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You know you are getting old when you have unexplained aches when you wake up in the morning.

I have no idea what’s going on when I sleep but I must be doing some major calisthenics.

Now that I am quickly leaving my 40s behind (I’m 48 right now), one thing that I have noticed is that I cannot tolerate sitting in a chair for long periods of time anymore.

The fact that I am a radiologist and a blogger is a double whammy as both activities require extensive time sitting

[I hope my audience truly appreciates the sacrifices and physical toll I endure to put out these posts.  LOL.  🙂  ]

I think becoming a blogger has definitely accelerated the process because, after being in a chair for an hour or so, I can feel my lower back really voicing its displeasure while I am honing my craft.

It is not that I have skimped on office chairs as my “ergonomic” office chair at home was a little over $1k when I bought it 7 or 8 years ago from one of my favorite companies,  Hammacher Schlemmer.

But even with the lofty price tag I found myself no longer able to tolerate sitting for any extended periods of time.

I even resorted to adding a gel cushion for the seat and a lumbar pillow which I strapped in to the back of the chair.

 

 

These homemade remedies did alleviate some of the symptoms but it felt awkward to sit in this contraption as I could never get the extra cushioning properly positioned.

To make matters worse, I am what you call a “sloucher,” and I know I do not maintain proper posture when sitting both at work and in my home office which only exacerbates the issue.

Traditional chairs have a fixed seat bottom relative to the floor.

Because of this design constraint, your body has to conform to the chair and not the other way around.

One of my favorite positions when I am writing a blog post is to have the keyboard on my lap and both my feet on my desk while tilting back (I did tell you I am not known for proper posture when sitting).

This particular position creates a tremendous amount of pressure on my lower back that is only slightly mitigated by the lumbar pillow and gel cushion.

I would therefore often have to either get out of the chair, reposition the extra cushioning, or just assume another sitting position.

I thought this was something I was just going to have to deal with but fortunately I came across a product that had a lot of promise and definitely piqued my interest, especially with the name, “The Backstrong Chair.”

The Backstrong chair was the brainchild of a Dr. Dennis Colonello, the chiropractor for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, who created the company All33 (a reference to the 33 vertebrae of the human spine).

 

 

I placed my order and within a week I had the Backstrong chair delivered to my door.

Setup was super simple and can be accomplished in about 5-10 minutes.

For me the game-changer was the novel design of the Backstrong chair.

 

 

Instead of the bottom component of the seat being fixed there is now a nicely padded cradle that supports your lower back and bottom that pivots.

The padding and shape of this cradle obviates the need for the gel cushion and lumbar cushion setup I had with my former chair.

The tilting mechanism gives you a much more natural sitting and reclining posture and eliminates the stresses I previously endured on my lower back.

When you are sitting upright, your mid and upper back are completely free and not resting on anything.

The cradle essentially guides you into a proper posture and spinal alignment.

Surprisingly, I feel my entire back and neck are more supported in this position compared to when I was leaning on my traditional chair’s backrest.

There are some things that will take a bit of getting used to, namely how you position yourself in the chair when you sit down.

For the chair and pivoting cradle to be effective, you have to sit as far back as you can with your lower back contacting the cradle.

This position was further back than I normally was used to sitting in but once you get used to it it becomes second habit.

The arms of the Backstrong chair also are not adjustable apart from being able to be in a fully down or fully retracted position.

The height of the arms for me were in an appropriate position and I think most people would have no issue with this either.

Another thing to be aware of is that there is a weight limit to this chair of 275 lbs.

Takeaway:

I have been extremely happy with the Backstrong chair and would have no hesitation recommending this to anyone.

It is not an inexpensive chair, listed at $1099 retail, however the company is currently doing an introductory offer, selling the chair for $799.

I contacted the company and mentioned how pleased I was with their product and asked if I could become an affiliate and offer an additional discount for my readers, which they graciously accepted.

So if you visit the site using my affiliate link and use the Coupon Code: XRAYVSN at checkout, you can take an additional $100 off bringing the total to $699.

The Backstrong chair comes with free shipping and a 60 day money back guarantee (although you will have to pay return shipping).

 

 

 

Curious to see what other items are in my doctor’s bag?  

Just open the bag and peer inside, you may find something of use.

 

 

 

-Xrayvsn