Office chair for a tall person with a long torso
August 30, 2015 12:08 PM Subscribe
My boyfriend is looking for an office chair that will be comfortable for his height (6'3") and long torso (34" from hip bone to top of head). What options are available in the UK?
Asking for my boyfriend, who says:
I am looking for an office chair that has a tall back for home use, preferably with head and armrests. I am 6'3" and find most office chairs with a short back give me back pain or make me generally uncomfortable after a little while, as I have a long torso (I measure 34" from my hip bone to the top of my head, which means my shoulders end up above the top of most chairs I've tried).
I sometimes work from home so it will on occasion get up to 8 hours of use in a day (most days just an hour or two). Ideally my top price would be £100 shipped (in the UK).
What chairs do you tall MeFites recommend?
Thanks!
Asking for my boyfriend, who says:
I am looking for an office chair that has a tall back for home use, preferably with head and armrests. I am 6'3" and find most office chairs with a short back give me back pain or make me generally uncomfortable after a little while, as I have a long torso (I measure 34" from my hip bone to the top of my head, which means my shoulders end up above the top of most chairs I've tried).
I sometimes work from home so it will on occasion get up to 8 hours of use in a day (most days just an hour or two). Ideally my top price would be £100 shipped (in the UK).
What chairs do you tall MeFites recommend?
Thanks!
I work from home and sit on my Markus chair from Ikea all day, every day, and I love it. I'm 5'10" so the back might not be high enough for him (for comfort, he'd have to be 8' tall for his shoulders to stick up over the top of it) but it's worth a shot.
It doesn't have a ton of adjust-ability compared to the high-end ergonomic chairs but it often gets mentioned as a budget alternative to something like a Herman Miller chair that costs several times as much.
posted by VTX at 1:18 PM on August 30, 2015
It doesn't have a ton of adjust-ability compared to the high-end ergonomic chairs but it often gets mentioned as a budget alternative to something like a Herman Miller chair that costs several times as much.
posted by VTX at 1:18 PM on August 30, 2015
I'm just long everything. The Markus suited me well enough, though it's a bit cheap feeling (and still £130), but cheap office chairs are... cheap, bottom to top, front to back, left to right.
My current chair is a standardsecond hand Steelcase office chair. Second hand good quality office furniture is the only way that you'll get something that's suitably sturdy and adjustable.
posted by wotsac at 1:34 PM on August 30, 2015
My current chair is a standardsecond hand Steelcase office chair. Second hand good quality office furniture is the only way that you'll get something that's suitably sturdy and adjustable.
posted by wotsac at 1:34 PM on August 30, 2015
I will also recommend the Markus from IKEA. My 6'3" husband loves it for many of the reasons you cute -- tall back, headrest, highly adjustable to fit your particular sitting style, and -- best of all -- very affordable.
posted by devinemissk at 3:59 PM on August 30, 2015
posted by devinemissk at 3:59 PM on August 30, 2015
Whatever chair he gets, make sure he can either a) remove the arms or b) lower them.
Office furniture seems conspiratorial in its push to force talls to work in a form of shrug: keyboard on desk is too high and (horizontally) too far in front. I think I read the line angle of one's upper arms should be 90º with the floor. If your chair or desk prevent that, you're getting screwed slowly.
I don't have any first hand experience, but this seems like its on the right track:
http://ep.yimg.com/ay/thehumansolution/mobo-ergonomic-workstation-chair-arm-mounted-keyboard-tray-11.jpg
& I know its completely out of your budget range, but I can't stop thinking about this since I came across it:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dr_DHgXOYfo/maxresdefault.jpg
posted by disnchntd at 5:53 PM on September 7, 2015
Office furniture seems conspiratorial in its push to force talls to work in a form of shrug: keyboard on desk is too high and (horizontally) too far in front. I think I read the line angle of one's upper arms should be 90º with the floor. If your chair or desk prevent that, you're getting screwed slowly.
I don't have any first hand experience, but this seems like its on the right track:
http://ep.yimg.com/ay/thehumansolution/mobo-ergonomic-workstation-chair-arm-mounted-keyboard-tray-11.jpg
& I know its completely out of your budget range, but I can't stop thinking about this since I came across it:
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dr_DHgXOYfo/maxresdefault.jpg
posted by disnchntd at 5:53 PM on September 7, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Mine do too, and I'm only 5'9". Chairs aren't normally designed to give shoulder support. Back pain tends to come from inadequate support of the lower back, or just bad posture. In my experience, tall people seem much more prone to posture issues.
Herman Miller chairs, while not fitting your boyfriend's requirements particularly well, are pretty much the gold standard for comfort and adjustability.
posted by pipeski at 12:44 PM on August 30, 2015