Medical Research Review

The following are 3 thorough and independent reviews (no relation to STRONGABCK Chairs) of the literature regarding proper seated posture and the importance of lumbar support.

  We can find no subsequent reviews that contradict their results.  Together, these reports review the medical and ergonomic research of the past 60 years and cite hundreds of studies.  The take home points:

• Don't sit with a prolonged slumped and slouched seated posture - it can lead to pain and future spinal health problems. 

• Sit with proper posture with your lumbar spine in its naturally reverse-curved position so your spine forms a gentle "S" shape (lumbar spine lordosis).

• Use lumbar support.

• Get up and move around regularly.

Pynt et al. 2008.  Kyphosed Seated Postures: Extending Concepts of Postural Health Beyond the Office.  Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, Volume 18, Number 1, 35-45.

"Analysis of the literature demonstrates that kyphosed seated postures when sustained are more harmful to the health of the lumbar spine than lordosed seated postures."

TRANSLATED: If you sit slouched and slumped (kyphosed) it is more harmful than sitting with a natural reverse curve of the spine.  In standard sling-style travel chairs you are forced into the slumped and slouched posture - it is almost impossible to sit up straight in sling-style chairs for any length of time.  STRONGBACK Chairs, however, provide back support and promote the more healthy "lordosed" seated posture recommended by researchers.  You can sit all day long in proper posture in a STRONGBACK Chair.

"It is argued that sustained kyphosed postures are insidiously harmful to the spine in that they may contribute to disc degeneration in the absence of pain."

 "Recent research demonstrates that postures popularly assumed in recreational or leisure seating lead to cumulative damage to soft tissues of the spine." 

TRANSLATED: The popular slumped and slouched position, the position you are forced into when using standard sling-style travel chairs, is causing damage to your spinal health.  Don't do this to yourself.  Save your back, throw away your old travel chair, buy a STRONGBACK Chair

Pynt et al.  2001.  Seeking the optimal posture of the seated lumbar spine. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 17, 5–21

 "Prolonged sitting with poor posture is associated with the development of lower back pain."

TRANSLATED: If you sit with a slumped and slouched posture you increase your chances of getting a bad back.  How much is good back health worth to you?  Throw away your old travel chair and buy a STRONGBACK Chair - it is much cheaper than doctors visits.

"..the lordosed seated posture, regularly interspersed with movement, is the optimal sitting posture and assists in maintaining lumbar postural health and preventing low back pain."

TRANSLATED: If you want  to prevent back pain while seated, sit with your back in its naturally  "S" shaped position with a reverse curve in the lumbar region (lordosed), not slouched and slumped, and get up and move around regularly.  That is, do not sit in standard sling style chairs, sit in STRONGBACK Chairs and get up and move around once in a while.

Harrison, et al.  1999.  Sitting Biomechanics Part I: Review of the Literature.  Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 22, Number 9, 594-609.  

 Subjects in seats with backrest inclinations of 110 to 130 degrees, with concomitant lumbar support, have the lowest disc pressures and lowest electromyography recordings from spinal muscles.

TRANSLATED: Tilting the chair back a bit and providing lumbar support are the best ways to take pressure off of your discs and relax your back muscles.  In other words, this is the most comfortable and healthy way to sit - exactly how the STRONGBACK Chair is designed

For more reading on back health and proper seated posture we recommend you purchase the full PDF version of the above articles and browse their lists of hundreds of additional articles.