Jobri Kneeling Chair Gets Positive Review

I was over at someone's place the other day, and they have a kneeling chair, so I was able to try it out.  He is an avid computer gamer (read: oh, I forgot to go to bed last night because my guild was on a dungeon raid...) who logs 100  hours or more at the keyboard (he has a computer job in addition to his gaming addiction), and his old chair (an Office Depot special) wasn't cutting it.  Since he wasn't able to afford something like the Aeron (this is the chair I have, and you can read my review at the appropriately named Herman Miller Aeron Review post), he picked up a kneeling chair by Jobri for a couple hundred dollars.

Anyway, he's a big fan of it and sits in the thing for hours on end without any back pain (before he was having trouble with lower back pain and tension knots in his neck and upper back).  I got to try it out and it felt a little weird at first (I just felt like my balance was off... you feel like you're being pushed into the kneeler cushion), but after a few times getting up and down and typing for a while, I got used to it.  It actually did seem comfortable too.

The kneeler chairs work by taking more of your weight on your knees (you rest them against the padded lower cushion), which is supposed to let you sit in just the right position to keep the natural S curve to your spine.  Apparently, this is a good thing.  All I care about in a chair is whether or not it's still comfortable to sit in at the end of the day.  And this fellow swears up and down by the chair, saying it's totally gotten rid of his back pain.  (He wasn't trying to sell me one or anything, so I believe him.)

He said it was by Jobri, but I'm not sure if the one pictured here is the exact model I tried (it's what I could find a picture of for you on Amazon).  Still, I think they are probably similar.  This one has Tempur-Pedic cushioning (yes, the mattress people do chairs too) and runs $229, which sounds about like what my friend paid for his.  That makes it about 1/3rd the price I paid for my Aeron, so if a kneeling chair works for you,  it's probably not a bad bet, financially or ergonomically speaking.

Jobri Kneeling Chair (affiliate link)

Comments

[Jon]

How would you compare the kneeling chair to a more standard chair? I have been looking for a new chair and am looking for more insight.

I have really liked what I saw at www.ergo4me.com. They sell the BodyBilt chair, but this kneeling chair looks interesting.

[Ergoblog]

It's definitely a different way of sitting than with your typical office chair. I'm not sure myself how I'd like it for a 12 hour period, as it doesn't have any back support, and that's sort of my problem area (the muscles behind my shoulders always get knotted up if I sit and work in hard wooden chairs (i.e. at the library) or something a little awkward). Since all ergonomic chairs tend to be pricy, my biggest recommendation would be to find some place where you can try before you buy or experiment with a couple different chairs in a showroom at least. There are office stores that specialize in ergonomic equipment. Hopefully you can find something local.

[Perry North]

Having worked on a computer for years and suffered ALL the repetitive stress injuries, I invented this chair.

We will be entering Phase II development in May and have a product ready for market by the end of '07. I'm looking for some feedback.

[bottleman]

hi ergoblogger (also perry, who said he was looking for feedback), I had a kneeling chair about 15 years ago. I found it comfortable for my back but incredibly uncomfortable for my knees -- since the effect was to drive a large amount of weight through my knees. I hope this chair somehow improves on that.

As a student and writer I've spent a lot of time typing, and I feel like I've tried every single ergonomic setup on the market. The two best chair setups I've found for myself are these:

1) for using a laptop, sitting back in a very low slung armless easy chair like the ikea oppala (http://www.dumabyt.cz/image-cache/max-250x150/23199-image) works well... it puts my arms in a very natural position with no strain and puts the screen up in a comfortable height for my eyes.

2) For using a desktop, I'm a fan of using an exercise ball. I searched back through this blog to see if there were any comments about exercise balls as chairs, and I found at least one doubting comment, based on a difficult first day and lack of back support. I'll respond with my own experience here..

The first day can be very hard, because you are getting a lot of exercise from just sitting on the ball. It would make sense to work slowly up to a whole day over a course of 1 or 2 weeks.

Once you get to a whole day, though, you'll see the magic of NOT having back support... indeed, not having support is the whole idea of using the ball. The unstable nature of the thing makes you put your legs wide and use them to move around and adjust yourself all the time. It sounds annoying but it soon becomes unconscious. At the end of the day you don't feel stiff... because you've been moving your legs and torso instead of fixing yourself in place.

With that experience, I am confused about the invention of the "ball chair." This seems like a bad idea, since it's the inherent mobility and unstability of the ball that makes it work.. a ball chair seems to defeat that?

For me another important aspect of typing comfort is having the keyboard at a truly natural angle that doesn't put strain on my shoulders or wrists. This is much lower than a conventional keyboard drawer. I had a friend make a little keyboard shelf with a padded bottom that I could hold on my knees easily so my arms could be in a very relaxed position. Using that thing with the exercise ball is kind of wacky -- it's all very unstable and hard to answer the phone -- but it's super comfortable.. I can do hours straight and not feel it at all when I get up.

Hope this comment helps somebody!

[Ergonomic Office Chairs, there great]

With the importance of ergonomic seating in the office or workplace being more commonly understood different manufacturers seem to have reached new boundaries in the design of what can be sometimes weird and wonderful.
The saddle stool and the sway chair have taken my eye for there innervation design, but nothing can take away the design excellence and functionality of the kneeling stool, a oldie but still a goodie, at the end of the day as long as these products provide a benefit to the end user i don't think it matters what you chose, as long as it improves the discomfort of a bad back

[Ergonomic Chair]

Make sure your ergonomic chairs fit your collegues work style. The new ergonomic office furniture on the market these days is very functional. Our branch productivity has increased multifold after I purchased new desks and ergonomic. With new office furniture I have found the transition from working at the main office to a branch office has become easier. The staff has also become more productive. There are many places to buy online. I found the quality and value of the office furniture you can get to be above my expectations. Check them out if you get the opportunity.

[chairgirl]

Great review! I was looking all over the web for a real person's thoughts on kneeling chairs, and I'm glad I ran across this. Linked this post and added you to my blogroll.