Did you know we spend more than eight hours sitting each day?
This only accounts for the hours spent in your workplace. If you factor in hours spent sitting when commuting, watching TV at home, and having dinner, you’ll end up with some crazy figures.
But, what if there was a way you could integrate some body movements while sitting.
Sounds awesome, right?
Not only is it a good way to combine the daily grind with fitness, but also helps you stay active breaking the monotony of traditional sitting.
These concerns have necessitated the need for active sitting options to help prevent musculoskeletal injuries. They exist in a wide variety – from wobbly stools to wellness balls.
Here other reasons why you should replace your office chair with active seating solutions:
1. Improves Blood Flow
From the fact that active seats help you stay active by integrating small body movements, your blood flow increases. In turn, oxygen levels to your brain also increase resulting in high energy levels and improved mental alertness, boosting productivity.
Unlike traditional seats where your body goes into a complete in-active state, active seating boosts your body metabolism. As a result, your overall health improves.
2. Reduces Muscle Tension
Even with an ergonomic office chair, it's possible to suffer from muscle stiffness and tension. Most of them don't accommodate movements, making your muscles stay static for too long. This leads to stiffness especially around the neck and lower back areas.
With active seating options, your muscles are kept in constant small movements that help eliminate stiffness. The effect is mainly felt on your lower back.
Consequently, it reduces the risk of tension at the pressure points of your body.
3. Improved Posture
A good active seating solution straightens the back in the thoracic area. This restores the physiological shape of the spine, improving your posture. In addition, this also eliminates pain around back which is common when sitting on the traditional office chair.
With improved posture, you enjoy improved breathing and digestion, since it takes off the pressure on the internal organs like the lungs and stomach. Your body balance and coordination of mobile muscles also improve significantly.
4. Build Core Strength
If you want to build your six packs faster, you may want to consider investing in active seat options.
While active seating won’t get you there on its own, it exercises the core and strengthens the surrounding muscles. This will help you build core stability and protect your spine against various loads and stress.
5. Allow Movement of the Pelvis
Active seating moves the pelvic region which is important for the mobility of your upper and lower body. Besides, you don’t feel limited as it’s the case with traditional seats.
The intervertebral discs are also nourished by the constant movement of the pelvis. This increases the elasticity needed to maintain a healthy spine.
On the other hand, sitting on a regular chair keeps your back rounded which puts a lot of pressure on the front edges of the discs. The discs eventually bend towards the spinal cord which leads to a health condition known as disk herniation.
Types of Active Sitting Solutions
There’s a huge variety of active seating solutions available in the market. Here are some of the common ones:
Ball Chairs
This type of active sitting chair mainly comprises of a wellness ball that’s fitted with a chair-like base that puts it in place.
They incorporate all the benefits of wellness balls which includes boosting your cardio endurance. However, if you have limited space in your office, ball chairs may not be an ideal option.
Kneeling Chairs
Kneeling chairs are perfect for dividing your weight between your bust and shins. This sitting position opens the angle between your torso and the legs encouraging you to squeeze your glutes and remain in an upright posture.
In this position, you’ll be exercising your core and improving your body balance. The biggest selling point for kneeling chairs is their adjustability, making them ideal for all sizes.
Balance Discs
If you want to enjoy the benefits of active seating without having to replace your office chair, you may want to consider investing in a balance disc. They’re inflatable, portable, and will fit in almost any chair size.
These discs incentivize you to be mindful of your balance and posture eliminating a round back.
Alternatively, a wobbly stool can also be used to achieve the same effect since it offers a rounded base for gentle rocking.
Leaning Stools
These active seating solutions have a stable base to promote an upright position, relieving tension from the feet. They also have a backrest to offer more support.
How to Choose the Best Active Sitting Chair for Your Needs
Given the huge array of active seating options, you may want to consider the following factors to help you choose the perfect seat.
Adjustable Height
If you’re using a standing desk, you'll want an active seating chair with an adjustable height for maximum compatibility. Otherwise, you'll strain to use your furniture, which can lead to muscle injuries.
Assembling Ease
You don't want a seat that you can’t easily assembly. Poor assembly also makes the seat uncomfortable and ineffective. Fortunately, you can always go for an already assembled chair to be on the safe side.
Cushioning
Though this may not have a huge impact on the type of active seat option you choose to buy, it may affect your frequency of using the seat.
If you plan on switching your normal office chair with active seating once in a while, then you may not need as much cushioning.
Stay Healthy with Active Sitting
Given the amount of time we spend seated, the damage on the muscle-skeleton may be too severe that hours at the gym may not be enough to reverse the damage.
However, with active sitting, your muscles are kept in constant small movements whose accumulative effects promote your health.
For all your ergonomic office solutions, check out our products category.