How to adjust an office chair in five minutes.
Most people sit in a good chair set up wrong, then decide the chair is the problem. When we deliver, we set the chair to the person before we leave. Here is the same routine, in the order that works — each step depends on the one before.
1. Seat height: feet flat, knees level
Sit right back and raise or lower the seat with the lever under it until your feet rest flat on the floor and your thighs are roughly level, knees about the height of your hips. If your desk is too high for that, set the chair for the desk and put a footrest under your feet — not the other way round.
2. Seat depth: two or three fingers
With your back against the backrest, there should be a gap of two or three fingers between the front edge of the seat and the back of your knees. Less, and the edge presses on your legs; more, and your thighs are not supported. If your chair has a sliding seat, set it here; if not, this is the measurement to check before you buy.
3. Lumbar support: where your back curves
Move the lumbar support up or down until it sits in the curve of your lower back, roughly at belt height, and you feel it there rather than in your shoulder blades or your hips. If it adjusts in depth, add only enough to notice it. 43 of our chairs have lumbar support that adjusts in three directions.
4. Tilt and tension: lean without effort
Unlock the tilt and lean back. Turn the tension knob until the back follows you without throwing you forward or making you push. You should be able to rock back and stop anywhere. Lock it upright only for concentrated typing; the point of a synchro mechanism is to move through the day.
5. Armrests: at desk height
Raise or lower the armrests until your elbows rest on them at about a right angle, level with the desk surface, shoulders relaxed. If they stop you pulling up to the desk, lower them or move them back. Adjustable armrests are on 36 of our chairs; with fixed ones, the seat height from step 1 decides it.
6. Headrest and screen
Set the headrest so it meets the back of your head when you lean back, not your neck. Then raise the screen so the top of it sits at about eye level, an arm’s length away — a low screen undoes everything above. More in neck pain, headrests and monitors.
Check it after a week
Bodies adjust. After a week of work, sit back and run the six steps again; most people change the lumbar height or the tension once more. And if something hurts, see a doctor — a chair can stop making things worse, it does not treat pain.
Questions
Will you set the chair up for me?
Yes. We assemble every chair at your desk and set it to the person who will sit in it, as part of the free delivery across the UAE.
My chair slowly sinks. Is that an adjustment?
No, that is usually the gas lift. See a chair that keeps sinking. On our chairs the gas lift is replaced free for five years.
Should I sit upright all day?
No. The best position is the next one. A synchro tilt exists so you can lean back and come forward through the day without losing support.
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