Do long days at the office make your back stiff and your posture poor? Being hunched over a keyboard for hours at a time can be harmful to your body.
A kneeling chair is one way people combat back pain and bad posture, but are they worth the money?
Keep reading to learn more about the ergonomic kneeling chair, kneeling chair benefits, and if it would be worth your money to buy one.
What Is a Kneeling Chair?
A kneeling chair is a type of chair specifically designed to encourage proper sitting posture.
The kneeling chair’s design causes your thighs to be at a larger degree angle than the typical 90-degree angle while sitting. It also shifts some of your weight onto your shins instead of solely on your tailbone.
Kneeling chairs are also an ergonomically friendly chair option for people who sit for several hours each day.
A kneeling office chair is designed to reduce lower back strain by dividing where the pressure lies on your body while sitting.
Kneeling chairs were created in the 1970s by innovative Norwegian designers. Some kneeling chairs have backrests, but most kneeling chairs do not.
How to Use a Kneeling Chair
To use a kneeling desk chair, sit on it as if it were a normal chair. Then, in a kneeling position, slide your legs onto the shin pads. Your weight will still be mainly on your bottom.
It is also important to keep your hips and torso balanced. This helps your core and back muscles stay engaged, which is essential to receiving the benefits of the kneeling chair.
Because a kneeling chair is a posture chair, you should not slump while sitting on it. Use your muscles to keep upright. In fact, if your muscles feel stiff or sore after the first use, that is normal.
Variation in sitting postures can help enhance the benefits of using a kneeling chair.
You can also change how you sit on a kneeling chair. For example, instead of keeping your legs in the kneeling position on the shin pads, try sitting with them out in front of you.
For another variation, you could leave one leg on the shin pad and place the other on the floor while alternating legs to avoid muscle stiffness.
The Benefits of a Kneeling Chair and the Disadvantages
To better understand if a kneeling chair is worth your money, here are the benefits and disadvantages of using a kneeling chair.
Benefits of a Kneeling Chair
- Decreased back pain
- Improved posture
- Increased focus
- Improved digestion and breathing
- Strengthened muscles
- Comfort
One of the main benefits of a kneeling chair is that it relieves back pain caused by sitting for extended periods of time.
Using a kneeling chair that creates a 110-degree angle between your thighs and torso significantly reduces the pressure on your spinal disc.
It also tilts your hips and pelvis forward, which evenly distributes weight and helps align your neck, shoulders, and back. Proper spinal alignment reduces spinal compression and alleviates back pain.
Because of the kneeling chair’s ergonomic design, your pelvis is tilted forward, encouraging you to sit with proper posture and discouraging a hunched or “C-shaped” spine.
Kneeling chairs can help improve your focus at work by increasing blood flow and decreasing back pain.
Constantly being in pain or discomfort because of your sitting position can be very distracting while at work. Keeping your core muscles constantly engaged also provides you with the energy to stay focused.
The position of your body in a kneeling chair also improves digestion and breathing by opening the pelvis. This position puts less pressure and compression on your organs, which allows them to work better.
Because most kneeling chairs do not have a backrest, you rely on your abdomen and back muscles to keep you upright. This is also referred to as active sitting.
Sitting in a kneeling chair can be a low-impact way to strengthen your muscles gradually.
Another benefit of using a kneeling chair is the comfort it provides. Because kneeling chairs disperse the weight of your body evenly between your thighs, shins, and spine, sitting in a kneeling chair is very comfortable. Helping it gain notoriety and starting to be well worth the price.
Disadvantages of a Kneeling Chair
Although there are benefits of kneeling chairs, there are also disadvantages. However, you can avoid most of them if you regularly take breaks from sitting to stretch or walk around.
- More expensive than other office chairs
- Sitting and standing up can be awkward
- Pressure on shins over time
Because the quality and craftsmanship of kneeling chairs are typically more expensive than a regular, not ergonomically-friendly office chair.
Getting in and out of a kneeling chair gracefully takes practice. At first, you may find it difficult to sit and stand up from them.
If you sit in a kneeling chair for extended periods of time, you may feel pressure or soreness in your shins.
Is a Kneeling Chair Worth Its Price?
If the benefits of the kneeling chair outweigh its disadvantages, then the kneeling chair price is worth it.
Kneeling chairs are sturdy pieces of furniture that can help you save money spent on pain medication and chiropractor visits in the future.
Kneeling chairs are also better for you than other ergonomically friendly chairs like yoga ball chairs.
Yoga ball chairs were created for physical therapy patients, not office dwellers. Sitting on a yoga ball chair for a long time can actually increase lower back pain and promote poor posture.
Even if you don’t work in an office, kneeling chairs are effective for other activities that require you to sit, like crafting projects, writing, or knitting.
Where to Find the Best Kneeling Chairs
Because of the numerous benefits of the kneeling chair, you may have concluded that the kneeling chair is worth the price.
If so, we at Varier want to help you live a healthier, more balanced life with our ergonomic chairs. We can help you find the best kneeling chair.
Contact us for more information or to find a Varier store near you.