W Chair — The truly ergonomic desk chair

@_jacksmith I didn't even realize they still *made* these. I thought it was an 80s fad...everything 80s really *is* coming back in style.

@xtoq @_jacksmith Yep. Had one of these in the 80. Hated it then. Can't see loving it now.

@rohillion I don't use this chair but I do use a standing/treadmill desk. While they're not the same thing, they both require you to put in some effort to keep the back straight. Your body will build the muscle required to keep it straight but it requires you to do the work. In this instance, it's not going to be straight because of the design but because you're building/tensing the muscles to straighten up. That's the reason sitting is damaging, it is allowing the muscle to degrade by not using it. That is not to say it will not be painful, it will fade over time. It took about 2-3 weeks for my body to straighten up on its own and stop arching. Even so, I'm walking 6-8 hours daily with no problems. For people with back problems, yea, this chair won't be recommended.

@mikhailt @rohillion Keeping your back straight *all the time* can actually cause as many problems as the typical slouched position (flexed lower back, rounded shoulders, forward head position) *all the time* - i.e. the benefits of keeping your back straight/upright to help prevent back pain lacks evidence in the scientific literature. Making small postural adjustments frequently and changing positions regularly is much better than sustaining any position for long periods of time. I would say that your regular movement is helping rather than the standing position helping you keep a straight back.

@sammcpt @rohillion I absolutely agree with you, I think we're saying the same thing differently as I'm not a physiotherapist and all I can say is what I've went through as a user with no physio understanding behind it. I'm sure there are correct terms for what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying you should be "forcing" your back to be straight consistently all the time, that's definitely just as bad as siting as you're overtaxing the muscle and in this instance, you'll hurt it worse than sitting. I'm just explaining that you're "using" the back like when it needs to naturally or as you said regular movement to keep it straight is how this chair may provide assistance in keeping it straight but it's not the chair doing it. When sitting, you don't get the urge to keep your back straight, instead you move your equipment around to fit your sitting style. This type of chair or a standing desk doesn't let you do that, you do get the urge to occasionally tense the back up when it feels like it is not in straight position. In other words, the tool isn't the reason to try to keep your back straight, it's using your back or body to provide the natural assistance to it. Some people work out, do yoga, standing desk, etc that can do just as good job. Even if you're in a work place where you can't have this, taking a break every 20 minutes to do some basic exercise will help in a huge way.

@mikhailt @rohillion all good Mike I understand we are on the same page, I'm just putting it out there more for the community as I see a lot of people with back pain that are too conscious of keeping 'straight' which is the driving factor for ongoing pain. My point goes against what we are commonly told by family members/teachers/doctors/other health professionals that there is an ideal way to sit - quite upright, shoulders back, chest up, chin tucked in. I'm sharing that now we know that back pain generally is a lot more complex than how we sit, we are all very individual in what works for us but generally people who make small frequent movements (i.e shifting weight in their chair, fidgeting, sitting to standing, more steps per hour) are likely to have less issues with back pain than someone maintaining *any* position for > 1 hr - including this chair, any other chair or stationary standing.

@sammcpt @rohillion Awesome, thanks for writing that. There definitely are a lot of outdated notions out there being continuously preached even by our most educated "authorities" and our family members. I wish we have some way of informing everyone that nothing is as simple as it sounds and there's no one-fit-all solution for all humans. A 200lb bodybuilder isn't the same as 200lb couch potato or 200lb hiker, firefighter, runner and so on.

@stevesun21 I had one of these when I was a kid, and it was uncomfortable for me then. I can't imagine what it would be like on my knees now!