IMROVED  POSTURE and LUMBAR SUPPORT

The ideal posture when sitting is one which helps you maintain the natural lumbar curve or lordosis of your lower back - this is when your discs, joints and ligaments are under the least amount of stress. However, it is just not possible to achieve this ideal posture using a conventional chair where the seat and backrest are at right angles. When you take up this position there is excessive pressure placed on your lumbar vertebrae and this pressure will eventually cause you lower and sometimes upper back pain.

 ergonomic chair spine gif

1. The Foundation of good posture - a Sloping Seat!

One of the pioneers in proposing the benefits of a forward-sloping seat to aid better posture was Danish surgeon Dr. A.C. Mandal. He had found that the only way he could remain seated without incurring backpain was to lean forward on the front legs of his chair. He also observed that many school children did the same thing when trying to ease back pain brought on by poorly designed school furniture.

Mandal recommended that the seat pan should slope forward by 15°. When you take up this position your lumbar spine does not need to flatten out to assume the seated posture and your hips and trunk are at the optimum position of balance for the muscles.

By tilting your seat forward you alter your centre of gravity from behind the sitting bones (ischial tuberosity) to directly above them. As a result your muscles do not have to tense up or contract to maintain an erect posture. At the same time your lumbar curve ( or lordosis) is restored and pressure on your discs is reduced.

Some of the more common objections to early versions of the sloping seat were:-
You tended to slide forward.
Too much weight was placed on your feet.
Your clothes tended to 'ruck up'.

2. The Balans Chair

The Balans was one of the first forward-tilt chairs in mass production to incorporate Mandal's suggestions - using a knee rest to prevent slipping forward.

Most of the weight is taken on the knees and while this reduces pressure on your discs, your muscles had to work harder to maintain an erect posture since there is no backrest. As your muscles become tired there is a natural tendency to slump.

In addition to these problems your knees and shins can become quite sore after a time since there is no provision for changing the knee position. Getting in and out of the chair is somewhat difficult because of interference from the central pillar.

Despite the various drawbacks mentioned, however, many thousands of these chairs were sold because of the obvious relief given to the discs through the forward-sloping seat taking pressure off your spine.

3. The Kneelsit balance chair

When you allow the seat pan to tilt forward your pelvis rotates forward, this posture produces the least amount of stress on muscles, tendons and discs, since your spine is correctly aligned.

It also pulls the chest out, increases lung capacity and makes breathing easier as well as improving the working of the heart and blood circulation; it also allows you an open abdomen, which aids digestion.

When your pelvis is tilted forward your lumbar spine curves naturally and the rest of your spine follows. This is the ideal posture when working upright - as at a computer. When you have a backrest - as in the Kneelsit chair - this backward tilt can also be used to relax your spine and take pressure off your disks and muscles, for example when you are reading or just chatting.

Using the Kneelsit chair distributes pressure (or compressive force) from your spinal column to your thighs and lower legs easing the strain on your muscles, joints and tendons as well as your intervertebral discs and associated nerve endings which combine to hold your back upright. The forward sloping seat opens out your thigh/trunk angle and works together with the reduction in spinal pressure to bring about a significant improvement in posture.

Your sense of "relaxed awareness" and improved postural position operate in conjunction with the "balance effect" to bring about a more equitable distribution of work load to all relevant parts of your musculo-skeletal system instead of allowing your muscles, discs, tendons etc. to be subject to the continuous strain of flexion.
The chances of your suffering 'disc prolapse' are also greatly reduced.

Excellent lumbar support is provided in the kneel-sit chair by a backrest which adjusts both vertically and horizontally to suit a very wide range of body sizes.

Ergonomic Chair continuous movement

One of the most important features of the Kneelsit balance chair, however, is the unique patented swivel-axle support in the seat and kneeler which encourages both balance and movement and actually makes sitting a pleasure.