How to fine-tune your office chair to make it more ergonomic

One of the most things when working in the office is getting the right settings for your chair. Nowadays, your average office chair has a lot of adjustability in it, so the first thing to get right is the height, you want to make sure that you get your chair at the right height for your body. So raise or lower your chair height until you feel comfortable and your body is in a neutral and straight posture. Once you are happy with the height, you want to check to make sure your feet are flat on the floor, if not, you should look into introducing a footrest.

When your feet are flat on the floor, you should also ensure that your knees are not higher than your hips as when they are, that will out pressure on your spine. So immediately, we know that height is very important to get right.

The other thing to check is that the backrest is supportive of your back and spine when you are reading, writing or typing, so it is advisable to lock the back of the chair to ensure that is doesn’t move back or forth, so your back and spine is in a healthy, upright position. Perhaps when you are on the phone, you could release the lock and give your back a break by allowing the chair back to tilt, so simply lean back and relax for a bit.

If you think your backrest is too stiff to move back when you lean back in your chair, you can adjust the tension of the backrest using the tension control mechanism, which in majority of the chairs, it’s in a form of a knob either underneath the seat or on the side of the seat.

Once you’re working again, don’t forget to put the lock back on so you maintain a good posture.

With more flexible chairs, you get the option of adjusting the arm height. This feature is particularly useful to ensure that your shoulder muscles are in a relaxed and healthy posture, so ensure when you are typing, your elbow is in a straight line and level with the desk height, otherwise, if the arm rest are too high up, you will be shrugging your shoulders when means your shoulder muscles will be working statically which will be more difficult and tiring.

It is also recommended that you sometimes allow the backrest of your chair to tilt back which creates a rocking motion, and results in a change of posture and alternatively, blood circulation, so make sure you get all of the adjustments in your chair to be able to get the most out of it.

So if you’re typing, on the phone with someone or in a meeting, do use different adjustments of your chair and let your body relax and try to keep a healthy posture and in other words, let the chair do the work for you.

At Furniture Bay, we have a large range of office chairs which are suitable for every budget, from entry level office chairs, to fully ergonomic posture chairs, so please feel free to check our website and don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any advise.