I got used Aeron chair (the thing lasts forever, unlike other chairs I had that seemed to last 6 months on average), 30″ (2560x1600) monitor, Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 (which I use with Dvorak layout), and all of that was some of the best money I’ve ever spent. I also get the largest desk I could fit in my place, and I still regret that I couldn’t get anything bigger. These are awesome ideas.
I tried many memory foam pillows, and they are a bit better than “normal” pillows, but I haven’t been terribly happy about any of them. I always sleep on my side (I’m literally unable to sleep in any other position, no matter how tired, how the hell people sleep in airplanes or trains is a mystery to me) - people who sleep on their backs have very different pillow needs, so if you hear recommendation from someone who sleeps differently, disregard it completely.
Unless you’re running a lot, and virtually nobody does, “barefoot shoes” seem entirely pointless, and their main effect will be marking you as a total nerd publicly.
Fidgeters are much less likely to be obese than non-fidgeters.
Correlation called, it wants its causation back.
Also if you’re looking for low hanging fruit, even very modest amount (1-3h weekly) of light to moderate physical exercise does wonders to energy levels and general mood. inb4 anybody asks it’s been proven in every study imaginable to have zero effect on weight either way.
Second also: Ninja Zemgears seem to have highly polarized reviews online—some people’s feet fit well and they’re happy, other people’s feet don’t and they hate them. This problem probably applies to all “barefoot” shoes, since they need tighter tolerances than traditional shoes, and traditional shoes already have fitting problems with plenty of people, so people usually buy them in person than online. Also plenty of people complain about durability.
An update: barefoot shoes are looking more and more normal; it is now easy to find barefoot runners that look unremarkable. The ‘barefoot’ distinction usually indicates thin, flexible soles, no significant heel, and a wide toebox. They tend to be a bad choice if you are walking on hard floors all day long and will offer no ankle support, but otherwise I have found them highly ergonomic.
I agree that Vibram Fivefingers are probably a bad idea. Regardless of how they look, they have stiff soles that force your toes into specific positions. For some people these positions will be comfortable, and for others they will not. I also question how such a stiff sole can be considered ‘barefoot’.
unlike other chairs I had that seemed to last 6 months on average
WTF? I never remember breaking an office chair; I have broken a couple of wooden dining-room chairs and a hollow steel classroom chair so far, but I’m about 200 lbs...
I’ve gone through lots of office chairs in my house; I use them for all of my household chairs and usually get them on the cheap. The most common failure modes from memory:
caster breaks
seat breaks off of the post
raising/lowering mechanism malfunctions, usually causing it to be permanently lowered or uncontrollable
wherever the back rest attaches to the rest of the chair breaks off—if there is an arm, then this happens on the bottom of the arm
bottom of the post breaks through the frame for the casters—even if still functional, it now scrapes the floor
fart smell
On all-steel frame, fairly solid chairs I’ve only ever seen the post break once and otherwise it was always casters snapping off at the connection. But those are not only expensive but very heavy, and tend to be less adjustable.
The shitty plastic holding seat and back together that most chairs seem to use is usually the weakest link that fails first.
It might be related to me being taller than most people (188cm, leverage multiplies force) and moving in chair a lot, most chairs being far too rigid to accommodate that.
The younger teen utterly trashed one of my ergonomic chairs that I’d had for five years at that point—back flapping loose, screws holding it together knocked out. She’s 157cm (5′2″) and weighs about 55kg (120lb). I have no idea how the hell she managed this.
I’m 194cm/95-100kg and have nothing like this sort of trail of trashed chairs. (One whose back plastic warped badly from being kept too near an open fire.) I’m thinking it’s less height and weight and more sheer talent.
I’m about 1.87 m and I move a lot too, but I mostly move sideways rather than back-and-forth, and I don’t lean on the back so much. (Or maybe they make better chairs in my country than in yours, but this doesn’t sound likely.)
