfortable is to invest in an ultra comfortable office chair. Ergonomic chairs are such chairs worth investment, especially for modern office where office staff has to work for at least eight hours one day. Make sure the ergonomic chairs we choose have the best lumbar back support or try it to see whether the chair curve just follows naturally the curve of our lower back. Never try to save extra dollars by dragging over a chair from somewhere else in our house for a cheap office chair. For less health risk, we need a comfy chair.

Have a check of the levers or the knobs on the chairs. The lever of ergonomic chair allows us to unlock the chair and gain some movement when we sit on it. This can just reduce any discomfort or stiffness when we are seated in it. For those who suffer from back pain, a chair with “open” angles, such as back rest movement can offer us much better experience. Some of the chairs can move the seat pad and back rest together, others may move the chair parts separately.

For comfortable sitting, we also need to pay attention to our sitting posture. We need to sit right. Sit straight with our feet on the floor. This is the basic step. Right sitting posture can reduce many uncomfortable sitting positions. Remember to check and see whether you sit right and then check the chair.

If we sit right in office chairs with right levers yet we still sit uncomfortably, try to add some extra back support or footrest. Ensure enough support for more padding so that our back can be well supported. Add a footrest under the desk and keep the feet in the proper position.

If you've tried everything above and still fail to get a comfortable sitting, maybe it's time for a new chair. Expect to spend a few hundred dollars for a good chair.

Tips on Office Chairs Choice for Home & Workplace

What type of the office chair is at your home office or in your workplace? Is it soft bean bags, wooden chair, plastic chair or ergonomic chair? Whatever type of office chairs we are using, here are some tips about the right chair choice.

For office chairs, there are actually various testing requirements, which are conducted to check out the strength, stability and durability of the chairs. Among all the various testings, the weight tolerance of the chair is usually the most important one. Most of the quality chairs have to bear a tolerance of at least 110kg. Usually, the office chair has to be approved for use of up to 8 hours or even more. There are actually some chairs in the market for occasional use which might only bear a weight tolerance of 70kg.

We have probably known that the office chairs that we use five days a week for eight hours each day will be in good condition for many years. The office chairs usually offer a guarantee, say, a five year guarantee. Usually, a bit more expensive office chair with longer time of use guarantee can save us money in the long run. Now, a lot of chair manufacturer may offer separate guarantees, say, 5 years on mechanism, armrests and 2 years on fabric or castors. When we buy the chairs, we need to balance the cost against the guarantee.

Office chairs are diversified over the past years, with ergonomics as the most obvious trend. Ergonomic office chairs have a lot of new features in tilt mechanism, adjustment of height, angle or headrest, lumbar support, etc. We can adjust the backrest till the chair just well support our lower back. We can adjust the height of the chair based on our individual height until our feet can just rest flat on the floor. For an ergonomic chair, its depth can be adjusted to just accommodate our leg length. Whether we work at home or workplace, we need to sit on the chair with armrest which can be adjusted well to allow our forearms to rest comfortably while we sit at a desk.

Are you ever aware that office chairs have hours usage guidelines? If we use the home office chair just for checking email a few times a day or just paying some bills, we may choose the chairs with hours usage of 3 hours. But if we work an average 8 hour each day, a chair with 8 or more hours usage guideline is necessary.

Now office chairs come in various styles, sizes and shapes. If you do not like the common black leather ergonomic chairs, try to get a colored one for a change in the workplace. But as for the size, the choice may not be easy because the size of chair has much to do with comfort. The general standard of chair width is 500-520mm. But if you are the one with a very slight frame, get a chair with seat width of 460 or 480mm. If you need a more generous seat, get the one with width of 590mm.

Creative Ways of Dressing Up Chairs for Christmas Season

Just a few days left till Christmas. Are you ready for home decoration? Home decoration during the special holiday season means trimming the tree, hanging stockings by the fireplaces, adding more decorative holiday lights for warm glow, draping garland on he stair rail and preparing various gifts.



Since our guests will be at our house at any moment during the holiday season, the dinning table, or exactly where our holiday feast happens most often needs to be well decorated, especially the chairs. Chairs can be well decorated to spice up the festive dinner.

Decorating the dining room chairs or home office chairs is sometimes simple yet can create spectacular effect. Here are a few decoration tips for chairs during Christmas. Add some festive touch to the chairs.

Try to decorate the dining chairs with the same white slipcovers accented by red bows. For more festival vibe of Christmas, add some greenery.

For something more precious and much softer or warmer, embellish the chairs with feathered angel wings, which look really adorable. Make sure they are kept clean during the Christmas season.

Wreaths are always must-have for Christmas theme. Try to decorate the chairs with some wreaths, especially the red ones. Place them on the back of the chair.

For the chairs outdoor, try to add some lovely jingle bells, which might create some nice sound when there is wind slightly blowing them.

Green and read colors are always the most pleasant color for Christmas. Add some pheasant feathers mixed with red bows and green colored ornaments for an unusual touch.



That's really nice tip to use the Santa hat chair covers for the chair decoration during the Christmas season. Kids love Santa Claus and the hat covers just add a cute and festive-themed flair. It is also a fun addition to any holiday party.



Dress the chair up with some red green clown legging cover and that is really cute.

Dress up the chair with lace bow and that is also suitable for Valentine's day. Just add some romantic touch to the Christmas dining time.