So you’ve got an Ergonomic Chair.. Now What?

Do you find yourself in one of these categories?

-        Finally purchased yourself that great Ergonomic chair with all the features

-        Received an Ergonomic chair from your workplace

-        Got a new chair following an Ergonomic assessment

You may be stuck on what to do next to really optimize your comfort in your new chair. Adjusting your is easier than you think and has significant impacts on your comfort when sitting at your desk. If your chair isn’t adjusted to fit you, it is likely not providing the full benefits to minimize discomfort or pain.

Generally speaking, most ergonomic chairs should have levers/ adjustments in a similar placement. When going to adjust your chair you should look for the following:

-        Seat height – usually found on the right side of the chair when sitting in the seat, typically the center lever

-        Seat depth adjustment – typically a handle under the front of the seat pan or a small lever to the right or left

-        Backrest height – there may be a lever at the back right of the backrest that can be released to move the backrest up/ down. Some backrests have a ratchet system, so you just need to lift the backrest to adjust.

-        Armrest Height – pull up on the lever under the arm caps to raise or lower the armrest height

When making these adjustments you want to be sure that the seat height is adjusted with feet comfortably on the floor, knees at ~90 degrees. There should be 1-2 fingers width of space between the seat pan and back of the calf. The backrest should be adjusted so that the lumbar support in the chair is positioned in the natural curvature of your low back. The armrests should be positioned just below the forearms with shoulders relaxed and elbows at 90 degrees, if your armrests have a lateral glide adjustment be sure to pull them in close to the upper body (or rotate them).

Have a look at this to better help you with your chair adjustments. If you still can’t get it quite right, contact us to set up an assessment with one of our Ergonomic Consultants!