So here are a few reviews:
I got used Aeron chair (the thing lasts forever, unlike other chairs I had that seemed to last 6 months on average), 30″ (2560x1600) monitor, Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 (which I use with Dvorak layout), and all of that was some of the best money I’ve ever spent. I also get the largest desk I could fit in my place, and I still regret that I couldn’t get anything bigger. These are awesome ideas.
I tried many memory foam pillows, and they are a bit better than “normal” pillows, but I haven’t been terribly happy about any of them. I always sleep on my side (I’m literally unable to sleep in any other position, no matter how tired, how the hell people sleep in airplanes or trains is a mystery to me) - people who sleep on their backs have very different pillow needs, so if you hear recommendation from someone who sleeps differently, disregard it completely.
Unless you’re running a lot, and virtually nobody does, “barefoot shoes” seem entirely pointless, and their main effect will be marking you as a total nerd publicly.
Correlation called, it wants its causation back.
Also if you’re looking for low hanging fruit, even very modest amount (1-3h weekly) of light to moderate physical exercise does wonders to energy levels and general mood. inb4 anybody asks it’s been proven in every study imaginable to have zero effect on weight either way.
Second also: Ninja Zemgears seem to have highly polarized reviews online—some people’s feet fit well and they’re happy, other people’s feet don’t and they hate them. This problem probably applies to all “barefoot” shoes, since they need tighter tolerances than traditional shoes, and traditional shoes already have fitting problems with plenty of people, so people usually buy them in person than online. Also plenty of people complain about durability.
An update: barefoot shoes are looking more and more normal; it is now easy to find barefoot runners that look unremarkable. The ‘barefoot’ distinction usually indicates thin, flexible soles, no significant heel, and a wide toebox. They tend to be a bad choice if you are walking on hard floors all day long and will offer no ankle support, but otherwise I have found them highly ergonomic.
I agree that Vibram Fivefingers are probably a bad idea. Regardless of how they look, they have stiff soles that force your toes into specific positions. For some people these positions will be comfortable, and for others they will not. I also question how such a stiff sole can be considered ‘barefoot’.
I highly recommend vivobarefoot for anyone who has wide feet. They make a few models that are plain black or brown leather and look like normal shoes.
WTF? I never remember breaking an office chair; I have broken a couple of wooden dining-room chairs and a hollow steel classroom chair so far, but I’m about 200 lbs...
I’ve gone through lots of office chairs in my house; I use them for all of my household chairs and usually get them on the cheap. The most common failure modes from memory:
caster breaks
seat breaks off of the post
raising/lowering mechanism malfunctions, usually causing it to be permanently lowered or uncontrollable
wherever the back rest attaches to the rest of the chair breaks off—if there is an arm, then this happens on the bottom of the arm
bottom of the post breaks through the frame for the casters—even if still functional, it now scrapes the floor
fart smell
On all-steel frame, fairly solid chairs I’ve only ever seen the post break once and otherwise it was always casters snapping off at the connection. But those are not only expensive but very heavy, and tend to be less adjustable.
The shitty plastic holding seat and back together that most chairs seem to use is usually the weakest link that fails first.
It might be related to me being taller than most people (188cm, leverage multiplies force) and moving in chair a lot, most chairs being far too rigid to accommodate that.
The younger teen utterly trashed one of my ergonomic chairs that I’d had for five years at that point—back flapping loose, screws holding it together knocked out. She’s 157cm (5′2″) and weighs about 55kg (120lb). I have no idea how the hell she managed this.
I’m 194cm/95-100kg and have nothing like this sort of trail of trashed chairs. (One whose back plastic warped badly from being kept too near an open fire.) I’m thinking it’s less height and weight and more sheer talent.
I’m about 1.87 m and I move a lot too, but I mostly move sideways rather than back-and-forth, and I don’t lean on the back so much. (Or maybe they make better chairs in my country than in yours, but this doesn’t sound likely.)
I’m about 1.95 m, move a lot, and haven’t broken many office chairs.
Maybe the next LW Survey should ask how tall we are, too. We might see some interesting correlations. :-)
… and how many office chairs we’ve broken?