Read as Mr. Opsvik shares his candid insights about sitting, and that as a whole, we as a society now do far too much of it. This post first appeared on our site in late 2008, herewith it it presented again in it’s entirety.

I know that you have made seating and how we sit a dominant aspect of your design career, when did this start?

After some years working as a designer of “mainstream” furniture I saw that enough products with mainstream qualities had already been designed. I then started working on creating products at either end of the spectrum of styles. At one end, you have chairs where rational and ergonomic aspects are the focus – taking care of the human body’s requirements in situations that involve extended sitting, while at the other end of the spectrum, you have objects where the most important criterion is expression.

What served as the inspiration for the original Variable balans Chair?

A Norwegian, Hans Chr. Mengshoel initiated experiments on sitting devices with supports under the shins, and for me this served as the inspiration for the Variable and indeed a collection of “kneeling” chairs, that is to say chairs with shin rests.

Which aspect of the chair was the most challenging to overcome and why?

Every posture feels wrong after extended periods of time, including the kneeling posture, so for all my different chairs with the brand “balans”, it was important to consider kneeling as just one of several postures that can be assumed in a chair.  I saw it as my job to design chairs that allowed as many different sitting postures as possible and to make it easier to move and change frequently between them.

 Another aspect that always is challenging is to combine the functional concepts such as the kneeling posture, which for some may seem unconventional, with a good and acceptable visual form.

 
Did your thought process evolve — or did you know right from start what you would end up?

Attempting to overcome our stereotypical sitting habits by creating healthier unconventional seating solutions evolved, and is still evolving.

The Variable balans Chair has enjoyed tremendous success around the world, with a heightened popularity in the US in the 80′s.  Almost everyone knows someone who owns or owned one.  What are your thoughts to see this iconic design return to the US market?

When I meet someone in the US that believes they own a Variable, they more than likely own a knockoff manufactured in Taiwan. The most popular copy has no movement! (straight rail) and one instead of two leg supports. That means that the copy is not made for movement and variation of posture.

I believe that these copies may have contributed negatively to the  “kneeling concept” in the US.  I guess it may have been better for the reputation of the concept if the copies were exact and incorporated the functional qualities of my original design. That being said, I am elated that the Variable is returning to the US and hope to see it flourish again. We have last year (2007) added a backrest which makes possible even more variations of posture.

What would you say to the whole new generation of Americans about the importance of sitting and about your seating solutions in particular.

Importance of sitting?   Well, I have two thoughts:

The first is to spend less time sitting;

That being said, it is no secret that people are in fact spending more and more time sitting, in front of computers especially.  So if one must sit, it is of prime importance to introduce more movement and variation of posture into our sitting.

 Although the first solution is clearly preferable, it is only the second one that I have any capacity to influence in my profession.

 Our industrialized part of the world has turned into a society of sitting human beings. “Homo sapiens” has become “Homo sedens”.  Information technology has introduced some additional challenges to our life of sitting: the keyboard, mouse and screen demand active fingers, eyes and brain with the rest of the body in stand-by mode. This not only entails that we spend even more time sitting, but that our sitting has become even more static.

 
When you design — it appears as though you are thinking about function and then form, although your designs make such a statement, it’s hard to imagine that form does not come first.  Can you comment on how you weigh function and form.

Regarding my chairs, where rational and ergonomic concepts are the primary focus, I start with function, which means that it is necessary to work harder to create good form

When one designs from form first, you often end up with pieces that have visual interest but do not serve a practical purpose, and are often outright uncomfortable.  But all sitting devices don’t necessarily need to be functional.  My chairs are functional and meant for situations where we sit over long periods of time.

How much do types of materials come into play when contemplating a design?

If the function is the most important aspect of the design, then it is important to choose materials that fulfil this need in the best possible way.

If the needs of the designed object can be satisfied by use of renewable resources, I prefer that, but I am not fanatic about using only renewable materials.  

Which of Mother Nature’s designs most intrigues you and why?

I am fascinated to observe how nature always uses a minimum of material to achieve a maximum of strength.  If you try to break a branch from a tree, you never know where it will break, Observe how it widens out where it meets the trunk.

How much does sustainable design impact your work? 

