Want to sit comfortably – first reinvent the chair

19 October 2011 by CMC PR

Sit long enough and nearly every chair becomes uncomfortable, no matter how much lumbar support and adjustment it provides. Put simply, too much focus has been placed on the look of the chair rather than on using the body’s inherent anatomical structure to help us sit correctly.

Welcome to the FreedMan Chair, welcome to the contoured seat pad, welcome to the ‘Golden Angle’. Welcome to a revolution.

Simon Freedman – osteopath and inventor – has been a man with a mission for the past 15 years.  He’s been driven by a quest to create a chair that allows people to sit correctly and comfortably, thus having a positive impact on their wellbeing.

Rather than attempting to refine the chair, Simon has started with the needs of the human body and has created a unique way for people to sit. By taking a truly fresh approach, he has effectively reinvented the chair.

The essence of his theory was very simple. Simon found a way to replicate the spine’s natural standing curves whilst one is sitting. When a person stands upright, their lower back naturally adopts a forward-facing curve (lumbar lordosis). The lordosis is held by the combination of the shape of the vertebrae and discs and the spinal ligaments, tendons and muscles. It’s a structural curve that can be maintained with minimal muscular activity.

To recreate this natural phenomenon while sitting, Simon’s research showed that there was a ‘Golden Angle’ for the seat, in a range between 15 and 35 degrees downwards, the optimum being 27 degrees. But how to create a chair that could be angled forwards and still be functional?

Simon’s 15-year quest has led to a patented solution through the creation of a contoured seat pad, angled at 27 degrees, that actually holds each ischial tuberosity like a gentle hand. The pads also have a series of holes drilled into them to increase natural grip.

The concavity of the FreedMan seat pads provides support around the ischial tuberosities in a way that that allows the body to create its own cushion and so reduces and can even eliminate the need for cushioning. This, along with some carefully considered aerospace engineering – and obsessive attention to detail – allows the chair to weigh just 5kg rather than the normal 20kg for a chair with its cushion, foam, plastics, metal and springs.

The reduced weight is also due to the FreedMan chair being made from very close to 100% aluminum; it is easily flat packed and assembled without tools. The result is probably the only chair that can claim to have negligible impact on the environment and the only one that can claim to be very close to 100% recyclable.

Back Balls

The six back balls of the FreedMan chair have evolved over dozens of prototypes. They are not meant to provide lumbar support. The balls are attached to the backrest, which has inbuilt flexibility, and as the sitter leans back against them they offer some pressure into the back muscles (the lumbar erector spinae) via a degree of sprung resistance. 

The sitter can vary the level of pressure of the balls into the back as they wish. This mimics the osteopathic treatment called inhibition, where a steady pressure into the muscles causes them to relax.  Hence the chair can actually treat the back of its occupant.

Commenting of the launch of the FreedMan Chair, Simon Freedman said:

‘I’ve been an osteopath for over 20 years and it became readily apparent that many of the problems my patients were experiencing had been created by the lack of a suitable chair, but as hard as I looked, I just couldn’t find a chair to recommend to them.

‘I decided to see if I could make one myself. And, while it’s taken 15 years, I am delighted with the end result. I hope that I have created more than a chair and that I will changed the way the world thinks about sitting.’

An initial, limited edition, run of one thousand FreedMan ‘Thumbprint’ Chairs will be produced, with many already pre-ordered by Simon’s patients.

In a quite amazing and unique act of bespoke personalization, each purchaser’s thumbprint will be incorporated into the pattern of holes in the seat pads of these special chairs.

Background information

In November 2004, after meticulously reviewing all the relevant scientific literature, the COST B13 Working Group on European Guidelines for Prevention in Low Back Pain, made up of sixteen eminent scientists from relevant fields, published their report.

Amongst their recommendations were:

• There is no robust evidence for or against recommending any specific chair or mattress for prevention in low back pain.
• Lumbar supports are not recommended.
• High-quality studies are recommended into the effectiveness of specific furniture to justify or refute claims by commercial interests.
• From a physiological point of view, poor life style habits and prolonged static sitting during school age on unadjusted furniture may play a role in the origin of low back pain; further study is appropriate to determine any effectiveness of school based interventions.