Chances are you have probably seen one of these chairs before and you are forgiven for not knowing what it was you were looking at. Saddle chairs don't really resemble an office chair, nor even a stool. That's because they are their own category of furniture. Saddle chairs (as their name suggests) have a seat shaped like a saddle that you'd put on a horse. A good ergonomic saddle chair will be equipped with a five-legged base (much like a regular office chair), casters, and a pneumatic cylinder for adjusting seat height as well as several other features such as a height and angle adjustable back rest and seat pan tilt. Cheaper saddle chairs don't offer as many adjustment features which makes them less ergonomic. Despite their odd appearance, saddle chairs can significantly improve your comfort levels when sitting for prolonged periods.
One of the unique differences between a saddle chair and a traditional office chair is that the saddle chair promotes a very different sitting posture. The saddle chair places your body into correct postural alignment. This means that your spine is positioned in an anatomically correct way. The more time you spend sitting in this position, the stronger your back and core muscles will become, making it easier to adopt the correct posture. The increased angle between the knees and the hips, as well as the activation of the leg muscles to stabilize your body, takes the pressure off of your lower back. This can help to relieve discomfort for those who experience lower back pain when sitting for extended periods. However, it is not just the lower back that experiences the difference.
When the pressure is reduced in your lower back, muscle tension in your upper back and neck decreases as well. If you suffer from neck pain and/or tension headaches, you may find switching to a saddle chair can help to relieve these symptoms.