The human body evolved over tens of thousands of years, allowing us to become hunter-gatherers and farmers, with our bodies constantly on the move in a variety of tasks. Over the last 30 - 50 years we have tried to make these active, dynamic bodies sit still for longer and longer periods each day - and they do not like it. Today many people experience pain and discomfort at work.

Whilst these difficulties can be attributed to a culmination of many factors, e.g. incorrect desk, poor mouse posture, stress etc., one of the greatest contributors is poor seated posture. Good seating can reduce the risk of stress and injury to muscles and joints, encouraging movement, variety and flexibility.

Your body is not a stationary vehicle - it is designed to move. So much so that your body has a built-in warning system that encourages you to move and change position. Pain and discomfort are early warnings from your body to change your current postural habits to ones that reduce the pain and discomfort. Ignore the warnings and the consequences can be severe and long lasting.

The good news is that you can change your habits and re-educate your body. The chairs we have selected will help and encourage you to achieve this posture more naturally, making it easy to sustain supported correct posture and active movement.

The seating requirements for "office work" vary from task to task and user to user. The choice of chair should be made on the basis of the working position that predominates during your working day.

Backward to upright
For people who spend most of their time on the telephone, in meetings, reading or who have neck and shoulder problems.
Click here to view the chairs

Backward, upright and forward
Chairs for a varied work style, leaning forward reading/keyboarding, upright for conferencing, leaning back when on the phone or for people with neck and shoulder pain.
Click here to view chairs

Upright to forward
A design that allows great postural variety without the need to constantly adjust any controls, ideal for dual height working for instance between a drawing board and a desk.
Click her to view Perching Stools

Leaning forward
Offers a seated posture particularly suited to people who spend most of their working day leaning forward. For example, data inputers, microscope users, light / sound desk or bench workers.
Click here to view solutions

Specialist Seating
For users who require a chair for a specialist task or require particular features in a chair.
Click here to view solutions

Why do chairs have so many adjustments? No two bodies are the same, even ones that are the same height. We have different thigh and shin lengths, deep/shallow lumbar curves, long/short spines etc. You then have to account for genetics, working habits and injuries etc. Manufacturers accommodate this by offering a wide variety of adjustments, but what do they all do and why?

• Height adjustable seat allows you to adjust the chair so that feet are firmly on the floor or footrest. Also ensures that keyboard/work surface are at an appropriate height. In a perfect world you should be able to achieve both without a footrest (see height adjustable desks).
  
• Seat depth adjustment allows you to adjust the seat depth by moving the seat or backrest in and out. When seated you need to be fully supported by the backrest. If you are short in the thigh you will need to reduce the seat depth so that you can reach the backrest and reduce pressure on the back of your thighs. Under tall people often perch on the front of the seat, getting no support from the backrest, compromising their natural posture and causing their muscles to overwork. If you are long in the thigh, seat depth adjustment will allow you to support your thighs correctly.
  
• Backrest angle adjustment changes the angle of the backrest relative to the seat. Reclining the backrest whilst not working forward (keying or writing) allows the backrest to take some of the weight of your upper body. This in turn reduces the pressure on disks and muscles.

Our Physiotherapist says

"People suffering with sciatica (common indications are pains around the back of hips and down legs) can benefit greatly by opening the angle between trunk and thigh using the backrest angle or rake adjustment. This should not be increased too much though as if too wide, you will find it difficult to keep a curve in your back."

• Chair reclines or tilts allow the whole chair to tilt relative to the floor. Chairs recline for the same reason given above, to reduce the pressure on disks and muscles, allowing you to relax and reduce the strain on your back. There are two types of tilt; one that pivots from the central point under the seat, your feet will come off the floor as you recline. The other is a knee tilt where the pivot is closer behind the knees, foot lift is negligible and your back and head will descend more than a central pivot. This allows movement without loosing support.
  
• Seat angle or tilt adjustment allows the seat to tilt forward to rotate the pelvis. When you stand up your pelvis rotates forward, this posture produces the least amount of stress on muscles, tendons and discs whilst upright. It also pulls the chest out, increases lung capacity and facilitates breathing as well as improving the working of the heart and blood circulation; it also allows you an open abdomen, which aids digestion. When your pelvis is tilted forward your lumbar spine curves naturally and the rest of your spine follows. This posture should be adopted when working upright or forward. The backward seat tilt can be used in conjunction with the backrest tilt to relax the spine and take some pressure off disks and muscles.
  
• Height adjustable armrests to support the weight of your arms, removing the muscle work for shoulders and upper arms. Armrests can be of particular benefit for support when keying or mousing. However - if they are not adjustable they can cause problems when armrests hit the edges of tables, causing users to key/mouse with a straight arm or perch on the front of the chair receiving no back support (See our sections on arm or wrist pain).

Our Physiotherapist says

"If your armrests hit the desk edge and you have to lean forward or work low with them under the desk, either remove them or get a chair with short height adjustable armrests."

• Width adjustable armrests allow you to position the armrest the correct distance from your body. Armrests that are close to the body can help avoid splayed elbows, which in turn cause the wrists to bend to the side during activities such as keying.
  
• Padded armrests could avoid uncomfortable pressure on the undersides of the forearms and elbows
  
• Lumbar support is intended to avoid flattening of the lumbar spine that can occur when seated, and is used best in conjunction with a tilting seat. Lumbar support is achieved through gentle curves in the backrest shape or inserts into the body of the backrest.
  
• Lumbar depth changes the depth and sometimes the firmness of the lumbar support curve in a chair's backrest and accommodates different preferences and body shapes.
  
• Backrest height changes the height of the lumbar support area of the chair backrest. This feature accommodates preferences by different workers regarding where the lumbar support curve contacts the back.

Our Physiotherapist says

"Good lumbar posture is vital for the whole spine, if you slump, your head angles down, you then spend the day looking up at your screen. Try it, you’ll see what I mean."

• Headrests are particularly helpful for people with neck and shoulder problems, and they allow the muscles in this area to relax, thereby increasing the blood flow. Normally only used when slightly reclined.

IF YOU HAVE THE ADJUSTMENTS - USE THEM! We can't stress this enough. Many people have perfectly good chairs but have never taken the time to find out what they do. At Posturite we try very hard to make sure that everyone who buys something from us knows how to use it, either by personal set up, telephone support or fact sheets.

Our Physiotherapist says "MOVE - Use the adjustments on your chair to help you adopt different postures. This allows the muscles you have been using a break, increasing the blood flow and aiding relaxation. It also promotes healthy disks as they rely on movement for nutrients. Fidget! Listen to your body!"