Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Ever Considered Not Using an Office Chair at Work?

I’m getting old enough now that I actually spend time thinking about how to take better care of myself. One thing that’s been bothering me lately has been my chair at the office. Simply put, the one I use right now sucks, the one before it sucked worse, and the one before that was about the same level of suckiness but did its suckage in a different way. Perhaps you’re in a similar situation and realize that (a) your office chair sucks, (b) it’s not doing your body any favors, and (c) you want to replace it with something more comfortable and better for your body.

I have a nice, expensive Obus Forme high-back chair at home. It’s pretty good, but honestly half of that comfort comes from the fact that I use my subwoofer under my desk as a footrest. That’s what puts my body in a more comfortable position. My office chair at work is a pretty no-frills affair, and I chose this one amongst the many sitting in our “surplus” area after our most recent office move. This seat, unlike the two before it, is fine for my back (more or less), but it’s killing my legs. The previous two seats were actually causing me back strain.

So, what’s a guy to do in order to protect his back and protect his body and health? Quit the job? That won’t help, because another office will likely have the same problem. Quit and join the circus? Well, that would certainly get me out of an office chair most of my days, but in a variety of other ways it might not be so good for my health.

“The act of sitting in a chair, especially for extended periods of our waking hours, is a modern invention and something our bodies were not designed to do.”

I looked at picking up a good ergonomic chair for myself. From my research, the Herman Miller Aeron chair – the infamous “super-expensive mesh chair” that started the mesh chair trend – came up again and again. I looked into it, and sure enough, this was a chair whose designers had spent significant effort to design it from scratch to be the chair to end all chairs. Its list price is about $1000. I thought about it. I really did. Particularly since I can pick up a used one for about $575 through Craigslist.

Still, I came upon a few reviews where people simply did not like the chair. It so happens that an older colleague here at the office managed to get an ergonomic assessment done, and then had the employer buy her a brand new Aeron chair to use. I sat in it, wiggled around, and contemplated about just how good it felt.

Honestly, it was a let-down. Granted, I didn’t spend the time to customize it to my body, since my colleague would doubtless have objected to my messing up her settings. Still, I have to say that it was nice, but not a Wow moment.

So what about the Aeron’s successor? Ah yes, the ultra-cool $1600 Herman Miller Embody chair. I’d love to have one of those things, particularly with orange-colored textile. I’m a sucker for orange-colored stylish goodies. I read the product description and practically salivated at the thought of a chair made to support the back in a dynamic manner, the end product of millions of dollars spent on R&D and testing & validation by medical doctors.

Unfortunately – or perhaps fortunately, as the case may be – I could not justify spending $1600 on a chair. Believe me, I thought about it – I didn’t dismiss this chair out of hand simply because it costs an arm and a leg. (Arm-and-leg pricetags don’t deter me, even when they really, really ought to!)

“I’m able to sway, lean over, turn around, do all sorts of things that weren’t possible in the Aeron because I’m sitting on the chair instead of in the chair.”

I did some more research and came upon the idea kneeling chairs. Why not go for a seat form that opens up the body – your legs no longer at a 90* angle to your torso, and that distributes your body weight between your butt and your knees? This was tempting – something that would be ergonomic and better for my back, yet at the same time open up my body to a more energetic position!

Unfortunately, I came upon reviews where people stated it wasn’t so great for their knees. If you have existing knee problems, stay away from the kneeling chair. But what if you are, like me, currently free from knee problems? Would the extra, prolonged and repeated stress on the knees lead to problems in the future? I didn’t find an answer, but I ended up coming upon something else entirely.

I discovered the saddle chair. Imagine something akin to a bicycle saddle (aka bike seat), but wider like the ones designed for women, and made at stool height so that you can still work at a desk. Your weight is distributed on your butt and on your legs, and like the kneeling chair, your leg angle to your torso is more open to facilitate better breathing & circulation. Hell, anything that would ease the pressure on the backs of my legs while working would be welcome!

In the end, I ordered a Humanscale Saddle Seat. It ran me almost $400. It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m eager to start using it and see if it is all that I’m hoping it will be: an ergonomic chair that helps me keep my energy level up and keep me comfortable and productive. In short, I’m hoping it’s a chair that will let me do what I want to do without worrying about discomfort or stress on my body.

“Not only did The Chair open my eyes to the “pro-chair” Western bias that we have sold to ourselves and other cultures, it also helped me understand just how much of modern chairs is form and how little is function.”

The conventional chair format, however artfully designed, however thoroughly tested, and however expensive, just might not be the best seating arrangement out there. Even the $1000 Aeron, and the $1600 Embody might not cut it. Reading an interesting blog post by someone in a similar predicament to mine, I think that any of us who are sick and tired of uncomfortable office chairs really ought to consider some of the alternatives out there.

Plus, the author’s experience with another model of saddle chair certainly gives me hope for my saddle seat when it arrives!

If that singular experience and review doesn’t get you out of your chair and into a new way of working, consider the New York Times article about an elementary school giving kids a new option besides sitting in a chair at a desk all day. If those kids are performing better by being in an environment where they can use their bodies differently, just maybe we adults could do better by getting our asses out of the standard office chair as well.

If you don’t like your office chair, have you ever considered not using an office chair at work?

Pole Dancing: A Feat of Athleticism & Strength

What do you think of when I say the words “pole dancing”? Chances are, you’re thinking about sleazy “gentlemen’s clubs” with women of dubious repute dancing around a pole to titillate men (and relieve them of some of their money). There is, however, nothing intrinsically sleazy or even sultry about dancing with a pole. Pole dancing is slowly coming into the mainstream consciousness as a fitness activity, which is something it truly is.

The first time I came across a pole dancing exhibit was actually at a wedding show. A local pole dance fitness club was trying to gain awareness amongst brides-to-be who want to be fit, svelte, and sexy for their big day. I have to admit, I felt odd around that booth and walked by it as fast as I could without looking like I was trying to get the hell out of there.

Pole dancing can indeed be used to seduce, arouse, and titillate. Sure, I won’t argue against that. But have you actually seen a pole dance performance? Indeed, some of the hold positions can have sexual connotations, but my overriding impression is “Holy cow, that is incredibly athletic!”

I think that performances with high heels on are pretty stupid, but take a look at the following video and consider the strength, endurance, and flexibility involved.

It can be artistic and graceful, feminine without being crude.

I think that it is entirely reasonable to state that, if done with such intent, pole dancing is as much a sport as competitive dancing is a sport.

Pole dancing will never be fully divorced from its sultry associations, and it does not need to be. Dancing of any kind can be sexualized because dancing by its very nature involves physical movement and expression. It is the intent behind the performance that determines its impact. Sometimes the sultriness is a good and appropriate thing, and sometimes it is a competitive, athletic endeavor – just as even ballroom dancing spans both ends of that spectrum.

Here’s pole dancing – or more appropriately, pole acrobatics – as pure performance:

The roots of pole dancing are in acrobatics and gymnastics. Indeed, such acrobatic & gymnastic performances are known as chinese pole performances. Like gymnastics in the Olympics, the chinese pole – dancing with and on a pole – is an activity pursued by both men and women. The movements & hold positions are different – for women, the emphasis is on lines & femininity, and for men, it is on strength and power.

Pole dancing comes from the world of gymnastics and acrobatics, and however it is presented today – as exercise, as general performance, as private seduction, or as sultry adult entertainment – it remains a feat of athleticism and strength.

I hope that if you dismissed pole dancing – like I used to – as something necessarily smutty, that you can now admit at least to yourself that it is not necessarily so.