How is your back?

[jtpca]

Curious if any of you are sitting on an 'ergonomic' office chair? If so, what type is it and does it mitigate lower back stress?

It has been explained to me that we were not meant to sit.....

[AACJ]

I sit on 24/7 chairs due to the shift work that I perform. We have quite a few, some are Herman Miller chairs, some are from a company called Liberty but the ones I like the best are by Body Bilt. They seem to conform more to everyone in our office, both large and small and give the support (back) where and when you need it.

[Blue As A Jewel]

I have a Herman Miller... it's ok....

I also know several people who have architectural desks and choose to stand at them most of the day -

[BullGoose]

I sit on 24/7 chairs due to the shift work that I perform. We have quite a few, some are Herman Miller chairs, some are from a company called Liberty but the ones I like the best are by Body Bilt. They seem to conform more to everyone in our office, both large and small and give the support (back) where and when you need it.

Thank you for the relevant post. I am in the process of looking for a new office chair. I had never heard of Body Bilt but will definitely be checking them out.

[jtpca]

choose to stand at them most of the day -

I have read this concept - am also looking at a treadmill desk concept and the idea of sitting on an exercise ball during part of the day.

Interesting research on this matter... I HATE sitting, thus may have to go back to being a ski bum!!

[drmoss_ca]

I also know several people who have architectural desks and choose to stand at them most of the day -

Surely, a technique associated for evermore with the loathsome Rumsfeld?

Chris

[Araner]

Another post, another quote comes to mind...

“And on the most exalted throne in the world sits nothing but a man’s arse.”

-- Montaigne


Regards,
Araner

[rsp1202]

I also know several people who have architectural desks and choose to stand at them most of the day -

Surely, a technique associated for evermore with the loathsome Rumsfeld?

It allowed him to tower over his generals when he called them in for a meeting. LBJ had his chair set on a pedestal for similar effect.

[drmoss_ca]

Now I have heard of J. Edgar Hoover having his desk and chair on a raised dais for this reason, and many doctors shorten the front legs of the patient chairs to encourage them to slip off and stand up and leave, but I never knew LBJ felt inadequate when confronted with a few paltry generals. It rather humanises him, doesn't it?

Chris
Not me, never. But whenever an obese patient breaks a chair, I invite him to take it away and repair it. Result: four broken chairs in the basement. Four fat patients. It seems I failed them somehow.

[Rufus]

Now I have heard of J. Edgar Hoover having his desk and chair on a raised dais for this reason, and many doctors shorten the front legs of the patient chairs to encourage them to slip off and stand up and leave, but I never knew LBJ felt inadequate when confronted with a few paltry generals. It rather humanises him, doesn't it?

Chris
Not me, never. But whenever an obese patient breaks a chair, I invite him to take it away and repair it. Result: four broken chairs in the basement. Four fat patients. It seems I failed them somehow.

Reminds me of Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator". Closer to home, however, I had to stand at a raised desk for over a year due to an L4/L5 herniated disc, which was caused by my sitting at a desk for +30 years while I worked.

[rsp1202]

Johnson had his office aboard Air Force One transformed into a throne room, almost like Goldfinger's conference room with the Fort Knox model, with movable this and swiveling that. The raised dais really put his head above the clouds. Re: humanizing him. Johnson had other habits when with his subordinates that were too awful to mention here, that were meant to degrade them -- no other way to put it. What brought him down to earth, finally, was his slim victory against McCarthy in the '68 New Hampshire primary. He became a changed man in many ways after that.

What interests me, Chris, is your mention of the shortened legs of patient's chairs, "encourag[ing] them to . . . stand up and leave." I rather thought the disgust with hospital gowns was designed to do that.

As for chairs, I always liked the high-back leather executive models that some presidents used (with the built-in padded headrest). Never did find out the manufacturer of those, but they looked chief executively comfortable.

[jww]

I have been through a number of office chairs -- I work from home for context. My latest is 2 years old - it's by Lane - actually manufactured by TrueSeating - and is all leather, high backed, with a built in lumbar support and padded arms. Best chair I have had for work by miles and miles.

I almost got an Orbus Forme executive chair, but changed my mind at the last minute. The Lane/TrueSeating is really very good and only cost just over $300 CDN.

