| It is a very common occurrence: You are sitting | | | | unnatural and uncomfortable for your chair to |
| on a comfortable swivel chair working on your | | | | constrict your body into an angle of less than 90 |
| desktop computer or laptop. You are very | | | | degrees. |
| focussed and concentrating deeply, and you have | | | | So how then do you get your chair to support |
| been sitting there for hours. When you finally raise | | | | your back as you work on the computer or on |
| yourself from the keyboard for a moment, you | | | | paperwork at your desk? The answer is to use a |
| stretch heaven-wards, give a big sigh, and then | | | | chair that encourages you to sit up rather than |
| rub your hands along the small of your back. You | | | | lean forwards, and makes it comfortable for you |
| feel the dull ache right along your spine, and it is a | | | | to do so. You will find this feature in 3-lever |
| familiar feeling. You've got a back pain and you | | | | computer operator chairs and 3-lever ergonomic |
| have had it for a long time. | | | | computer chairs. On 3-lever chairs, one lever |
| If you stopped to think about it for a moment, | | | | adjusts the seat height on the gas lift as usual; a |
| you would recognise an important fact about your | | | | second lever adjusts the recline angle of the |
| seated posture that is contributing to your back | | | | backrest in relation to the seat, and the third |
| ache. Whilst your comfortable, padded, computer | | | | lever adjusts the angle of the seat. The |
| chair has a large, ergonomically-shaped backrest, | | | | combination of the second and third levers |
| you hardly ever use it. When you are typing | | | | provides you with a much wider range of options |
| away intently on the computer, you tend to lean | | | | than you would get out of the second lever of a |
| into the computer with your body is arched | | | | 2-lever chair. Because while you can use the |
| forwards. | | | | second lever to recline the backrest backwards, |
| To many people, it seems unnatural to lean | | | | you can use the third lever to tilt the seat |
| backwards into the comfort of you chair when | | | | forwards. The combination of the second and |
| you are typing away at the keyboard. The | | | | third levers will never reduce your seated angle |
| position of the keyboard on the desk in relation to | | | | below 90 degrees. Instead, by tilting the seat |
| your seated position seems to require you to lean | | | | forwards, the 3rd lever encourages you to sit |
| forwards. Many people who have recognised this | | | | upright, and makes it more comfortable for you |
| problem and seek an appropriate ergonomic chair | | | | to do so. Therefore if you lock the backrest into |
| to 'fix' it ask for a chair that will maintain | | | | the upright position (using the second lever) and |
| supportive contact with their back as they lean | | | | tilt the seat forwards (using the third lever), you |
| forwards into their computer. | | | | will find that you can sit upright, rest your back on |
| Thankfully, such chairs are not commonplace. | | | | the chair's backrest, and type away at the |
| 'Thankfully', because such chairs would be | | | | computer without leaning forwards uncomfortably. |
| supporting an unnatural posture rather than fixing | | | | This should help you avoid (or at least reduce) |
| it. The angle between the backrest of your | | | | those nasty back aches you get when you rouse |
| computer chair and the seat of the chair should | | | | yourself from hours of concentrated typing at |
| be 90 degrees or greater. It would be very | | | | the computer. |