Your office chair might be more more important to your health than you realize.
The average American work day is eight hours long. If you’re one of the many Americans who spend their work day sitting down at a desk, you could potentially be sitting down for eight hours a day, not considering the driving and extra sitting you do outside of work hours. But the big question we have is what kind of chair are you sitting in during your eight hour work day? Turns out, the quality of your office chair is really important in regard to your overall health, mood, and performance.
How many times has your dad told you to stand up straight, hold your shoulders back, fix your posture? It’s just as important to hold good posture while you’re sitting for long periods of time. Research has shown that slouching or just holding bad posture habits while sitting can cause backaches, headaches, and poor concentration skills. In fact, this study published by Health Psychology found that people who sit up straighter have higher self-esteem, alertness, and an overall better mood than their slouching co-workers, among other life improvements.
By simply improving your sitting or standing posture, you can improve your life. The reason behind most of these improvements is largely due to improved blood circulation. Valentina Sendin, the ergonomic project manager for Kaiser Permanente, states in the study that, “When you sit all day with poor posture, you’re preventing your body from getting the necessary circulation it needs. Taking the time to move throughout the day and making postural changes can not only help you have better posture, it can prevent you from serious health issues later in life.” It can also improve breathing efficiency. In order to breathe completely, the diaphragm needs to have enough space in your chest to properly release and contract with each breath. Poor posture causes spine misalignment, which can compromise how deeply you breath, which then limits oxygen supply to the brain, heart, and other vital organs.
To achieve better posture during your work day, it’s important to use an ergonomic chair like the Ewin Calling Series Ergonomic Computer Gaming Office Chair with Pillows. This chair uses a durable steel frame, high density memory foam, and additional support pillows to make sure your neck and back are supported, promoting good posture. This makes sure your skeletal system is not stressed through the day and that your neck is supported so you’re much less likely to develop stiffness in the neck and shoulder region. If the head and neck aren’t regularly supported, it can lead to more serious issues like cervical spondylosis.
Besides all that, ergonomic chairs are way more comfortable than your typical office chairs because of their user-friendly features. The EWin Calling Series Chair gives its users a plethora of adjustable features so that any individual can personalize the chair to their exact comfort. This includes 2D adjustable armrests, height adjustment, back reclining, and a tilt lock and tilt control mechanism. On top of that, this chair comes in 10 different accent colors for shoppers to choose from.
After you get your chair, make sure you’re sitting properly. According to the American Posture Institute, the proper sequence to implement good posture is as follows: sit up straight by extending the spine, pull your shoulders back, align your ears over your shoulders, evenly distribute your weight over both your feet and in your hips, and keep your feet forward. This will hopefully improve your healthy, and your life.
This post was written by our friends over at the Slumber Yard, a review website that focuses on home goods and more.