Ergonomics (Sit up straight when I'm talking to you!)

It’s odd that my company would go to great lengths to give us those mouse pads with jelly-filled wrist supports, and keyboard shelves so we can change the height of the keyboard (your elbows are supposed to be at a 90° angle while typing, so they say) but then they give us these awful chairs to sit in.

They are rock hard and way too low (the seat is closer to the floor than my knees are, and the cushions have all dry rotted to the point where they are as thick as a piece of corrugated sheet metal, but not as soft). Last week, I went and bought my own personal chair for the office.

It’s one of those praying mantis style chairs with no back and causes you to “sit” in a semi-kneeling position. In the morning when I first come in, it feels great. Around 1 p.m., I start feeling a little tense in the small of my back. I’m wondering if this is just me getting used to my newly discovered good posture (you have to make a concious effort to not slouch, which would cause your spine to curve outward. The result is that I sit up very straight & stiff, and it’s starting to get on my nerves).

Has anybody used one of these chairs for more than a few weeks? Am I going to get used to it or should I go back to sitting on a rock?


The beatings will continue until morale improves.

I used one of those chairs for a while, and really didn’t like it. Of course, I have a lifetime of truly bad posture, am somewhat overweight and have really bad knees, so what do I know?

Try it for a month (or as long as the return policy for the store you bought it from lasts) and see. Each individual will have a different experience depending on their personal habits and build etc.

haven’t used one for long periods of time (as in 8-10 hours a day at the office) but for shorter time-spans they seem to be great. You may be right in thinking that it takes a bit of time to acclimate to a change in posture. Kinda like exercise. Keep us posted

It’s been a week, and aside from my knees complaining a little that they spend the whole day folded under me, I feel okay. What is more, I have discovered that without the back of the chair, I can lean back for hours at a time and firm up my [fl]abs.

$60 well spent.