During our last Thursday morning edits, my Good Friend and Web Designer Maureen (http://aquamaureen.com) asked me the GREAT workplace Paradoxical question:
 What is the Best Kind of Desk Chair?

The Catch: Sitting is by definition, lack of motion!
PROBLEM:  Motion, along with Breathing, Food & Water, keeps us alive!! :

-          Digestion – Movement and Gravity are necessary to draw food through our system
-          Circulation – rhythm of muscles pushes blood around our body, especially out of lower legs and feet where gravity causes pooling
-          Lymph Nodes – Hundreds of bean-size immune cell glands embed in our musculature. Movement initiates lymph flow that keeps us from getting sick!

Maureen’s Desk Chair question really asks, ”How do we lead 21st Century life and not trash our BIOLOGY?!?!”

SOLUTION:
The Best Part of Any Desk Chair is what you do as soon as you stand up! Happily, our body is quite resilient when we give it the right stress.

The objective of Ranks “At the Desk” Wellness  is punctuating sitting with Targeted Motion – Specific exercises called “Restoratives” quickly nourish low backs, rotator cuffs, necks and feet

Having taken this stand, here are my assessments of popular workplace seating:

A)    The Floor – probably the best bet as we are forced to use full hip and sacro-iliac range of motion along with holding up our own spinal curves - a bit impractical

B)    Ball Chairs - We must support our own spines – Good! However, Ball Chairs still Freeze and Over-Develop Hip Flexors (See PowerWire #23)

C)    Aeron/Mirra Chair (http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Aeron-Chairs) – I Love mine -Very Cool but pricey – Comfortable, but do not fall for the fallacy of ergonomic lumbar support – our own strength gives true lumbar support and a shaped chair does not make you strong!

My Advice: The true challenge of workplace design is EMBEDDING your comfortable chair in a Movement-Rich Environment

Ranks On the Job Wellness Stimulates Biology to stimulate the mind. A workplace full of pain free bodies puts you in the driver’s seat for success.

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