It varies a lot, I prefer to develop lightweight wooden based furniture but I think my contribution environmentally has been in attempting longevity.

Longevity is a significant contribution to the concept of sustainable design.

 When I am designing products with an unconventional functional solution, they have naturally enough also ended up with a distinctive visual form.  I have experienced that such products can experience longevity without being labelled as unmodern because they avoid following the patterns of short-term trends and fashions.

 I am bold enough to use my own chair designs – the Tripp Trapp 1972, the Varier  balans ® Variable 1979 and the Varier Gravity 1983  as examples that prove advanced age is not necessarily synonymous with outdated appearance.

Will sustainable design become a mainstay for all designers — or will only a subset embrace it?

Industrial products distributed globally can hardly be honestly described as truly sustainable, but I hope all designers will do their best to develop products that harm the environment as little as possible.

What is currently on your drawing board?

Mostly refinements or redesign of earlier concepts.  In 1977 I developed a School desk where the different pupils/students could adjust to own measurements in seconds”

Now I am redesigning it and trying to find a licensee to manufacture and distribute it.

I have also been working on a kick-scooter with electric drive for urban transportation. 

What would you build if you could build anything — without regard to physics or commercial viability?

A “perpetual mobile” or “perpetual motion” device that could provide us with clean energy

Among all the things you have created or have contemplated, do you have a favorite design and/or one that you are most proud of?

This is impossible for me to answer……You may as well be asking which of your children do you prefer?

 18^th of November  2008             Peter Opsvik

If this is you, then take a serious look at the PEEL recliner by Variér. When used correctly, this recliner is healthy for your back, comfortable for your body and appealing to your eye. That makes the PEEL recliner a rare find in the after office hours seating world. Why is it rare? Because Variér seat design is about health based on fact, not myth.

Myths about comfortable seating

• To be comfortable the upholstery has to be soft as a cloud
• To be comfortable I have to resemble a reclined letter C
• Once I’m floating on my cloud I won’t have to move
• All those rules about comfort and sitting in the office don’t apply after work, because I can’t hurt my back sitting after I leave the office

Why is the PEEL recliner healthy and comfortable?

The PEEL recliner has upholstery specially designed to maintain support of the body. You’ll float, but you won’t sink and bottom out, trapped in feathers without support where it’s needed. You won’t need a rainbow of cushions to shove in your back for lumbar support, or behind your neck for neck support. You won’t want to slouch because the very design of this recliner offers utter comfort while maintaining healthy postures. The design of the PEEL recliner is such that to maintain the natural curve of the low back you just need to sit your buttocks right back in the chair, adjust the recline to the position you want, the neck rest to support your neck in neutral, and put your feet up.

You will indeed feel that you are floating. But because the upholstery of the PEEL recliner offers constant support, you will find it easy to change positions. Movement is further facilitated by a double spring system that ensures the chair moves smoothly with you, simply by shifting your body weight. No levers. Movement is essential to maintain the body’s health, and this is particularly relevant to the spine. Movement is essential to maintain the health of the discs, the joints, the ligaments and muscles of the spine.

The discs are fluid filled cushions between the spinal vertebrae. The discs act as shock absorbers. If you sit immobile then disc pressure builds up and this pressure forces the fluid out of the discs. Changes of posture create changes of pressure that allow fresh fluid and nutrition to come into the discs, and waste products to be removed. So by maintaining hydration with movement, the discs retain their shock absorbency function.

Movement also assists in the health of the joints on either side of the vertebrae. Apart from allowing movement, these joints take some of the load of the body off the discs, muscles and ligaments. However if you sit in one position, these joints get stiff, just as happens if you keep your fingers clenched for a period of time. Constant load on joints from lack of movement also causes seepage of fluid from the joints, which leads to impingement of joint surfaces and resultant pain.

And as discussed in a previous post, the muscles and ligaments also need movement to maintain their protective role of the spine, by creating stability. One of the best ways to use back muscles when seated is to use a rocking chair.

JFK’s physician, Dr Janet Travell, quite rightly recommended a rocking chair to treat his low back pain. She reasoned that a rocking action instigated via the feet, causes alternating relaxation and activation of the deep back muscles. This is a very beneficial form of seated movement. By using the footstool to initiate the rocking action, you can turn the PEEL into a rocking recliner.

