"Proper Seating Techniques for the Cubicle Warrior"

Working for a furniture company, one of the most prevalent questions asked is ….. “How do you properly adjust/size a chair”?  The following techniques are very simple but will make an enormous difference in seating comfort throughout
the day.

-Legs and feet- When sitting in the chair your feet should sit flat along the floor, with the knees creating a 90 degree angle at the joint. This allows for maximum blood circulation within the legs throughout the day. 

-Back- Sitting fully erect, create a 5 degree tilt forward. This allows blood and weight to rest more in line with the chair
and pulls weight from your back that would normally create pressure points resulting in pain and bad posture.

-Chair Arms- Arms should be at a height where the forearms lie flat and the hands FALL on the keyboard. This is important
as it allows proper blood circulation and most importantly helps prevent hand ailments like carpel tunnel.  In order to
maximize this effectiveness your keyboard should be in a negative tilt position. (Tilting down and away from the user)

- Height- Your chair should be at a height in which your eyes fall level with the monitor, never above looking down, or below looking up. Doing so strains the eye muscles resulting in chronic pain like headaches and eye aches.

-Finally and most importantly- Lumbar support, if your chair doesn’t have one get one. If it’s one complaint we always get from new customers it’s that their lower back constantly aches.  While sitting improperly the lower back is forced to hold its position until the strain becomes too much and the lower back muscles finally give in. Thus we end up slumping throughout the day. This naturally feels better at first because the back muscles are allowed to relax, but over time the strain is too much and pain occurs.  A lumbar is used to push on the lower back to provide support in order to properly maintain the natural “S” curve of
the spine. This relieves the back muscles allowing them to relax while still maintaining a proper posture.

We hope this article answers any questions you have about proper seating.