An ergonomic office chair is highly recommended to anyone who spends a lot of time working at a desk, whether that's at home or in the office.
Ergonomic chairs are designed to provide optimal support regardless of the user's position or posture, thereby allowing the user to remain comfortable over long periods and eliminating the discomfort, fatigue, and resulting loss of productivity and quality of life that come from sitting in a non-ergonomic chair.
Ergonomic Office Chairs: The Basics There are no legal restrictions as to what may or may not be marketed as an "ergonomic" chair, and as such you'll find that there are a lot of different types of ergonomic chairs on the market which offer significantly different levels of comfort and quality.
In order to qualify as what we would consider a true ergonomic office chair, a chair has to be well engineered and designed in accordance with ergonomics research.
Most importantly, in order to be truly and effectively ergonomic, a chair should be perfectly suited to you.
That means that it should fit not only your body type, but it should also be suited to the way you like to sit, and to the tasks that you need to do on a regular basis.
Benefits An ergonomic office chair will provide numerous benefits over non-ergonomic chairs.
The most basic advantage they provide, of course, is superior comfort.
While some non-ergonomic chairs may be very comfortable to sit in for short periods of time, they are not designed to accommodate a variety of positions, nor do they encourage good posture, and these two things can lead to serious problems.
For one thing, sitting in one position can become uncomfortable after a short time.
Poor posture, meanwhile, is harmful in that it places undue stress on specific areas of the body, usually the back, which leads to chronic pain.
Ergonomic chairs prevent these problems.
They are designed to accommodate different positions, so you can remain in the chair for a longer period of time without becoming uncomfortable, and they promote proper posture, which prevents the development of physical problems.
In the workplace, these benefits mean that you can be more productive, because your work will not be inhibited by physical discomfort; you also won't be taking that pain home with you, so having an ergonomic office chair will actually improve your quality of life in general.
Examples of ergonomic office chairs Here are some of the ergonomic office chair models that we feel offer the greatest benefits.
The Steelcase Leap chair is possibly the most adjustable chair on the market when you factor in the possible number of settings as well as ease of use.
The Herman Miller Aeron chair is another extremely popular choice, thanks in part to its comfortable and highly breathable mesh material.
The Steelcase Think is an innovative ergonomic chair with a unique style and some nice, comfort-adding features.
The Herman Miller Embody chair offers the ultimate in comfort at a premium price.
The Humanscale Liberty chair is a solid and highly durable chair with some interesting options.
The Humanscale Freedom chair is an ergonomic task chair suitable for people who prefer to recline while working.