So being able to move in a chair is very important. In the PEEL recliner, movement is assisted by the supportive upholstery, by the recline mechanism of the backrest and the use of the footstool.

Reclining is a natural posture when relaxing. However, when you try to use a normal sofa as a recliner by half sitting, half lying along it, legs outstretched, regardless of whether you put a pillow in your back, your spine will resemble a banana. This is because your hamstrings are attached to your pelvis at one end and run down the back of the leg to attach below your knees at the other end. By sitting bent at the hips with the knees out straight along the sofa, the hamstrings are on the full stretch, and will pull your pelvis backwards causing your low back to slouch, reversing the natural curve. SLOUCH over time equals OUCH.

The backrest recline in the PEEL lessens the tension in the hamstrings. By positioning the footrest so that your knees are slightly bent, your hamstrings are no longer taut. Indeed they are as relaxed as you are. Therefore the hamstrings are no longer pulling the spine into a slouch. And if you have correctly positioned your buttocks as far back in the seat as possible, then the natural curve of your low back is comfortably maintained. Now adjust the head rest so your neck is supported in line with the rest of your spine, not flexed down or bent back. You are now totally relaxed and the care that you have taken looking after your back at work, will be maintained by excellent seating at home. All that remains is to pick up that book, or switch on the TV.

References
1. Adams, M. A., Green, T. P., & Dolan, P. (1994). The strength in anterior bending of lumbar intervertebral discs. Spine, 19(19), 2197–2203.

Adams, M. A., McMillan, D. W., Green, T. P., & Dolan, P. (1996). Sustained loading generates stress concentrations in lumbar intervertebral discs. Spine, 21(4), 434–438.

Callaghan JP., McGill SM. (2001) “Low back joint loading and kinematics during standing and unsupported sitting”. Ergonomics, 44(3):280-94.

Dolan, K. J., & Green, A. (2006). Lumbar spine reposition sense: The effect of a ‘slouched’ posture. Manual Therapy, 11(3), 202–207.

McGill, S. M., & Brown, S. (1992). Creep response of the lumbar spine to prolonged full flexion. Clinical Biomechanics, 7, 43–46.

Solomonow, M., Baratta, R.V., Banks, A., Freudenberger, C., & Zhou, B.-H. (2003a). Flexion-relaxation response to static lumbar flexion in males and females. Clinical Biomechanics, 18(4), 273–279.

Solomonow, M., Baratta, R.V., Zhou, B.-H., Burger, E., Zieske, A., & Gedalia, A. (2003b). Muscular dysfunction elicited by creep of lumbar viscoelastic tissues. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology, 13(4), 381–393.

Solomonow, M., Hatipkarasulu, S., Zhou, B.-H., Baratta, R., & Aghazadeh, F. (2003c). Biomechanics and electromyography of a common idiopathic low back disorder. Spine, 28(12), 1235–1248.

Solomonow, M., Zhou, B.-H., Baratta, R.V., & Burger, E. (2003d). Biomechanics and electromyography of a cumulative lumbar disorder: Response to static flexion. Clinical Biomechanics, 18(10), 890–898.

Udo, H., Fujjimura, M., & Yoshinaga, F. (1999). The effect of a tilting seat on back, lower back and legs during sitting work. Industrial Health. 37(4), 369-81.

Williams, M., Solomonow, M., Zhou, B. H. E., Baratta, R. V., & Harris, M. (2000). Multifidus spasm elicited by prolonged lumbar flexion. Spine, 25(22), 2916–2924.

Midwife, Jean Sutton, and Pauline Scott, an antenatal teacher, in a theory they developed called  ‘Optimal Foetal Positioning‘ (OFP) [1], found that the mother’s position and movement could influence the way her baby lay in the womb in the final weeks of pregnancy. Many difficult labours result from ‘malpresentation’, where the baby’s position makes it hard for the head to move through the pelvis, so changing the way the baby lies could make birth easier for mother and child.

If your baby is persistently posterior, Sutton recommends using a special kneeler-rocker chair for the last few weeks of pregnancy, specifically the Variable balans, originally made by Stokke, which is now Varier.

