Our Bodies Were Built to Move
For millions of years people roamed the Earth hunting and gathering for food and shelter to keep themselves alive. We were born to move; our bodies were built that way. As civilization has evolved however, we have become more sedentary.
Today we spend up to 50% of our day staring at a computer screen, television or mobile device of some kind. Our children no longer spend hours running around playing tag or kickball in the street but instead sit for hours with a gaming device in hand with most all of their movement coming from their thumbs.
We were not built for this sedentary lifestyle and as a result, we have seen an enormous increase in back and neck problems. Some sources say that back and neck problems result in approximately $15 billion dollars per year in costs related to medical care and disability not to mention staggering losses in productivity for employers. It is estimated that back pain results in more than 6 million emergency room visits per year. Some of these injuries are caused by on the job accidents resulting from heavy lifting as an example, but more and more we see injuries and pain resulting from weakened back muscles, poor posture and excessive stress due to prolonged sitting.
The Next Position is Always the Best
The legendary industrial designer Peter Opsvik, creator of the Balans concept of sitting, argues that variation is the key to sitting success, that the next position is always the best one. In his book, Rethinking Sitting, Opsvik points out that the even the most “correct” way of sitting, recommended by the most prominent of experts, becomes uncomfortable after a while. That variation is vital for anyone needing to sit for prolonged periods of time.
When choosing the chairs to offer you, we always look for those that offer the user a variety of positions because we agree with Opsvik, that movement and variation are the keys to sitting success!
