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Chairs that Won't Wreck Your Back?
texatut asks: "I'm sure many of you are familiar with this secenario. You spend 10-12 hours a day in a crappy chair, and your back pays the price. I know there are chairs there that cost in excess of $1000 that alleviate the problem, but that's a lot of money to pay for a chair. I wanted to ask you all to give recommendations and opinions on chairs that are in a slightly lower price range, say, below $600. My back thanks you in advance."
Having said that, I'd get one with lower back support - makes it a lot easier to sit for a stretch and still be productive. Check out a few ergonomics diagrams available on the net and set up your work space accordingly - your entire body will thank you.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
to get a girl to sit on your lap while you sit on a cheap chair. You won't even think about your back(or work)!
Monstar L
One of these!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Get an Aeron. and you back will love you forever for it. You can get new ones for just over $600 and probably less if you can find one used (try craigslist).
I have one at work and at home. They're terrific. Once you use them, you'll never want to go back.
HTH,
-Bill
SlashSig Karma: Excellent (mostly affected by moderatio
Don't always sit on a chair.
Sit on an excercise ball for a while.
Sit on a kneeling chair for a while.
Shift positions a lot.
Get a headset so you don't have to hold a phone to your head.
Do back exercises every morning and every night. Sit ups, "superman"s (extensions).
And of course, get up and walk around every hour.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Dude,
Get off your butt and go to a store and try sitting in some different chairs!
There are hundreds of chair designs out there and I've sat in a variety of crappy chairs. If you want a good one, you are going to pay for it. The reason office chairs cost so much is because they are built to last a long time. We've got chairs that are over 20 years old from Steel Case. Generally, I am not pleased with the newer chairs and actually prefer the old ones. But they don't work for fat people because you can't sit down if you can't get your ass past the arm rests. Heck some fat folks ordered these chairs with arm rests the slide to the sides to accommodate their fat assess.
Want to save money? Look for used office furniture shops, you could get a great chair for a whole lot less then what they cost new.
at work we have desks that are adjustable in height. if i find myself uncomfortable at some point in the day, i'll just lift the desk (we have spring-loaded and motorized versions, both almost effortless to operate) and work standing for a while.
does wonders.
Your back will hurt a lot for the first 2 weeks as the muscles develop strength, persevere and take a break when it becomes too much. After a little while like this your back will be strong and posture good.
The important thing with a swiss ball is the height of it, when you sit on it your knees should be slightly below your ass.
Make sure you get a good strong ball, the cheap ones simply do NOT work.
I have a mediball pro 65cm which is good for my height (186cm), and haven't had any complaints in the couple of years that I've been using it.
Take your wallet out of your back pocket when working. it makes quite the difference..
But still a lot less than the price of wrecking your back in 5 years. Really, if you are sitting 10-12 hours a *day* in the same chair, then you are spending a tremendous amount of time in front of your computer and you better get the best ergonomics you can.
Really, if you are willing to spend $600, then you are already considering some high end chairs. Find the one that feels the best and dont worry so much about the price (assuming it doesnt cost $10K or something crazy). They are built to last and will serve you well for years to come.
Try the Sum chair from All Steel Office http://www.allsteeloffice.com/sum/launch.html/ (flash warning). I have one myself. Very comfortable and adjustable, and comes with a lifetime warranty to boot.
.... if you do nothing to take care of your back.
-Do some pilates or yoga. I know, rubish new ageism, but try to do a couple of exercises for begineers and then tell me if youa re on shape or not.
-Exercise. Any exercise will do.
-Don't sit that many hours in front of a computer. Takes brakes often and regularly.
Ultimately any chair that is adjustable will work, even cheap crappy ones.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
While I love my Aeron, it's not the secret to eliminating back pain. If your back muscles are weak, sitting up for 12+ hours will hurt in any chair that doesn't fasten around the torso and hold your spine straight for you.
Do some excercises. If you have to spend most of your day sitting, you can reduce the time you spend on it by slowly adding weight. The things you should be doing are sit-ups (with a weight held cross armed on your chest if you only want to do 25 reps instead of 100), deadlifts (get a weight for each hand, or a bar, bend your knees only slightly and then bend at your lower back lifting with your lower back muscles. Keep your upper back straight or you'll hurt yourself), and some upper back work depending on equipment availablity. If you have access to some gym equipment, do some pulldowns with a bar that lets your hands face inward. If you don't, get some dumbells, lie on your chest, and with your arms out lift them 3 or four inches off the floor and hold them up for a few seconds. When you're not really weak anymore you can try some pullups. If you're to the point where you have upper back pain from sitting, and there's nothing physically injured about your back though, it'll probably be a while before you can do even one pull-up.
Spend 10-15 minutes a day staying in shape a bit and you won't have any back pain. (Except for the first few days after you start... You'll hurt like you've never hurt before those first few days...)