The Variable balans sits you in a helpful upright position with knees lower than your chest, but it has rockers underneath it. The combination of upright posture and rocking movement encourages the baby to rotate.

Much has been written about the benefits and comfort of using a kneeling chair during all stages of pregnancy.

If one can afford it the ultimate best chair for pregnant women is possibly the Gravity balans.  This chair is one of the most unique and remarkable seating products ever developed. Its unique 4 positions take you from the kneeling position (like the Variable) all the way back to zero gravity reclining, all in one chair.

Kneeling chairs like the Variable balans and specialty chairs like the Gravity balans can assist and ease discomfort for all types of sitters in general, but can be especially helpful for persons in special circumstances like people suffering from existing back pain, pregnancy as mentioned here, in an upcoming post you will learn how a kneeling chair like the Variable balans can assist with prostate pain.

[1] ‘Understanding and Teaching Optimal Foetal Positioning‘ by Jean Sutton and Pauline Scott, in New Zealand: Birth Concepts, 1995.

One of our dealers in Milwaukee Wisconsin just sold 8 Gravity balans chairs to an 85 year old senior citizen. She is a long time (20 yr) proud owner of a Gravity and it is her most precious possession.  She is headed into a nursing home and is aware she has not much time left.  She wanted to do something special for her individual children and grandchildren.

Realizing how much pleasure the Gravity has brought to her, she felt she wanted to impart that same happiness onto them as a parting gift. It is for us a very moving story and we are delighted to be able to share it.

Seat designer Peter Opsvik is well ahead of the field with the design of perches. He designed his innovative Balans Supporter in 1982 (see left). The possibilities for support are many, and the concept quite brilliant. Opsvik takes inspiration for his innovative designs from his close observation of the postures people assume as they go about their daily living.  Opsvik observed that when standing for periods of time, people sought support, be it with one knee on a ledge, using the desk to support the pelvis, or resting their back on the wall. From these observations came his series of supports, including a support to enable perching.[i]

Such a simple design for a perch is not new.  Indeed, the perch support has been known since 1100 AD.  The first extant examples may be found in Exeter Cathedral, dated 1200 AD. These first perch supports were small semi-oval hinged seats attached to the back of choir stalls, where the monks stood to pray. The stalls and their perches were known as Misericord, which when translated means “act of mercy”. Given that these perching seats supported the monks who prayed from 3.00am to 11.00pm, it was an apt name indeed.  They were also known as “nodding seats” because the comfort afforded often induced sleep. However, when a monk fell asleep his bodyweight fell forward, the seat collapsed and he slipped off, [ii] no doubt affording light relief to the congregants.

Falling asleep at your desk will not afford your employer amusement. One way of maintaining motivation is to move. The long term health benefits of continual small movements throughout your waking hours are discussed in Working from a Stand-up desk?   But as Peter Opsvik points out “we should be alternating between actively using our muscles and relaxing them all the time… the need to alternate between activity and relaxation while we sit is often neglected.”[iii]

In today’s work world where the ergonomic advice is changing from “eliminate muscle activity where you can” to “use muscle activity where you can”, Opsvik’s comment remains very relevant. If you choose to stand to work you can take time out to lessen the load and change your posture by either perching or supporting your upper torso.

Perching is the natural instinct the body has to transfer weight to a seat in order to relax muscles and decrease compressive forces.

While the above balans Supporter was a concept piece, not meant for production, the innovative MOVE stool  is available in stores.  Widely viewed as one of the most simple yet innovative designs in production, MOVE is the ideal companion to any sit to stand desk.  Hydraulic lift adjustment can accommodate sitting and perching  in the one device.  Moreover, the base of the MOVE is a convex disk that not only encourages movement, but  exercises spinal and abdominal muscles in order to maintain balance, thus avoiding  unhealthy extended periods of  static standing.

The Move Stool avoids the problem that will arise if you use a chair which elevates to accommodate the height of a stand-up desk, but leaves your legs swinging in the breeze. Such a situation creates pressure on the thighs and compresses the blood vessels in the legs, causing swelling and decreasing blood supply.[iv]  The MOVE stool avoids such ill effects.

