Quality Vs. Low Quality Office Chairs, What's the Real Difference?

I've gone through a number of office chairs over the years, as I often am working many hours per day. Some last a couple months others have lasted several years. Some have been very comfortable others I've had to swap out because they where so uncomfortable. The ergonomics and productivity of my desk/chair setup in my office has a lot to do with the comfort of my chair that I have to sit on for hours.

I am habitually asked by my customers about office desk chair designs and what position is the best for sitting when working an entire day in a chair. As you can see from one of the more popular online furniture sites like office chairs for less that there are literally hundreds of different types to pick from. You want to look for a chair that fits your particular body not the other way around. Just because a chair was given to you at work doesn't mean it actually fits you properly, as we're all built differently.

Some of these people have been given very good quality high end leather custom made seats at their office and are wondering if there is really any variation between it and your standard office chair. Some people complain about the shape of some guest or greeting lounge seats at some offices, these individuals often find themselves uncomfortable after having only sat for only a short period.

It is definitely true that some chairs can feel considerably more comfortable than others. Some chairs make it a easy to maintain a improved upright posture, while others can get in the way between you and good posture.

You need to consider however, that it is our body that sits in a chair, and in order to improve on our own comfort , our interest should be focused on improving our position and what we do with our body when we sit down.

So what advice can I give concerning posture and the standard office chair? First, I would recommend very straightforward, basic style designs with fairly level and firm seat bottom and with backs to not force your torso into any specific shape.

I would also suggest good back support and a decent tilt mechanism for proper reclining and motion while moving throughout the tasks of your day. But, you need to take into account that you cannot look to your chair as the crucial solution to poor posture. It’s your posture that needs to be trained how to change itself and find that comfort zone.

So a quality office seat can mean different things to different individuals, some might feel better even on a conventional type seat vs. a fantasy mesh chair. Other people may never find real comfort while sitting, and esp. larger people, or persons with injuries or pain, for them this can all lead to increased fatigue, pain and pain and discomfort, while sitting and working all day.

One of the most important things to seek out in a pleasant chair is the foam, this is something that the second-rate office chairs you often find at the big box stores are lacking in, the lower quality chairs are made with foam that might feel good when you try the chair out in the store but it hastily starts to breakdown and compress and lose it's memory and after a a short time it feels like you're sitting on a seat with little if any padding once the foam becomes loses it's "memory".

The second most critical thing to look for in good quality office chairs is the seat mechanical adjustments, you want to check the chair is fully adjustable, a high-quality chair will have about 6-7 adjustments, where a typical low quality chair will have at best 3-4. Having those extra adjustments is very valuable to get an best working posture and position.

A quality office seat will adjust vertically as well as horizontally, you'll also have seat incline, back angle, seat slide in and out away from the back, and the back can be fine-tuned vertically. Some chairs have additional adjustments, i.e like head support adjustment and or armrest height and width adjustments. Typically the more adjustments the better, but none of that matters if the foam is inferior and breaks down and becomes unpleasant to sit on only after a couple weeks of use.

Another detail to think about is that most office chairs are scored for the amount of daily hours is calculated for, customarily the higher the hours rating the more solid and quality the chair is ,but not always as everyone fits on a chair differently, you have to consider your own size. Speaking of chair dimensions, a number of chairs esp. the quality chairs, will sometimes come with different size seats, small, medium and large seats. If you realize that most office chairs are either exceedingly small or too large then perhaps a customize sized chair make you the most productive.