So my back and shoulders hurt. I know why this is, my desk in which I sit chair sucks. It is a hard dinner table chair. I would like to get a real lumbar support desk chair. The issue is my ass after the squishing of sitting is to wide for the basic cheap office chair. My outer legs get pinched against the arm rests. So I just use armless dinner chairs at home.
The fancy $500 everything adjustable chairs often don’t even have move out able arm rests. I have tried a few chairs at Office Depot, but every chair is comfortable for a couple minutes, and I doubt they would appreciate me moving in for 6 hours of computing to really check it out. There are some nice seeming ones on the internet but they are often available order only, with no ass smush testing available at all.
So does anybody else with a fat ass have any suggestions? Preferably something with move-outable arm rests, but any thing with decent back support without arm rests is a consideration. And hopefully under $150(around 100 ideally), the reason I am in my home chair for 10 hours a day is because of job searching.
I just went through the chair-buying process. I sit at my desk 10-12 hours a day AND I am a fatass!
I got some good advice from the SDMB before I started - buy your chair from a local office furniture store.
Here’s how it worked…
I contacted a guy by email, told him what me and my co-worker were looking for
We went to the showroom and the guy let us sit in some chairs and play with their features
We chose two chairs. “Test models” were delivered to my house (which is my office) about a week after we’d tested.
We both used each chair for about a week, testing them out.
My co-worker settled on one chair, and I decided neither chair was for me.
We put the order in for co-worker’s chair, and it was delivered to his house (which is his office) about 3 weeks later.
His chair cost us about $600 I believe. I wish I could remember the brand but I can’t.
The reason I declined buying one of the models we chose to test was that after a week of sitting in them, I realized my legs were slightly too short for the chairs and sitting in them cut off circulation to my feet. Everything else about the chair was fine. They were both super fancy with lots and lots of adjustments.
So, the office chair salesman suggested I check out Sitmatic chairs, which are fully customizable with an option for a super-short base. They also have extra-wide seat options and all sorts of other options for “special needs.” I didn’t actually get to sit in my chair before I ordered it, but I did a lot of research and a lot of back-and-forth with the salesman. I haven’t gotten the chair yet - it’s coming this week! After all the customization I did, I’m sure it will be awesome.
Anyway, Sitmatic has lots of options, possibly ones under $150 for the OP. My chair is balls-out custom and a top-end model so it was $740 (including delivery).
However, even if you can’t find something affordable with Sitmatic I do suggest contacting a local office furniture place and see what they can do for you. If you want to test out a chair before buying, that’s definitely the way to go.
Personally, I’ve fantasized about getting a comfy frou-frou boudoir type side chair and just replacing the legs with wheels. I realize the arms would not be adjustable - but then i could sit cross-legged in my chair without having my feet fall asleep all the time.
Posture and your entire desk setup is really important. Our old HR person was a stickler on position of monitor, keyboard, chair height, etc. So don’t just look at your chair, try to evaluate your entire work environment.
Another chair option? I’ve got some friends who use those big blue palete (sp?) balls and swear that it helps their posture a lot.
You can unscrew the arms from certain office chairs. I usually do so, because I like sitting all sprawled out, plus the chair takes up less space without arms, plus I’m a fat ass.
Have you checked into the Aeron chairs? They have adjustable armrests, both vertical and horizontal. They also have a sliding lumbar support dealy on the back of the chair.
I find it pretty comfortable. I have one at my office at work. I can’t quite justify spending that much for my chair at home, though.
I’m not an ortho or anything you might call an expert. Just a daily sitter. Wheeled swivel chairs with arms are fine if you can fit in. Wide-bodied people will be more comfortable with armless chairs but the trouble is, the swivel and the wheels are a hazard when you try to sit down at a bad angle, or in a hurry. A number of portly colleagues of mine ended up on their butts when they tried to sit down in a careless manner.
If you don’t like the rigid kitchen chair, which is the safest, get a swivel with locking wheels, and whose arms can be ratcheted outwards on either side to accommodate anyone sitting down. Once seated, the arms can be ratcheted back inwards for comfort and safety.
^^This, Bosu Ball (as I know them) chair. Excercise ball that you can also get a set of wheels (with or without backrest attachment).
I’ve used one in the past and it was very comfortable. I don’t know if there are arm rest attachments or not, I’ve never seen any.
Otherwise, with a traditional office chair, you get what you pay for, buy cheap and you get cheap. I have seen extra wide office chairs, but not cheap ones. You’re not going to find quality or comfort at walmart prices unless you stumble on a used chair that hasn’t been abused (uh huh sure)
I know this is out of the OP’s price specification, but: I got a Hermann Miller Aeron used for $500. It is the size “C”, so is extra-wide (probably wider than my 230# self needs). It is built like a tank, and is serviceable if something breaks.
Again, outside the target price range, but I know mine will last longer than I will.