Trunk support is an alternate approach, with the objective being to lighten the load of the trunk rather than restrict trunk posture. In static standing when a support was used for the upper torso, similar to that seen in the picture on the far right, Damecour and colleagues reported a 60 % reduction of activity in the spinal muscles.[v] Muscles in the low back and buttocks are able to relax when weight is transferred to the support. Without the support, spinal loading increases when the trunk is bent forward from the upright position. Even small amounts of forward bending from the upright position without support magnifies loading on the spine because of muscle activity and resultant increased compression in the low back.[vi] The result is PAIN.  Standing and resting the pelvis against the desk for support relaxes some of the big thigh muscle but does not relax the back muscles. Using the table as a method of support could be acceptable for very short periods, but not if it means you must bend over your work to access it. Sustained flexed postures, either in sitting or standing, are a surefire way to give yourself a dose of backpain (see Your ergonomic chair may not be the cause of your back pain).

By alternating from supported and unsupported standing, you are alternating between activity and relaxation, and avoiding load and shear stresses on the structures of the spine, and that is essential to short term back health. Providing you are moving when standing, you are also interspersing incidental activity in your day, essential to longterm systemic health (see Working from a stand up desk).

So intersperse your standing with a rest on a perch support like a Move Stool.  That way you are looking after both short and long term health.

An interesting dichotomy has arisen in the ergonomic world due to the research demonstrating that increasing incidental activity in the day is beneficial to long term health, particularly for those that have a sedentary job (see Working from a stand-up desk).[1] For decades ergonomists have advised office workers to “eliminate muscle activity where you can”. This new maxim “use muscle activity where you can” requires a new approach to office ergonomics in order that increasing activity can be adhered to without increasing bodily pain.  One method of increasing incidental activity currently being espoused in the media is to stand to work.  But this advice requires qualification if you are to avoid painful ramifications.

In order to help you decide whether you should sit/stand/perch this post, and the one on Standing desks need a standing support, aims to address some of the arguments that are being left out of the current “Standing versus Sitting” debate.

Stationary standing can cause back pain

• Occupations that require standing for periods of more than 30 minutes in the hour show high incidence of back pain.[2]

• In a recent study 23 people were required to perform light tasks for 2 hours from a stationary standing position. In these 2 hours, 15 of the 23 participants developed low back pain. The important point to note here is that these people had never previously had back pain.[3]
• It is possible to predict who is at risk of developing low back pain from standing.[4] It is also possible to prescribe simple exercises to treat this dysfunction effectively.[5]Your physical therapist should be able to help with this and with a routine of trunk stabilizing exercises, if they are required.
• Although more women work from fixed standing postures than men, low back pain occurs in either sex if people work from a fixed standing position.[6]
• People who have the freedom to sit at will have less low back pain than those who stand in fixed postures or walk.[7]

Stationary standing can cause circulatory insufficiency in the legs

• Prolonged standing causes pooling of the blood in the legs with sluggish return of blood to the heart, swelling of the legs and the possibility of blood clot in both men and women. In females prolonged standing can cause preterm birth and spontaneous abortion.[8]
• People working in a fixed standing posture are at a significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease than those working in a fixed sitting posture.[9]
• People with occupations requiring prolonged standing have increased incidence of varicose veins and nocturnal cramps.[10]

Are there any benefits, then, of standing to work as opposed to sitting?

• Standing requires activation of muscles which uses 10kcal/hour more than sitting and in the long term, along with other measures, is useful in addressing abdominal fat. [11] (see Working from a stand-up desk?)
• “Activity energy expenditure is low during most types of sitting compared with even light-intensity movements when standing”. [12].(However, dynamic seating such as the Move Stool uses the legs to create movement, thus increasing circulation, decreasing leg swelling and improving spinal motion).[13]
• Standing reduces loads acting on the back compared with loads accrued when sitting. Therefore “standing, used alternatively as a rest from sitting, could form a basis for injury prevention when designing work.”[14]
• There is little agreement in the research literature as to whether standing reduces musculoskeletal pain, or whether it increases the ability to concentrate.[15]
• It has long been thought that standing decreases the pressure in the discs and therefore reduces the risk of disc degeneration. It has recently been shown that disc pressure is similar in sitting and standing when some degree of the natural curve of the low back maintained.[16]

