Kneeling chairs are dynamic chairs that are ergonomically designed to help the user sit in a more natural inline position. Balance is encouraged by using these chairs. The name is a bit misleading and makes it seem as if using these chairs requires that one is on their knees, but the reality is being on the knees is not the case at all, although there is a place to rest the knees, there is no pressure put directly on the knees.
These types of kneeling chairs are considered ergonomic because they allow the body to be seated in a state of natural posture. Sitting in a conventional office chair for hours is really rather rough on the back, the discs in the spine are compressed for long hours and are not given the opportunity to stretch they way they should.
With the use of the knee chair the spine is given the opportunity to stretch and the discs are given the opportunity to be relieved of pressure. The body is also given the opportunity to find its center in a seated position.
What Is Ergonomics?
To fully understand the function and the benefits of an ergonomic kneeling chair a few moments need to be spent understanding what ergonomics means. Ergonomics is the practice of designing equipment to fit the users needs. More so ergonomics is a philosophy that equipment should be designed to fit the user not that the user should have to adjust their bodies into unnatural positions to use equipment.
Ergonomics and the idea of ergonomics became popular in the 1980′s although it had been around since the 1970′s, it really took off in the early 1990′s as the shift from blue collar work to white collar work took hold.
As more and more people began working in offices and there were more and more injuries associated with working in an office the idea and the movement grew. It just made good business sense to provide employees with tools that would keep them safe and productive and at the same time reduce risk and thus the kneeling office chair was born.
Functional Seating
One of the primary tenets of ergonomics is to build to suit the body. Traditional office seating regardless how grand or padded, is just not built with the human body in mind. Oh sure the padding provides some comfort but the chairs are not built for productivity and long term sitting.
The Kneeling posture chair was created to provide functional seating that easily provided support in a natural fashion. The user is required by the nature of the kneeling chairs to lean forward, which is typically what a person at a desk is required to do to work effectively, by providing support for the knees the leaning forward takes the pressure off the spine and the weight of the body is more evenly distributed within the natural line of the body.
Kneeling chairs come in unlimited types and styles, of course the primary style lines remain in tact but there are quite a few versions that are available, from the stool model to the high backed models.
Kneeling chairs are the perfect solution for folks that have to sit for long periods of time.