A Chair That Doesn't Suck?

[Eihli]

I've owned them all, Leaps, Aerons and I can't stand the ergonomic computer chairs. They're extremely uncomfortable in any position except the 100% upright, back straightened, to "task" position.

I have a $1200 chair sitting in my room that may as well be a paperweight. I hate sitting in it.

I like recliners, and very plush chairs that you can sink into and that support you. I've found some cheap office depot chairs to be better, at least for me, than the "ergo" chairs but the problem is that the padding wears out so quickly that you may as well sit on plywood.

Any of you ever come across a decent chair?

 

[gkg101]

No chair can cure a medical condition but the right cushion could help.
This is the only thing that has worked for me, but it depends upon your particular condition, and type of chair.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MY2KFG

 

[l88bastard]

I am right there with you. I have searched high and low and have tried everything from the futuristic to the traditional...I am currently sitting on an eight hundred dollar waste of space and am tempted to mount my lazy boy to a dolly so I can wheel around in it like an office chair.

I spend too much time in front of the computer to be uncomfortable, but there is nothing great out there as far as I can see.

 

[Briliu]

Unfortunately I can't really suggest any chairs, but it's been my experience that the desk chair combo makes a HUGE difference.

If the desk is too short for the chair it gets extremely uncomfortable to sit for any length of time. Mostly my back though, so if it's just your ass that hurts in the ergo chairs, then disregard this

After moving to my new house it took me almost a year of fiddling with my chair and desk (with shims under the desk and whatnot) to get it to a place where I'm comfortable, where I was perfectly fine in my old house using the same chair/desk combo.

 

[obug]

This may seem like a completely random answer, but have you ever thought about a standing desk?

I went through a similar experience a few years ago. Lots of chairs, some desks, and many various attachments (e.g. mousepad attached to chair) to try and improve my computing experience. I even saw an ergonomic health "expert" to try and address my problems and tried everything they recommend.

At the end of it all I still had major (sometimes debilitating) back and shoulder pain, was never able to find a comfortable position to sit, and changing eqiupment seemed to just move pain/numbness to different parts of my body rather than helping.

I was googling for more solutions and came up with a blog post (I think it was this one) about a standing desk. Since I had nothing to lose I got some books/boxes to stack my keyboard/mouse/monitor on and tried it out.

I've been using a standing desk since then. My back/shoulder pain and general discomfort are gone.

There was a rather insightful article somewhere stating that many people (including ergonomic experts) assume that all this discomfort and body pain comes from our muscles being stressed in the wrong way due to improper seating positions. This is totally wrong! When we sit all day our core muscles are atrophying and the end result is pain and discomfort. No chair will fix this issue. By standing we are using these muscles again making them stronger and that is how it should be.

As already stated, I love my standing desk, which is nothing more than a regular ikea desk with some stuff on top to raise the keyboard/mouse/screen. I do occasionally want to sit down, and have been looking for good solutions for that. I recently learned about some new sit-stand workstations from Ergotron and the price isn't too bad.

 

[Q51]

I agree with obug, atrophy in core muscles can cause a lot of issues. I am by no means "in shape" but I have avoided severe back pain by weight lifting. I had bad pain freshman year in collage, took a lifting class and was introduced to dead lifts. 3 months of lifting and I avoided pain for 4 relatively inactive years. My computer chair is a $80 ish cheap one and I love it. I would suggest looking into dead lifts, ab exorcises and possibly a trainer if your unsure. Please learn to dead lift correctly, if done wrong it will do more harm than you might think.

 

[JoeUser]

Have you tried a Herman Miller? They're what you'd call "ergonomic" chairs but they are super comfortable ALL DAY LONG!

I'm 225 pounds and relatively inactive and even I can sit in one of these for 12 hour long gaming sessions NO problem. The mesh they use creates zero pressure points so therefore no fatigue.

And yes, I've owned the super plush chairs...I've paid hundreds for one, and sure it was comfortable for a couple hours but then I'd start to get pain due to its over all lack of support.

Herman Miller all the way...great construction, super value, ultimate comfort! :-p

 

[Dev1ant]

Have you tried a Herman Miller? They're what you'd call "ergonomic" chairs but they are super comfortable ALL DAY LONG!

I'm 225 pounds and relatively inactive and even I can sit in one of these for 12 hour long gaming sessions NO problem. The mesh they use creates zero pressure points so therefore no fatigue.

And yes, I've owned the super plush chairs...I've paid hundreds for one, and sure it was comfortable for a couple hours but then I'd start to get pain due to its over all lack of support.

Herman Miller all the way...great construction, super value, ultimate comfort! :-p

Failure to read the entire first post where he's stated he has and the problems.

I've owned them all, Leaps, Aerons and I can't stand the ergonomic computer chairs. They're extremely uncomfortable in any position except the 100% upright, back straightened, to "task" position.

Are you looking for a chair with lumbar support/locked reclining feature? I understand the feeling of not wanting to sit a particular chair. I bought a Raynor Ergohuman. Disliked the mesh. It just didn't feel right to me even after many adjustments. Went chair hunting. Sat on an Aeron and adjusted it for comfort. Still not my thing. I attribute that to my dislike of mesh. Continued trying out different chairs for quite some time until I found one where after adjustments, I would be willing to sit on it for hours on end without a dislike. It wasn't the perfect choice but I made some adjustments.

Purchased a model similar to the above but without the headrest in exchange for a better lumbar adjustment system. It felt perfect after adjustments and even if I deviate from the "ergonomic" zone a tad, my arse still felt comfortable (unlike mesh chairs). The arms felt cheap and not that great but that was dealt with via modding and replacing it with my pivoting gel arms from my Raynor.

 

[plunger]

I'd try this.

 

[dogbert_2001]

I'd try this.

Ok, plunger, but what about the chair?

 

[NobleX13]

I agree with obug, atrophy in core muscles can cause a lot of issues. I am by no means "in shape" but I have avoided severe back pain by weight lifting. I had bad pain freshman year in collage, took a lifting class and was introduced to dead lifts. 3 months of lifting and I avoided pain for 4 relatively inactive years. My computer chair is a $80 ish cheap one and I love it. I would suggest looking into dead lifts, ab exorcises and possibly a trainer if your unsure. Please learn to dead lift correctly, if done wrong it will do more harm than you might think.

Hey pal, good to see you here! I agree with that statement; I sit on a terrible office chair all day and a few sit-ups each night is the only thing making it bearable.