The biomechanical benefits of active sitting

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined the biomechanical effects of two active chairs (AC1: had the feature to pedal and slide forward on the seat pan; AC2: a multiaxial motion seat pan) compared to a traditional office chair and standing workstation. Twenty-four healthy participants worked at each of the workstations for 60-min. The following equipment was used: Motion Capture, Electromyography, Ratings of Perceived Discomfort Questionnaire, and Exit Survey. The active protocol had positive effects on the body, including increased neuromuscular activity in the gastrocnemius, increased overall movement, and a more open trunk–thigh angle. Greater discomfort in the buttocks due to the lack of seat pan contour was reported for the AC1 which identified a need for a design modification. While standing, participants’ shoulders were less flexed than when sitting in any of the three seats, however, greater discomfort was reported in the lower legs after 1 h of computer work.

Practitioner summary: A comparison of four different workstations was conducted to further understand the use of active workstations. Active sitting was found to have positive effects on the body, such as allowing sitters to increase movement while sitting without the high activation of muscular activity. Standing can also provide a positive break from sitting.

Keywords:

• Active chairs
• standing
• joint angles
• electromyography
• discomfort

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NSERC Discovery Grant under Grant [number RGPIN-2016-04278]. This work was also supported by the 2019 WorkSafeNB Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Occupational Medicine Research Grant [no assigned number].