Effects of a Dynamic Chair on Chair Seat Motion and Trunk Muscle Activity during Office Tasks and Task Transitions

Corina Nüesch, Jan-Niklas Kreppke, Annegret Mündermann and Lars Donath
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Corina Nüesch: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
Jan-Niklas Kreppke: Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, 4052 Basel, Switzerland
Annegret Mündermann: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
Lars Donath: Department of Intervention Research in Exercise Training, German Sport University Cologne, 50933 Köln, Germany

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: Employing dynamic office chairs might increase the physical (micro-) activity during prolonged office sitting. We investigated whether a dynamic BioSwing ® chair increases chair sway and alters trunk muscle activation. Twenty-six healthy young adults performed four office tasks (reading, calling, typing, hand writing) and transitions between these tasks while sitting on a dynamic and on a static office chair. For all task-transitions, chair sway was higher in the dynamic condition ( p < 0.05). Muscle activation changes were small with lower mean activity of the left obliquus internus during hand writing ( p = 0.07), lower mean activity of the right erector spinae during the task-transition calling to hand writing ( p = 0.036), and higher mean activity of the left erector spinae during the task-transition reading to calling ( p = 0.07) on the dynamic chair. These results indicate that an increased BioSwing ® chair sway only selectively alters trunk muscle activation. Adjustments of chair properties (i.e., swinging elements, foot positioning) are recommended.

Keywords: dynamic sitting; office chair; muscle activation; inactivity; sedentarism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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