A fun, creative way to work your muscles while you work at a desk.
As the world turned to a state of “working from home” within the past year, many of us outfitted our houses with smart ways to keep ourselves active. Standing desks, under-desk bicycles, balance boards – all of these items can work wonders for stagnant, sedentary lifestyles. I already have a smart standing desk so I thought a smart addition might be a stool that can help achieve a sense of motion while you are between standing and sitting. Sun-Flex has a solution for an active sitting position – the Sun-Flex Active Chair.
DETAILS
The Sun-Flex Active Chair is a stool that promotes natural activity. It helps to strengthen your back and abdomen and it has an adjustable height feature. The Sun-Flex Active has the ability to stimulate your core muscles as well as increase blood circulation. The active sitting function is provided by the dome-shaped base. It’s rounded and moves back and forth while someone is sitting on it. In order to balance yourself, you have to engage certain muscles in your body, which is what keeps you active. The stool is made with steel, upholstery fabric, ABS plastic, and features grooved natural rubber backing as an anti-slip surface. The stool has a weight limit of 264 pounds (120 kg). The frame is white while the seat and nonslip rubber base are black. The seat post is chrome.
USER EXPERIENCE
The Sun-Flex Active chair is shipped in a single box and does require assembly. The entire process only takes about ten minutes though. You simply slip the top on the side of the post where the hydraulic lift is located. Then you slip the base on the opposite end. That’s pretty much it. I was really happy to see such a simple assembly process. The stool is lightweight and can easily be picked up with one hand to move from place to place. One of the things I like the best about this is how compact the stool is. You can store it behind larger pieces of furniture if you need to or just set it in a corner. I find that as a nice benefit because when you don’t want to use it, it’s not in the way.
Because the stool is designed to keep you active, it doesn’t sit level. And, because of that, it can easily tip over if someone doesn’t sit on it correctly – or isn’t expecting an active chair. This actually happened to my step-daughter. She grabbed the stool to sit while we were talking and didn’t realize that it didn’t sit flat. The stool was on carpet and she toppled over. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt, but it is a word of caution to take care with. We typically warn people now when they reach for it that they should expect some movement.
As far as how well it works as an “active” chair, we’ve really enjoyed it. My fiance and I have both used it and found it to be a much nicer experience than just sitting stationary for hours. I will typically switch between sitting, standing, and active sitting throughout the day. I work a standard 8-hour day from home and then write in the evening after my day job is complete. So, having a variety of ways to position myself is very helpful. I also have frequent lower back pain after long hours of sitting and I’ve discovered that using the Sun-Flex Active chair helps to a certain extent. Since it helps to train and build core muscles, that provides additional support for my back.
CONCLUSION
I love that the Active chair is such a simple option for “working out” while you work. It’s easy to assemble, store, and use. The cushion on the seat isn’t the greatest, but it’s comfortable enough to use for 15-20 minutes at a time, which is what I’ve been doing. The price is a little high for a ‘stool’, but when you weigh that against the benefits of the chair, I think it’s completely worth it.
For more information, visit sun-flex.com and Facebook.