[rsp1202]

Great. Now I find it, after all this time . . . presidential office chair, by the W. H. Gunlocke Chair Co., Wayland, NY:



And it doesn't look all that comfortable, either.

[Squire]

I had one of those Ron and it was not comfortable.

[KAV]

Johnson was given a navy commission and sent by FDR to improve pacific military logistics. He was on board one of two B 24 bombers doing duty as transports. A japanese pilot;guadalcanal adversary in one of the most intense dogfights of WW2 and later flying his Zero hundreds of miles home with a .30 caliber bullet from a SBD gunner in his head and half blind made a oblique attack downing one of the Liberators. It wasn't LBJ's transport. The dogfight took maybe 20 seconds.
Upon landing LBJ browbeat the base commander into presenting him with a navy commendation medal for 'his conspicuous gallantry in combat.' By the time he returned to texas politics in 1946 he had become 'raider Johnson of the pacific.'
The pilot was Sabura Sakei,who upon hearing of the emperor's and general's behaviour toward war's end became a lay buddhist monk and pacifist. I met him, not at an airshow but a buddhist temple in L.A. I asked about that day. He laughed and explained with only one eye he couldn't close on the second B 24 before it escaped. We sat on tatami mats crosslegged. He had lunch the next day with the Dauntless gunner who almost killed him, rose to toast and died from a heart attack.
Sakei was a soto monk, a more vigorous form of Zen with walking vs sitting meditation.

[function]

What interests me, Chris, is your mention of the shortened legs of patient's chairs, "encourag[ing] them to . . . stand up and leave." I rather thought the disgust with hospital gowns was designed to do that.

Last time I was asked to put on such a gown I taught them a lesson. I was told to put the gown on so I could have an ultrasound on my, um, frontal parts. Standard procedure of course is to put on said gown with your a$$ exposed to all. Not wanting to lift my gown like a skirt for the unfortunate soul who had to do my exam, I put the gown on "backwards" and was able to gain easy access as well as prevent any mooning of a possible passer-by as I walked from changing room to exam room.
Of course I was later prompted to want to leave in disgust when I was advised how my new hospital preferred to administer the barium compound for an abdominal/pelvis CT.

[jtpca]

Thanks for the input...

My research is pointing me to the Orbus UltraForme - as Wendell mentioned. Anyone spent any time in one of these?

[jww]

Jason -- they have lots of capabilities vis-a-vis adjusting to fit your body. I have long-ish thighs, so I need to be able to either have a deep seat or the capability to adjust the seat depth. Unfortunately, I run into problems aligning the armrests -- and the one thing I found about the Ultra Forme is that the armrests are fairly far back. Not bad for spending the majority of your time keyboarding or writing at a table -- but a bit of a pain when you are just sitting talking on the phone, etc.

Nevertheless, they are good products and the lumbar support is --- shall I say it???? Second to none, imo -- ymmv. Get leather -- it's a far superior seating surface to the cloth, and easier on your clothing over time.

If you can afford to spring additional $$ -- the Global Metrus Executive High-Back tilt/swivel is a real gem of a chair -- runs around $800 CDN at Staples. I would put it a notch above the Ultra Forme.

Where are you purchasing from?

[Kyle76]

Churchill had a standing desk and did much of his work (that which wasn't performed in the morning while he was still in bed) standing up.

[jtpca]

Jason -- they have lots of capabilities vis-a-vis adjusting to fit your body. I have long-ish thighs, so I need to be able to either have a deep seat or the capability to adjust the seat depth. Unfortunately, I run into problems aligning the armrests -- and the one thing I found about the Ultra Forme is that the armrests are fairly far back. Not bad for spending the majority of your time keyboarding or writing at a table -- but a bit of a pain when you are just sitting talking on the phone, etc.

Nevertheless, they are good products and the lumbar support is --- shall I say it???? Second to none, imo -- ymmv. Get leather -- it's a far superior seating surface to the cloth, and easier on your clothing over time.

If you can afford to spring additional $$ -- the Global Metrus Executive High-Back tilt/swivel is a real gem of a chair -- runs around $800 CDN at Staples. I would put it a notch above the Ultra Forme.

Where are you purchasing from?

Hi Wendell,

I appreciate the insight. Corporately we purchase from Lyreco, though I note their pricing is comparable to other vendors - though I note that they do not have leather as an option.

The Global Metrus while appealing may concern our auditors....