Posted on 11/30/2006 10:34:31 AM PST by Mr. Brightside
Sitting up straight isn't good posture, study says
Thursday, November 30, 2006
By Kyla King
The Grand Rapids Press
Many of us spend our work days sitting, and we're killing our backs.
A sweeping study now confirms what ergonomic gurus long have preached: Reclining at a 135-degree angle is better for your back than sitting up straight.
In West Michigan -- ground zero for office-chair production -- designers are glad to hear the rest of the world is catching up. They've been incorporating reclining positions into their creations for years.
"We tell our clients, 'Forget everything your first-grade teacher told you about needing to sit up straight, because it's not the best posture for you,'" said Ken Tameling, seating general manager for Grand Rapids-based Steelcase Inc. "We're big believers in recline postures. ... It's the driving force for design for us."
Ditto for Herman Miller Inc.
"(The study is) proof positive that 135 degrees is the best angle for a healthy back," said Bill Dowell, the Zeeland company's research director and a certified professional ergonomist. "But we've always been a proponent of reclining. All of our chairs recline to at least that angle because we know it's a healthy posture."
Dowell said the study conducted at the University of Alberta Hospital in Canada used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to confirm what previous studies have found: The 135-degree recline relieves back pressure. The finding should not be that surprising, Dowell said, because researchers have found the human body automatically achieves that posture when weightless in space or water.
"It's a natural posture, so intuitively we probably should have known it all along," he said.
OK, but how is it possible to lean back and comfortably reach your computer at the same time?
"Some people out there will tell you it's not practical to recline when you're at a computer. Well, we think that's hogwash," Tameling said.
Workers just need the right kind of chair that allows them to recline without moving away from their work, he said.
Steelcase offers that in its popular Leap and Think chairs. Similar features are in Herman Miller's Aeron and Mirra chairs.
Leaning back may be good for your back, but experts say the best thing for office workers is to get an individual ergonomic review because work stations are unique.
"What you have to do at your desk makes a lot of difference in the way you'd set it up," said Marti Mehari, an occupational therapist and ergonomic specialist at Spectrum Health. "A lot of times people need to listen to their own body. ... If it doesn't feel comfortable, it's not good."
"Steelcase offers that in its popular Leap and Think chairs. Similar features are in Herman Miller's Aeron and Mirra chairs."
ummmm..... Herman Miller's Aeron chain was created prior to the Leap and Think chairs, who have similar features to Herman Miller's (not vise versa).
If this is true, this is another President Clinton failure. I don't know if everyone remembers that this was big in the 90's. Erodynamic (sp?) chairs. Now we find out that was wrong.
Those seats would take up more space, though they seem comfortable.
I'm slouching as I type. Now if only I could get that damned numbness in my wrist to go away...
I started letting my desk chair recline like that, putting my feet up on a wooden shoeshine box under my desk. I initially thought it made me look lazy at my desk, but then figured, heck, it felt better when at the PC for long periods, so I've just gone with it.
sorry, but blaming Bill Clinton for everything is getting ridiculous
how in the world did he create problems for the nation's posture?
Something about kneeling being hard on the knees? ;-P
Sure, recline me at a 135-degree angle...
...and please remember to wake me up at 5:00.
they had plenty of official white house kneepads for that...you see, BJ really did care
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
I used to think it was the slouching that made make lazy at my desk. Then I realized it was all the on-the-job freeping.
So I'll get a seeing-eye dog... ;D
I have a comfy leather chair and a padded footstool in my office at home.
Maybe soon they'll provide footstools at work.LOL
This is the first thing I have blamed him for anything and this is something that I remember him pushing big time. Sorry I put down your favorite President. It won't happen again. I guess next you will want a President Clinton Holiday....
lol.
Frank Lloyd Wright used to design furniture to go in the houses he designed. They had to imitate the overall design of the house. The chairs were straight, I mean the backs were 100 degrees straight up. I sat in one for a few minutes, and it put my back into severe pain. I moved to a hard window seat which allowed my back to curve normally.
There's the right way and The Wright Way.
what an intelligent response. move along
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