Herman Miller's "The Benefits of Pelvic Stabilization"
Thorough ergonomic criteria show reason to buy an Aeron Chair with PostureFit technology.
Pelvic alignment can be reached in two ways. The first is by reclining, a chair increases the angle between the torso and thigh. The second way, in the case of an upright posture, is to stabilize the sacral-pelvic area to maintain a forward pelvic tilt.
Herman Miller's Aeron PostureFit Solution:
PostureFit seating technology was developed as an optional addition for customers that buy an Aeron Chair. The sacral-pelvic support cooperates to contour the human body. Even though there is a large variation in the location of people's lumbar spine, there is a very small variation in the location of the sacral-pelvic area. The realization allowed a single-sized back support for the Aeron chair. The PostureFit design reduces fatigue and increases endurance by improving the natural spinal curvatures and muscle balance, whether reclining or sitting upright.
Herman Miller and Stumpf + Associates paired with Brock Walker, a specialist in musculoskeletal disorders. They conducted several tests to find whether PostureFit's effect improved pelvic stabalization while also improving comfort. Lumbar flexion was found to was improve 5.5 degrees compared to chairs equipped with lumbar support and a test group of 87 people that regularly used Aerons with adjustable lumbar support reported significantly higher results after given an Aeron chairs with PostureFit support for two days.
Customize and Buy an Aeron Chair with PostureFit Technology
Anatomy Supporting the Aeron:
Ergonomists identify three postures for the seated human body: reclining, forward leaning, and upright. Studies show the reclining position is the preferred position while at work. Many chairs concentrate on providing support to various levels of recline. However, recent studies find people tend to sit in upright or forward-leaning postures nearly 75 percent of the time when performing computer related tasks.
The spine can be divided up into four parts. Each part affects spinal curvature and if changed, causes compensatory changes in the others. The pelvis connects two of those parts, it is the body's center of mass, and the attachment point for 20 major muscles. Fatigue and discomfort occur when a person moves from a standing to a seated position because the pelvis tends to rotate backward. The quick fix is to add lumbar support, unfortunately, the effect is lost when the sitter is in an upright or forward-leaning position.
Fixing the Problem:
Experts in ergonomics and medicine have searched for years for a way to control the rearward tilt of the pelvis. Expermentation with pelvic support using "wedges" was successful in controlling the problem, but led to discomfort and soreness after prolonged periods. Another issue they encountered was that one person's natural lordotic curve differed from others. There has been a failure to provide evenly distributed support across the entire sacral-pelvic region with a countoured surface that also supports the spine.
Read the Full "Benefits of Pelvic Stabilization" Essay
Herman Miller Inc. "The Benefits of Pelvic Stabilization." (2003). Herman Miller Solution Essays. Web
