Seat backs with no spine! Why?

March 30, 2007 4:33 PM

Why are chairs so uncomfortable? I mean the less-expensive corporate type, like you might find in an American meeting room or new-style classroom. There's only negligible support when you lean back!

I understand why the rounded edges of the new chairs dig into my thighs, 'cause I'm a big guy and maybe the average person only needs a smaller seat... but why is the back flexible? Fiddling with the controls, adjustments can be made in various levels and angles, but locking the back into postion doesn't seem to be an option. And a classroom I know has seat-desks with midway hinges on either side of the seatback, left and right of the hole -- in other words, leaning back is impossible, no spine support (unless you recline all the way, like you're almost horizontal). And now at the stadium-seating theater at the multiplex, same deal, bouncy seat backs, all, where it used to be every other row. What's going on? Does an ergonomic theory claim a fixed seat-back is detrimental?

posted by Rash to grab bag (7 comments total)

On our cheap chairs at work, you can lock the back in any position, but it's not intuitive at all. You actually push the tilt lever in to lock it.
posted by smackfu at 4:46 PM on March 30, 2007

I don't know what the answer is but the design of most chairs is, as you say, completely, utterly, horrible from a posture viewpoint.

The best answer is to carry a lumbar roll with you wherever you go, either one of the commercially available McKenzie rolls or (what I do) a beach towel rolled around a nylon strap, held together with rubber bands.

The second best answer is not to sit as much as modern humans habitually do.

The tied second best answer is to become aware of your posture and learn how to find the correct amount of lordosis, even in a crappy chair.
posted by unSane at 4:48 PM on March 30, 2007

By the way, here is a really excellent guide to correct standing and seated posture.
posted by unSane at 5:16 PM on March 30, 2007

If the basic chairs didn't stink who would pay $900 for a fancy ergonomic one?
posted by mrbugsentry at 5:34 PM on March 30, 2007

Chairs are designed for people's convenience in sitting upright off the ground, not for comfort. Here's a great book on the topic, called The Chair.
posted by hsoltz at 5:49 PM on March 30, 2007

Simple answer: to discourage sleeping. Lol, I dunno if that would be an official reason, but it seems like a selling point. After all, you don't really see big fluffy chairs at universities -- at least not at mine. Far too tempting to relax than to take notes.
posted by Aanidaani at 8:06 PM on March 30, 2007

I hate those chairs. I need a chair back to lean on, and those chairs really, really piss me off, since I no longer can sit back and just take in a lecture without being extremely uncomfortable.
posted by ganzhimself at 10:33 PM on March 30, 2007