Everyone knows sitting in an office chair all day is bad for your health. To combat this, many offices are outfitting their spaces with standing desks or sit-stand desks that move up and down depending on how someone wants to work.
But for many workers, standing at a desk for long periods of time just isn't comfortable. To get more people using their standings desks, Chicago startup Ergo Impact has made a standing desk chair that adjusts to fit the height of your desk, allowing you to sit, perch or lean while working.
The idea is that even while using a standing desk, workers can use Ergo's product---the LeanRite---to help take pressure off their feet, back and joints. Users can put part of their weight on the product's cushioned seat, which operates sort of like a chair-stool hybrid, and remain moving throughout the day.
"If you’re moving more while you’re working, and you have less sedentary behavior, it's going to change everything," CEO and founder Jonathan Sheinkop said. "If you’re moving more, you’re reducing your potential for back pain."
The idea was born after Sheinkop, the previous co-founder of Chicago-based Music Dealers, went on a fishing trip and was able to lean on a post while standing for hours on the boat. He figured a similar device could get employees up and out of their chairs, and utilize their standing desks more often.
"When I walk through a space that has a large number of standing desks, the vast majority of them are not being used. In some cases, none of them are being used," he said. "Using your standing desk once or twice a week ... it doesn't make you healthier."
The LeanRite comes with a 90 degree swiveling seat, a cushioned mat for your feat, and the ability to expand in height from 23 inches to over 46 inches.
Ergo Impact has been selling the chairs mainly to businesses, and early versions of the device have been in the Chicago offices of Google, Savills Studley, UBS Financial, mHUB, 1871 and others. The chair retails for $899, but is starting with introductory pricing at $579.