In summary

Standing to work may be good for your health in the long term because it uses more calories, particularly if you move, and it decreases loads on the spine. However, in the short term prolonged standing can cause low back pain and circulation problems in the legs leading to blood clots in the lungs. And if you are standing stationary then there is constant loading through the same joints and tissues in the spine and lower limbs and little provision for rest or change in levels of muscular activity. On the other hand, sitting for long periods is also detrimental to health in that the reduced muscle activity uses less calories, there are increased loads through the spinal structures particularly in slouched postures (see Your ergonomic chair may not be the cause of your back pain), and sustained sitting can also lead to blood clots.

Therefore you need to be able to vary your posture between sitting and standing. And you need to move while in each posture.[17]

One method of working from both sitting and standing postures is to use a sit/stand desk. But what do you sit on? Using a sit/stand desk requires a special seat. You have  choices for such support in the Variér range.  Starting with the Variér Move Standing Stool

Varier’s Move stool is quite possibly the perfect chair for homework or grown-up work. Research points to movement as the key to focus and improved posture.

Move stool encourages movement while sitting

Longtime ADHD researcher Dr. Mark Rapport, believes movement is a key component in the ability of certain children to focus.  A published study concluding in 2009 by the Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL. investigated whether children’s activity level is functionally related to working memory demands.

Following this, a second comprehensive 2 year study by UCF was undertaken in 2010 in which the Move stool was selected for use due to its’ unique ability to encourage movement while sitting.

The data is still being analyzed, but according to researchers, when asked, the children involved in the study overwhelmingly preferred the MOVE to the control chair.

It should be noted that neither the UCF nor Dr. Rapport makes any suggested or implied endorsement of any product.  More information on the published study may be found here:  http://www.nea.org/tools/47003.htm

In the company’s view, Move stool redefines sitting.  The human body is designed for motion and should never be still for too long.  The Move stool is a precision device, engineered for movement; promoting relaxation, increasing concentration in natural, active sitting positions.  It has been incorporated into several schools and specialized learning environments worldwide.   It is the perfect solution for the home, office, dorm room or bedroom, anywhere where one spends time in front of a computer or desk.

Varier’s Move™ is available in 3 sizes MOVE, MOVE II and MOVE small – a children’s version.

Download Press Release HERE

www.varierusa.com

ADD, ADHD ergonomic,  ergonomics, children, school, homework, desk, best chair, seating active, movement,   mind, fidget, concentration, homework, learn, improve learning

Seat design that facilitates sitter movement has long been a design priority of Variér. But Edward Miano, President of Variér USA, is ensuring his company keeps pace with all facets of medical research, not only that relevant to the ergonomic world.  Mindful of the recent scientific literature demonstrating that sustained motionless sitting can be responsible for cardiac ill health, diabetes, dementia and cancer*, Varier has an interest in informing current and potential users of its products  to different ways they can move and fulfill current health advice while still working efficiently. At Varier, they believe that it is important that those in office jobs not only move between sitting and standing, but that they move while standing.

Why is movement so important to health?
In a previous blog** I discussed the detrimental effects that stationary sitting produces on the muscles, ligaments, joints and discs of the low back.  But there are also systemic ill effects that are driven by lack of muscle contraction. In the short term the decreased muscle contraction that occurs with prolonged, immobile sitting slows the clearance of fat from the blood stream and decreases the effect of insulin. In the long term these effects cause obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.

But just because your job involves a lot of sitting you do not have to succumb to this cascade of events. One of the ways to address this problem is to introduce as much movement as possible into your day. Even light activity requiring low energy expenditure is important. For example standing as opposed to sitting. Standing and moving is an even better example. Such activities are known as NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). This acronym was devised by Dr James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, to describe the thousands of small movements you (hopefully) make in your daily living. e.g. getting up to go to the water cooler, or the toilet, doing your pause exercises. Even fidgeting. These sporadic movements break the pattern of sustained inertia, and in a day increase the total energy expended.

