Healthy seating
Getting an office chair that fits

No two people are alike, yet millions of them work 40 hours or more a week in office chairs that come in only one basic size from their manufacturers. Even the most of expensive of these offers only a handful of adjustments—there’s simply no way for that limited combination of factors to accommodate all people.

The solution?
A chair that accommodates you, instead of vice versa. At a minimum, you need a chair that’s made to your personal specifications for height, weight and leg length. Beyond that, seat type and depth and a full complement of adjustments are required to achieve a chair that fits you well.

Depth of your chair’s seat
Your chair should be adjusted so you can fit your fist between the front edge of edge of the chair's seat and the back of your knee.

Height of your chair’s back
This is critical for lower back support. Bypass chairs that have exaggerated supports in the lumbar region. All you need is a slightly curved back, the height of which you can adjust.

Arm height of your chair
Adjustable height arms help minimize repetitive strain injury (RSI). Set the arm height to put your lower arms level with your desktop. It should be comfortable to use your keyboard and mouse--you shouldn’t have to stretch to reach them.

Seat Height Adjustment
Pneumatic height adjustment is nearly a given today’s office chairs. Adjust your chair so that your feet sit flat on the floor with your upper legs angled downward just a bit. If you’re heavyset, ensure that the lift cylinder rating is suitable. Inexpensive chairs use lower quality components, among which lesser-rated cylinders are common.

Adjustable tilt tension of your chair
Inexpensive chairs also often are equipped with fixed-tension settings for the base of the seat. Often this in supplied in combination with a permanent contact back pad. The result is that the seat and back move in sync. That can be okay if you’re within the proper weight range for the chair, but for people whose weight puts them outside that range, it can be difficult to get comfortable in a chair of this type.

On the other hand if you’re very light in weight, moving forward in a chair like this can make you feel like the chair is trying to eject you. It is also a struggle to lean back since your body weight is not enough to cause the chair’s back to move easily.

Your best bet is be sure that your chair’s tension is sufficiently adjustable to suit your weight. The bestquality chairs are equipped with automatic tension control, in which the mechanism automatically compensates for your weight and removes the need for separate tilt tension adjustment.