Ask Lemmy

Once upon a time, I was fairly strong but I couldn't touch my toes. That full deep stretch was just a little beyond me. It always had been, as long as I could remember in my adult life. Throughout years of martial arts and parkour that moderately normal level of flexibility eluded me.

Then I quit my job at Amazon. I was so burned out I ended up taking 6 months off. During that time I mostly hung out around the house. Played with my kid. ... played a ton of Minecraft.

The point is, I wasn't doing any new exercise. I was just doing things other than hunching in a chair all day. And just before I started a new job I discovered that I could touch my toes again!

I asked my new job for a standing desk - and I've kept that practice up at every job since. I alternate between standing and sitting on a tall office chair. I estimate that I stand a little more than half the day all in, but being able to transition has made a huge difference for me.

I'm in my forties now and I can grab my feets no problem. I don't do any dedicated stretching - I'm just not hunching all day.

What is your budget?

Whatever chair you end up getting try to swing a standing desk if you can

If I was required to sit in a chair for hours, I would insist my supervisors allow me to sit on this:

And of course these are made in actual chair models too, with a stable base and a backrest and everything, but I would prefer the actual ball. Very healthy for your spine and core muscles, if you're required to sit, this is the healthiest method.

I stand most of the time. Use the chair when I get tired.

My HM Aeron is 20 years old. It has seen an embarrassing amount of use, as I've worked from home for over that length of time. It's served me well but it's not without its issues.

What I found at the start, and continue to find, is that it rolls the pelvis and c-curves the spine at the lower back. This loads the lumbar with a lot of force.

What I'm looking for now is a true tilter - not a mere recliner - that keeps the hip angle closed as it tilts. The rolling action on the hips is reduced, and lumbar support won't drift around. This is proving a challenge.

My physio and I disagree on headrests. so I look for one without his blessing or support. The force on the neck due is ideally reduced as well with one.

I actually am comfortable enough in a dining room chair at home (I sit forward not back) so no equipment rec but I am going to recommend yoga and, well, not sitting for hours at a time. Get up and get water. Get up and go pee. Get up and get coffee. Get up up and go pee again. Get up and stretch. It's very risky to your health to sit for too long.

I have the GABRYLLY Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair from Amazon and I love it.

I have upper back pain due to minor scoliosis. I'm also 6'1" so it's more challenging to find chairs that support my upper back well.

I bought this one because it has a lot of the features of the $1,000+ Herman Miller type chairs, but for less than $300. I bought it during the pandemic and figured if it lasted a year or two it would justify me forking out the money for the real expensive ones. Well 4 years later I'm still loving it.

The only complaint I had was the wheels are kind of crap, but I replaced them with some $30 rubber ones that look like rollerblade wheels. They are smooth fast and don't destroy my laminate floors.

My husband and I both have been using Tempur-Pedic office chairs for about 15 years. Starting in 2004, we both worked desk jobs from home (he still does, I only recently shifted careers) and both play video games so we have used the shit out of our chairs, and they are still good. I like that the seat is wide enough so I can fold my legs up under me if I want to.

I use a flexispot standing desk converter (it's like a big tray that goes on top of a fixed desk). I highly recommend doing so if you're going to be at a desk for hours every day.

My chair is nice af, and was provided by my workplace. If you can afford to go Herman-Miller (we're talking $1300+ for a new chair), do so. Your spine and butt and entire skeleton will thank you. Mine's an Aeron model

Herman Miller Embody.

In the first month of the pandemic, my employer allowed us to take home our work chairs. They were Herman Miller Aerons. They've been pretty good. The only thing lacking is a headrest, and I can't justify to myself to buy a Herman Miller headrest. Can anyone recommend a cheaper alternative that's compatible with the Aeron?

Instead of investing in a chair, I would say invest in a sturdy desk that can be raised to standing height.

big desk and stand up or an ajustable table idk

If you ever want to give standing desk a try I prefer a setup with a high office chair rather than having a desk that goes up and down. Its cheaper and the higher chair gives you part of benefit of standing which is being able to get up and back to work quickly when grabbing food or such and when its so easy to get up and down you will find yourself standing more and more.

I have a standing desk thus I just use an IKEA foldable barstool https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/franklin-bar-stool-with-backrest-foldable-black-black-50406465/

It’s a makeshift standing desk that can’t be lowered and using such a stool forces me to stand. But even if I just sit in it all day I don’t have any back pain or anything like I did when I used a normal office chair at a normal desk.

Refurbished Ahrend 220. I bought 2 of them for about 50 Euro a piece on our local marketplace. Best chairs for home office I ever had. Ergonomic, comfortable and sturdy.