Energy expended equals calories used. Owen and colleagues recently found that every minute of sedentary behavior replaced by light activity, such as standing and incidental walking, uses 1 additional kilo calorie. Hamilton and co-workers noted that “supporting the mass of the body in combination with spontaneous movement or very slow ambulation (1 mph) raises whole-body energy expenditure 2.5-fold more than when seated still.” These researchers also found that chair bound workers who move infrequently used as little as 300 kilo calories a day in activity. And workers who remained seated for 2 hours/day longer than their colleagues, were also fatter than their colleagues.  Artinian and co- workers discovered that even modest sustained lifestyle changes (such as adding more activity to your working day by walking to a colleague’s office rather than emailing, climbing stairs rather than catching lifts, walking up escalators) accrue over time and can substantially reduce cardiovascular disease. So it stands to reason that increasing incidental movement in your day will use more calories and help to break the adverse impact that sustained sitting has on health.

How can you increase movement in your day?
Apart from walking more within your office confines you can change your working posture. Not only when seated but by performing some of your work standing. You can stand to answer the phone and rise up and down on your toes while talking. Or you can use a stand-up desk to work. Standing to work uses more calories than sitting. However, standing still is just as damaging to your health as sitting still. Both cause high levels of load on muscles, ligaments and joints in the low back, resulting in pain. And both, because of decreased muscle activity, allow blood to pool in the legs, decreasing circulation, with resultant swelling and the possibility of a blot clot moving from the legs to lodge in the lungs.***

So you need to move when standing. But even if you could do all your work from the standing position, if you are standing in the one spot for an 8 hour day, even with movement, you are likely to end up with chronic leg swelling.

The answer is to vary your posture from sitting, to half sitting to standing. If you want to work at a stand-up desk, then intermittently give your legs and back a rest by using the support of a Variér Move Standing Stool. This seat supports you halfway between sitting and standing. Its convex shaped base encourages movement that is driven by muscle contraction in the legs. In addition, the shape of the base allows you to tilt forward towards your work. The saddle shape and height of the seat relaxes tension in the muscles that run from the pelvis to the thigh, allowing the pelvis to tilt forward, thus maintaining the natural curve of the low back.

The Move Standing Stool fulfills not only ergonomic criteria, but also the criteria of NEAT. It supports and facilitates change of posture to accommodate task and it uses low level muscle contraction to add movement to your day. In short the Move Standing Stool is very neat indeed.****

References
*Hamilton, M.T, et al.(2007) “Role of Low Energy Expenditure and Sitting in Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease”. Diabetes 56:2655–2667, p. 2660.
*Katzmarzyk PT. et al (2009) “Sitting time and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.” Med Science Sports Exercise 41(5):998-1005
** Pynt J (2011)“Your ergonomic chair may not be the cause of your pain-but your sofa just might.
***Callaghan JP and Mc Gill S. (2001) “Low back joint loading and kinematics during standing and unsupported sitting”. Ergonomics, 20;44 (3):280-94.
***Kabrhel C. et al. (2011) “Physical inactivity and idiopathic pulmonary embolism in women: prospective study.” British Medical Journal, Jul 4;343:d3867. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d3867.
Levine, J. A. et al. (2006). “Non-exercise activity thermogenesis: the crouching tiger hidden dragon of societal weight gain.” Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology 26: 729-736.
Nancy T. Artinian et al. (2010). “Interventions to Promote Physical Activity and Dietary Lifestyle Changes for cardiovascular Risk Factor Reduction in Adults : A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association”, Circulation, 122:406-441:
Owen, N. et al (2010) “Sedentary Behavior: Emerging Evidence for a New Health Risk” Mayo Clin Proc. ;85(12):1138-1141
**** For more information on the Move Standing Stool see the Move Stool White Paper

How could I have back pain you ask? You have an office job. The heaviest object you lift during the day is your coffee mug. You avoid back pain in the office by following all the preventive measures outlined by your health care expert. You understand the importance of maintaining the natural curve of your low back when seated at your desk. You change your posture frequently. You have a state-of-the-art office chair. You did nothing last night but watch television.

And there’s your answer.

