Sleeping on horsehair is extremely expensive...

The Vividus bed by the design firm Hastens is the most expensive mattress in the world retailing for a cool $49,500. Each bed is hand crafted with an oak frame and contains horsehair wool and cotton and takes over a week to construct. We're biased of course - But we think that our beds are a little more reasonable in the comfort to value equation (not to mention - hypoallergenic *cue horse whinny*)!

Happy Memorial Day - 10 Tips to avoid back strain

10 tips for a healthy back, this Memorial Day weekend!

1. Exercise your back regularly. Walking, swimming (especially backstroke) and bicycling are all excellent ways to strengthen your back muscles.

2. Always bend your knees and your hips, not your back.

3. Never twist and bend at the same time.

4. Always lift and carry objects close to your body.

5. Try to carry loads in an back friendly bag.

6. Maintain a good posture. Avoid slumping in your chair, hunching over a desk or walking with your shoulders hunched.

7. Use a chair with proper ergonomic support. Sit with your feet flat on the floor or on a footrest. Change how you sit every few minutes. (Check out yesterday's post on SLAM).

8. Don't smoke. It is thought that smoking reduces the blood supply to the discs between the vertebrae and this may lead to degeneration of these discs.

9. Lose any excess weight. Use our Healthy weight calculator to find out if you're a healthy weight for your height.

10. Choose a mattress and pillows suited to your height, weight, age and sleeping position.

SLAM - The key to comfortable office seating

What is SLAM?
SLAM is an easy way to remember the key ingredients to setting up a comfortable office environment. HealthyBack believes in rigorous training around the principles of the SLAM method to deliver expert advice to customers who are looking to improve their workstations.

Seat Height and Depth
Lumbar Height and Depth
Angles and
Motion

Seat Height and Depth
We measure the depth of your seat. There should be two to three inches between the front edge of the chair and the back of your calf. Adequate seat depth distributes your weight evenly over the longest possible surface area. Inadequate surface area can impede circulation, cause numbness and result in difficultly when sitting for longer periods. Proper seat height encourages you to sit back in your chair, resulting in correct body position with result to the rest of your workstation.

Lumbar Height and Depth
We measure the lumbar curve in your back to determine the depth and height of your unique body. We then fit you to the right chair.
Stand flat against a wall with your heels and your should blades touching the wall. Now place your hand behind your lower back--does it fit? If you cannot fit your hand behind you, you have a flat back and probably need a chair with very little lumbar support. If you can fit a flat hand behind you, you have a medium curve and need a medium level lumbar support. If you can fit a balled up fist behind your back, , you have a deep curve, or sway back, and need a large lumbar support.

Angles
A chair should allow you to sit with at least 90° angles in the following places: your knees, hips, and elbows. Angles of less than 90° have the detrimental effect of impeding circulation. In static seated situations, this can result in premature fatigue and discomfort. In general, more "open" postures and chairs that support you in "open" postures, will allow you to sit more comfortably for longer periods of time.

Motion
Critical to pain-free sitting is a chair that allows you to stay in motion. The more you move, the more you encourage blood flow, and the less stiff you become. Properly adjust the chair's tension control to achieve your desired level of motion. Rule of thumb: Static positions in and of themselves are a source of pain and fatigue.

Blue Cross Blue Shield workstation study

Blue Cross Blue Shield found that applying proper ergonomics to workstations resulted in an average 4.4% boost in productivity - Not to mention, less griping about those pain in the butt TPS reports!

Memorial Day weekend upon us!

Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner. Thank goodness for the 3 day weekend!
Whether you are doing some shopping - or would just like to stop by a Healthy Back Store for a free massage during your travels, take a peek at our Memorial Day catalog or our holiday section on HealthyBack.com/MemorialDay for some new comfort solutions and special deals!

What is Ergonomics anyway??

First coined in the 1950s, "ergonomics" is derived from "ergon", which is greek for work and "nomos" which means "natural laws". Nowadays - ergonomics refers to the study of people's efficiency in their workplace. Efficiency, comfort, natural positioning. What can be done to reduce uncomfortable friction, straining and positioning in our workspace? Healthy Back's mission is to find products that help accomplish that goal. Of course, products alone, aren't the magic solution - We'll be posting some helpful ergonomic tips and easy solutions here on our blog - or you can visit a store or give us a call! Stay tuned...