Hah! How about this: So they don’t end up injuring themselves.
There’s a reason why ergonomic chairs exist and why they all follow the same exact design rules (to varying degrees).
Most important features, in order of importance:
Adjustable arm wrests. Height is more important than swinging out/in. The out/in feature is more for convenience of getting them out of the way on occasion than anything to do with ergonomics.
Adjustable height. The base of which all ergonomic chairs were developed.
Adjustable lean. Meaning: You can control how far back it tilts.
Also important: Men and women have different ergonomic requirements! A woman’s spine is curved and should not have the chair configured the same as a man.
I mean at the base of the spine. Also, women’s ischial tuberosities are farther apart and the weight distribution is completely different. This means that ideal ergonomics for women require narrower, contoured upper back rests as well as a lumbar pad due to that deeper, inward curve at the base of the spine.
My hospital bill for back pain so severe I couldn’t even move cost way more than the cost of the chair with proper lumbar support I subsequently bought. That was caused by a cheap executive chair, not gamer chair, though.
The lifetime of the product. I bought an ergonomic chair back in 2016 and it’s as good today as it was then. Any gaming chair I’ve bought never lasts more that 3 years. Spend €600 once or spend €150 every three years. In two more years my chair will be the same cost as having gaming chairs and in three it’s cheaper. Much larger upfront cost though.
All of my desk chairs across my house are 50+ year old office chairs. If your chair budget isn’t massive look for old office chairs, especially from government surplus auctions and the like. Mine were all gotten for free when workplaces happened to be replacing some furniture, but I also regularly see local schools listing office chairs in surplus auctions
Yes! Pro-tip: If you see an aeron chair on the side of the road for trash pickup, take it!
99% of the time, when people throw out office chairs it’s because the gas cylinder failed (gets stuck down). A new cylinder is only $20!
Just be prepared to whack TF out of that old one to get it out, haha. They can be really stuck in there after 5-10 years of people sitting on the chair.
Don’t be afraid to use a huge ass plumbing wrench and scratch TF out of the old one 👍
Have a search for “Chair cylinder removal tool” for another $5-10 it’s a matter of turning a few allen bolts to get the cylinder out and not risking damaging everything.
Bonus, mine has made its money back from mates dropping me a few quid to replace their gas struts.
I’ve broken several office chairs within a year of getting them just by sitting on them. I don’t trust them at all. My current gamer chair is a partially broken, vintage, wooden dining chair I got for free and I’ve had it for a few years now it’s held up great. Wood is the way to go imo.
It’s not perfect but it’s not terrible either. There was a point in time where I was sleeping on the floor for a while too so I’m kinda just used to having back pain all the time.
Once I was in a store that sold used office furniture. The sales floor/warehouse was dingy, uninviting, and poorly organized, but the deals were INSANE. Desperate landlords will give furniture away rather than pay to have it taken to a dump.
“Gaming chairs” are cheap garbage. Just throw it away and buy a proper, ergonomic chair.
Bonus: If it’s one of the mesh types, there’s barely anything to absorb the smell of your shitty ass!
…and get a bidet already! Pro tip: The type of bidet that is integrated into the seat is vastly superior to the type that slips under the seat.
Hmm, explain why someone should throw away their 150€ gaming chair in order to buy a 600€ office chair?
Hah! How about this: So they don’t end up injuring themselves.
There’s a reason why ergonomic chairs exist and why they all follow the same exact design rules (to varying degrees).
Most important features, in order of importance:
Also important: Men and women have different ergonomic requirements! A woman’s spine is curved and should not have the chair configured the same as a man.
Everyone’s spine curves. It is just more pronounced in women because of their other curves. If you don’t have lumber curve, you’ve got scoliosis.
I mean at the base of the spine. Also, women’s ischial tuberosities are farther apart and the weight distribution is completely different. This means that ideal ergonomics for women require narrower, contoured upper back rests as well as a lumbar pad due to that deeper, inward curve at the base of the spine.
Hence why ergonomic chairs are so configurable.
My hospital bill for back pain so severe I couldn’t even move cost way more than the cost of the chair with proper lumbar support I subsequently bought. That was caused by a cheap executive chair, not gamer chair, though.
The lifetime of the product. I bought an ergonomic chair back in 2016 and it’s as good today as it was then. Any gaming chair I’ve bought never lasts more that 3 years. Spend €600 once or spend €150 every three years. In two more years my chair will be the same cost as having gaming chairs and in three it’s cheaper. Much larger upfront cost though.
All of my desk chairs across my house are 50+ year old office chairs. If your chair budget isn’t massive look for old office chairs, especially from government surplus auctions and the like. Mine were all gotten for free when workplaces happened to be replacing some furniture, but I also regularly see local schools listing office chairs in surplus auctions
Yes! Pro-tip: If you see an aeron chair on the side of the road for trash pickup, take it!
99% of the time, when people throw out office chairs it’s because the gas cylinder failed (gets stuck down). A new cylinder is only $20!
Just be prepared to whack TF out of that old one to get it out, haha. They can be really stuck in there after 5-10 years of people sitting on the chair.
Don’t be afraid to use a huge ass plumbing wrench and scratch TF out of the old one 👍
Have a search for “Chair cylinder removal tool” for another $5-10 it’s a matter of turning a few allen bolts to get the cylinder out and not risking damaging everything.
Bonus, mine has made its money back from mates dropping me a few quid to replace their gas struts.
I’ve broken several office chairs within a year of getting them just by sitting on them. I don’t trust them at all. My current gamer chair is a partially broken, vintage, wooden dining chair I got for free and I’ve had it for a few years now it’s held up great. Wood is the way to go imo.
I feel really bad for your back and body in general. There’s no way you spend a lot of hours each day in a chair like that without major issues.
It’s not perfect but it’s not terrible either. There was a point in time where I was sleeping on the floor for a while too so I’m kinda just used to having back pain all the time.
You need to get like actual decent office chairs, not Amazon trash.
They cost over thousand dollars new, but you can often get them for next to nothing when companies get new equipment.
Once I was in a store that sold used office furniture. The sales floor/warehouse was dingy, uninviting, and poorly organized, but the deals were INSANE. Desperate landlords will give furniture away rather than pay to have it taken to a dump.