Shutting the office door does not give your back a ‘safe-to-slouch’ card. How did you sit last night when you got home? Did you half sit, half lie along that modular lounge that you paid an arm and a leg … and a back for? Did you sink into a big slouch in your “soft as a cloud” sofa? If your home seating fails to maintain the natural curve of your low back, indeed encourages you to sit in a sustained slouch, then the ligaments in your back are going to be stretched, just as they are if you sit badly in the office. As a result the small stretch receptors in the ligaments and deep muscles of your back will tire of their protective role and switch off, and you lose the reflex that automatically protects your spine. Your spinal stability is gone and your spine is now very vulnerable to injury. And all the time you are sitting slouched, fluid is emerging from the muscles, ligaments, discs and joints, irritating the spinal structures, and creating inflammation.

How long do you have to sit slouched for this scenario to occur? Moshe Solomonow* and his school of researchers have been publishing the effect of slouched sitting on spinal ligaments and muscles for 15 years. They have found that just 20 minutes of sustained slouching (as occurs when you sit with your legs outstretched on the modular lounge) is long enough to cause an outpouring of irritating fluid into the spinal tissues for the next 7 hours. And the effect is cumulative. Dependent on how long you’ve stayed slouched the fluid may not resolve for 24 hours. You now have an inflamed back. But don’t forget the negative effect that slouching along the lounge has on your deep back muscles and ligaments. They are equally slow to recover. Research shows that over a 2 hour period, even if you slouch for only 10 minutes and then move around for 10 minutes, your ligaments and muscles will still take 3-4 hours to recover their protective role. Most people sit still in front of the TV for longer than 10 minutes. More like an hour at a time. And if you slouch you will quite likely wake in the morning with a back that is stiff, sore and very unstable. You are primed to do yourself a grand damage bending over to pick up a pencil …in the office.

What is the remedy? Take the rules of office sitting home.** Your back is just as vulnerable to injury watching TV in your recreational hours as it is working at your desk. You need a state-of-the-art recreational seat. The Varier Gravity balans is just such a seat. This chair will support the natural curve of your low back, facilitate relaxation, and allow you to change posture by shifting body weight. Dynamic chairs such as the Gravity balans that move with the body have been shown to lessen spinal distress.*** Thus the Varier Gravity balans is unique lounge room seating. It fulfils the criteria of healthy seating while maintaining aesthetic appeal. As such the Varier Gravity balans represents optimal recreational seating. In short, it looks good and it’s good for you.

Jenny Pynt PhD

References

*Solomonow M. (2009). Ligaments: a source of musculoskeletal disorders. Journal of Bodywork Movement Therapy, 13(2), 136-154.
** Pynt, J., Mackey, M. & Higgs, J. (2008). Kyphosed seated postures: Extending concepts of postural health beyond the office. Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 18(1), 35-45
*** van Deursen, D.L., Goossens, R.H., Evers, J.J., van der Helm, F.C., van Deursen, L.L. (2000). Length of the spine while sitting on a new concept for an office chair. Applied Ergonomics, 31(1):95-8
van Dieën, J.H., de Looze, M.P, & Hermans, V. (2001) Effects of dynamic office chairs on trunk kinematics, trunk extensor EMG and spinal shrinkage. Ergonomics, 44, 739-750.

As of this writing, Variable balans was ranked number 14 in the “Best Selling Office Task Chairs” category on Amazon.com and climbing. This is no small accomplishment given the number of chair choices, the best selling list itself names 100 chairs – many of them unbranded knockoffs.  What is significant is that of the Branded chairs, the Variable balans is ranked #3 behind the  Aeron chair as well as Mirra chair by Herman Miller.

With a unanimous five star feedback rating thus far, Varier’s Variable balans has surpassed its imitators, proving its true colors as a premium office chair. The high number of sales is attributed to its high quality materials, Norwegian construction and it’s trademark of The Original Kneeling Chair.

Although this rank is exciting to Varier it is not surprising.  Since the first Variable was produced in 1979, it has received countless awards for design, quality and ergonomic soundness. It should also be noted that the original design has not changed since 1979, although Variable is now available with an optional back support, designed to extend the variety of positions and range of movements possible. As well it is considered eco friendly office furniture  constructed with beech wood harvested from sustainable forests in Europe and updated wool based fabrics from popular manufacturers in Italy, Denmark and Germany.

Poorly imitated but never duplicated, the Variable is still the premium ergonomic solution when looking for a chair for your home or office.