My girlfriend is thinking of getting a knee chair for her desk at home. She has been known to make purchases of silly gadgets that completely suck before so I am somewhat skeptical. I have often heard things that amount to, “But their promotional material said they were great!”
Wisely, she has consulted with me ahead of time, but I am not knowledgable on this. Are these things any good? Are they comfortable? Are they easy to get in and out of, so if you are often getting up will they be too much of a pain to use? How is your reach and range of motion? I imagine that the ones without rollers are difficult to move about while sitting in them so you cannot skootch them over if you have to. How about the ones with rollers? They seem like it would be difficult to roll around with them as your feet are not in a good location to propel you.
Any help on this would be appreciated as I am afraid she will throw a couple hundred dollars away on a nice chair she only uses for about a week.
I had one about 15 years ago that I quite liked. However, if you plan on sitting all day, I would go with a regular chair. The knee-chair lets you sit in one position only, and that starts to feel pretty restrictive after a bit. I was used to sitting with one foot pulled up in the chair, or legs crossed and it took a bit of training before I stopped trying to do just that with the knee chair. She may want to think that over before investing in that chair. On the comfort side, the strain to your back is not as severe as you may think, I don’t recall any discomfort in either back or knees, suprisingly. And, if you get one with rollers, she will have to learn to scoot by pushing off with her hands rather than pushing off with her feet.
I am sure you can find another model that is not so expensive.
Thanks Lyllyan. I am not sure how expensive a model she was looking at and just made a guess. That was exactly the kind of thing I was afraid of. To be fair, is there anyone who really enjoys them?
Don’t bother with a knee chair. If you want a chair that’s better for you, get one that’s more of a saddle type (I have the Bambach Saddle Seat and like it, but it was quite expensive). I’ve also seen people use a large inflatable exercise ball as a seat.
I’m sitting in a knee chair right now. One of the better investments I made last year, really. I work at a computer or at least at a desk all day, and I’ve had frequent back problems leading to bad tension headaches. Since I’ve had the knee chair my headaches have decreased in frequency from close to one a day to one or less a week. If nothing else, the chair has really helped my posture–I am fairly tall (6’ 2"), and I tend to hunch over while working on the computer, particularly late in the afternoon. In the knee chair I’m forced to sit with my back completely straight, which has done wonders for my spine. I don’t have the same tension in my shoulders as before, either, which is probably the reason for the decrease in headaches.
I wouldn’t recommend this chair for everyone. As Lyllyan said, it can feel restrictive, but for someone like me who pretty has to sit here all day, it’s no different from a regular chair. The one I got (from Relax The Back–I can’t find the model, but it’s the Swivel Posture Chair w/o Backrest) does allow for a bit more freedom of movement. They are difficult to get in and out of at first, but with a bit of practice it’s no more difficult than a regular chair. My chair has rollers, so it’s not difficult to move from computer to desk, although as Lyllyan says it does take a while to get used to pushing off with your hands rather than your feet.
But if your girlfriend is only going to use the chair once a week, I’d be hesistant. They are going to be expensive–the one I got was $300, and I’m not sure you’d be able to find a good one much cheaper. More to the point, I don’t think the chair would be that helpful to her. After all, since I sit in this chair almost 40 hours a week, I’m used to it. But if your girlfriend is going to sit in the chair only a couple hours a week, I think all it would do is to feel strange in comparison with the other chairs she sits in at work or elsewhere in the home. You have to be able to sit in this chair long enough for the posture to feel normal.
Tell her to try a stability ball as a chair first. They’re cheap and they also make you sit upright as does the knee chair so she can see if she likes not having a back rest. I use a ball at work and I love it. It did take me a week or so to get used to it (and it definitely does use muscle as it used to make me tired) but now I get achey when I have to sit in a regular chair for too long.
They hurt my knees to use one for only a short while. My husband used to use one primarily, but it was starting to really bother him. I’d recommend trying one out first.
Thanks for the replies. So far no huge pro or con response. Hmmm, maybe we can see what their return policy is so we could try it out for a while.
I think you misunderstood. She will be using this chair all day long every day of the week, I was just afraid that she would quickly become disenchanted with it and it would get stuck in a corner and never used AFTER a weeks. Perhaps we will go and look for one tonight.
I have one that I use up to 1-2 hours/day. I like it up to a point. But I wish it had arm rests and a back.
Definitely get one that rolls and has an adjustable seat.
Since a lot of folk buy these, use them a couple times and then chuck them, they can be had at thrift stores and such for very cheap in like new condition. Try getting a used one first.
I also found them incredibly painful on my knees. I think the stability ball is a good compromise, and it’s supposed to tone your abdominals as a bonus.
For the record, you should be able to pick up a knee chair at a thrift store fairly cheaply. I see one every couple months or so, usually around $5. (That alone should tell you they aren’t perfect for everyone! lol)
Ah, sorry about that. Yeah, I’d definitely try to discourage her from spending a couple hundred bucks on a chair if she’d do that. I was lucky enough to have had one on loan when I lived in England, so I knew it would be helpful for me before I bought the one I have now.