How to Have Far More Fun By Sitting In This Funky Chair!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: sitting is the new smoking. We are living in a world where sitting, inactive, all day long, can kill your back, neck, spine, pelvis, knees, hips, shoulders and feet.  But you need to work at your computer! While a sit/stand desk is an option, you can still find yourself sitting far too long.  

So… you need a chair that can minimize the negative effects of sitting..

Luckily…. I found one for you!  In the past I have recommended the Gaiam Ball Chair.  I’ve been using the ball chair for years, but I like this one better and have swapped it out at my own work station.

Introducing the ErgoErgo Active Sitting Chair:

I love this chair for a few posture specific reasons. First, the backless design forces you to sit up straight and not lean back to get lazy. I also enjoy being able to spread my knees wide and feel unlimited to move my body in the lateral range of motion (no arms rests in the way!).

When you sit on it, you will find the chair tilts forward a bit.  This places the pelvis into an optimal position versus in the rounded (posterior) position which I find to be dreaded for the lower back.

When I used to sit on the ball chair, I found myself crossing my legs inappropriately and hunching over.  On the ErgoErgo, this is not possible!  The “active” part of the sitting won’t allow you to sit for too long in an incorrect position.

Now let’s talk more about the “active sitting” part of this amazing chair. The goal of this is to create movement in our day. This product does this and makes it fun and interesting.  You can rotate your pelvis in circles, side to side, back and forth. AND do it while keeping your hands on the keyboard the whole time. It felt amazing on for my spine. I found myself sitting in better posture for hours on end because I didn’t have to sit STILL.

To get a good idea on how the chair works, check out my youtube channel here.  I’ve demonstrated how this chair moves.

Now, to the one CON of this product: the height.  Unfortunately, unlike the ball chair where you can blow up the ball, the ErgoErgo chair cannot be adjusted for height. This doesn’t matter for me since I have a sit/stand desk and therefore can adjust my desk to the height that I need. But for the average consumer who has a fixed desk height you will want to make sure you can sit on this chair and still have your screen at eye height and you elbows flexed at 90 degrees for proper hand/keyboard alignment.

The ErgoErgo website claims that the chair shrinks a little when you sit on it; It therefore adjusts to average “chair” heights and can accommodate sitters from height 5’0” to 6’4”. To be honest, I find it hard to believe that this chair, without the normal ability to move it up and down, can fit this huge range comfortably.  However I do believe that if you fall in the 5’5” to 6’0” range you should be able to make it feel comfortable.

Like with any new desk product, you’re gonna want to ease into the use of it since you don’t want to shock your body and make it sore!

There is a kid version of the chair  You bet I will be ordering one for my kid, and wishing we could install one into every classroom in America. Why do some kids have a hard time sitting still in class?  Largely because their little brains and bodies were not meant to! This chair gives them the freedom to move and counteract the effects that sitting and technology are having on their little postures.  

I am in love with this chair and can’t wait to hear what you think.  You can order it here and I hope it gives you the freedom to get more activity and postural alignment into your sitting day.

 

In health and good posture,

Zeena

PS. What does your current chair look like? Feel free to send me a picture of you in your chair for my analysis! Especially if it’s fun and unique like the ErgoErgo…

BackJoy’s SitSmart… is it worth buying?

The goal of this blog is to provide you with authoritative information on how you can decrease your body pain with improved posture and alignment.  This mission includes giving my independent opinion on products in the marketplace that also align with this same vision.

One particular company got my attention a few years ago, because of their mission to change sitting posture habits. Upon first glance, Backjoy’s tagline had me hooked: “Change Your Posture, Change Your Life”.

Of course I had to investigate their flagship posture product, SitSmart Posture Plus.

At first glance, SitSmart looked brilliant. It helps to avoid a posture deviation called the posterior pelvic tilt.  This posture deviation happens when we sit for hours on end in a “rounded” back position.  

When we sit rounded like this, we begin to lose the natural curvature of our lower back (lumbar spine).  Our lumbar spine is supposed to curve backwards, the opposite direction from this picture above. Without this curvature, our glute muscles are no longer in the correct position to fire when asked upon.  Without our glute muscles properly working, the lower back muscles suddenly have to take over. These muscles were not meant to be as strong and powerful as our glutes. Suddenly our lower back starts to hurt.

The rounded back position also has the same effect on the upper spine.  It accentuates rounding and kyphosis, which creates a shortening of the lats (side back muscles), pecs (chest muscles) and facilitating a protrusion of the head.  This ends up leading to mid back and neck pain.  None of this is any fun, but it’s real, and a direct cause of our sitting posture.

The SitSmart device sits on a chair and promotes a better sitting position. The design is meant to pull the pelvis out of this rounded position and promote a more proper position of sitting high on the sitz bones (the bony landmarks at the base of your pelvis).

When I saw this image online, was thrilled and even immediately emailed some friends to encourage them to purchase one.  I contacted BackJoy, who was happy to send me a free version to review for my blog (and I’m independently reviewing this for no fee). 

So, does it work?

As much as I love the concept of something that automatically pushes the pelvic where it should be, I am saddened to report that in my opinion, Backjoy misses the mark.  I tried it on multiple surfaces, and felt very little “push” of my pelvis.  In fact, numerous times I found myself pushing against the product and rounding my back into the exact position I was NOT supposed to be in. It just didn’t provide enough “support” to really affect my sitting posture.

With any product or technology there is always the option of user “override”.  This happens when the user is able to complete the incorrect movement pattern despite the product’s attempt to correct it.  This is why I promote exercise and awareness as a better option for really affecting change!  At the end of the day, some products can really help.  Backjoy just isn’t designed to provide enough “push” and change to make it worth the investment.

If you are looking for a sitting option that will help you move out of this rounded position, my favorite is still the Gaiam ball chair (check out the blog post on this for more info). However the really true way to combat long term sitting posture is to not sit for that long.  Take breaks, move to a standing position, and do daily stretches to keep your pelvis (and back) happy.

Are there any posture products that you LOVE? I’m interested to know if there are any you can’t live without! Comment below.