How to correctly adjust the office chair, the procedure

A sedentary lifestyle and so causes a lot of health problems. If, with constant sitting work, a person is in the wrong position, the development of serious diseases of the spine will be added to everything else. You can prevent the problem by choosing comfortable furniture and customizing it "for yourself." For this purpose, the office chair is adjusted: a suitable height, backrest angle and other parameters are set. The whole process will take only a couple of minutes, but it will definitely make life easier for an office worker or freelancer.

What parameters are regulated

To adjust the office chair, you need to change or adjust its parameters:

1. The highest point of the seat should barely reach the level of the knees in a standing position or be slightly lower. It is adjustable and in relation to the level of the countertop. When a person is sitting, and his hands are on the table, his elbows should be bent at an angle of 90 degrees.
2. Backrest tilt. It is necessary to fix it at such an angle to maintain the most comfortable position for the back of the seated. The chair should not rest against the spine, or vice versa, recline far back.
3. Swing mechanism. This parameter is adjusted according to the weight of the person. The larger it is, the more rigid the sway should be to avoid falling.
4. The height and angle of the armrests should be at such a level that the elbows of the seated person in a bent position barely touch their surface. Otherwise, excessive pressure will be applied to the fingers and supporting parts of the hands.

To determine the correct position of the body in an office chair, you need to follow three simple rules. Firstly, it is recommended that the center of the computer monitor be placed directly at the level of the human eye: in order to read the necessary information from the screen, there should be no need to move your neck. Secondly, you need to feel good support for bending the lower back. Thirdly, the distance from the back of the lower leg to the front edge of the seat should be no more than 5 cm. To check this, it is enough to clench your fist and see how freely it passes between them. If the fist is squeezed with difficulty or does not fit at all, then the back must be moved forward. If the distance between the legs and the edge of the chair is too large, then it is moved back.

How to do it yourself

To adjust the parameters of the chair, you should carefully study its structure. Some models do not provide for certain regulatory mechanisms. And without them, it is simply impossible to set the backrest to a certain inclination, the seat to the height, and the armrests to do both.

The package of furniture should include instructions that will help you adjust it for yourself. However, you can use the general recommendations. First you need to determine the height of the workplace and the depth of the chair. After that, you can begin to regulate the back. When everything is ready, it remains only to adjust the angle and level of the armrests.

Height change

To change the height of the workplace, you need to use the lever, which is usually located under the seat on the left side. You should sit in an office chair and pull the handle up. In this way, the furniture is lowered to the required level. Next, you need to put your palms on the countertop, and if it suddenly turns out that they are above the elbows, then the position of the chair needs to be adjusted again. To do this, stand up a little and pull the handle again: without weight, the seat will immediately rise.

On some seat models, instead of a lever, a rotary control may be provided that needs to be twisted to adjust the seat height.

If the user cannot figure out how to lower or raise his computer chair or office chair, and he is unable to take the necessary actions, the problem may be as follows:

1. This is not an ordinary, but a pneumatic model. To raise the chair, or vice versa, lower it, you need to swing the lever (press several times).
2. The design has two regulators, not one. Each is responsible for a specific mechanism (raising or lowering). In this case, it is recommended that you carefully read the instructions before adjusting.
3. The rotating lever rotates only in one direction. If the chair only rises when adjusting the seat height, you must continue to rotate the handle. After several revolutions, it will begin to fall down.

In some cases, the problem may be a structural failure. For example, if the height of the chair changes only under the weight of the person (drops when he sits down and rises when he rises), the cause of this phenomenon was the malfunction of the cartridge gas. It will need to be replaced. If the lever of the new computer chair (when you click on it) does not have the proper effect, it may have been damaged during transportation. It must be inspected and corrected with pliers.

Backrest

If a screw is located on the back of the chair, it will allow you to change the backrest. The regulator must be loosened by twisting counterclockwise, and then you should sit down and lean back and forth until the most suitable position is selected. After this, the angle of inclination should be fixed by twisting in the opposite direction.

Not all office chairs are equipped with screws for adjusting the backrest - in budget models of furniture there is no such function.

Armrest tilt

The armrest adjustment mechanism is usually located on the left side. To adjust the height, you need to hold down the button, then raise the armrests to the desired level, and then release the held key.

Another question is how to adjust the tilt. This is done using a special screw. When it scrolls, the angle of elevation of the armrests will change. If such an adjustment mechanism is not provided by the design, the actions can be performed using a conventional screwdriver. You must act according to the instructions so as not to break fragile parts.

To work at a computer or any other activity in which a person’s hands are constantly on the table, you need to adjust the height and tilt of the armrests. It is important that the elbows of the worker are at an angle of 90 degrees. If support is not needed, then it is better to remove these parts of the structure or set them in such a way that they do not interfere (maximize lower or tilt at an angle of 45 degrees).

Some office chair models also provide other adjustment options. For example, the armrests can be moved apart and moved in relation to each other. In addition, the user may be given the opportunity to select specific modes, the number of which varies from 3 to 10.

How to adjust the swing mechanism

The first thing to do is decide on the stiffness of the swing. This parameter depends on the weight of the seated person. If a computer chair was bought for a child, then the spring must be loosened. If we are talking about a chair for an adult weighing more than 90 kilograms, then it needs to be twisted to the maximum.

Algorithm for setting the swing mechanism:

1. Find the spring responsible for swinging the structure. As a rule, it is located in the front of the chair under a plastic cap.
2. To adjust, turn the knob clockwise or counterclockwise, periodically checking the optimum stiffness for the seated person.

If the spring is screwed to the maximum, no effort is needed to further rotate it. Otherwise, you can break the thread on the bolt located in the center, and the swing mechanism will be faulty.

Some chairs have a different structure. Instead of a spring and a rounded handle, they are equipped with two levers (left and right). The first one is responsible for raising and lowering the seat. The second is for rocking rigidity.

Video

Watch the video: 5 Ways You're Sitting Wrong at Your Desk - Computer Desk Setup Ergonomics (December 2024).