Kneeling chair

Three Norwegian designers, Oddvin Rykken, Peter Opsvik, and Professor Svein Gusrud developed chairs based on the same principle.

[1][2][3][4] The kneeling chair is meant to reduce lower back strain[5] by dividing the burden of one's weight between the shins and the buttocks.

People with coccyx or tailbone pain resulting from significant numbers of hours in a sitting position (e.g., office desk jobs) are common candidates for such chairs.

A. C. Mandal's research from the 1960s to the 1990s concluded that a forward sloping seat did effectively tip the pelvis forward, opening up the angle between torso and thigh, and thereby correctly aligns the spine, indicating a more suitable position for long periods of sitting.

[11] A 1989 study on a sample of 20 subjects concluded that the Balans chair promoted greater lumbar curvature than the "straight back chair" during relaxed sitting, typing, and writing, and that it be helpful in treatment of lower back injuries.

A woman on a rocking kneeling chair
Variable™ kneeling chair designed by Peter Opsvik, 1979.
Kneeling chair. These chairs were the first piece of furniture designed to use with computers, and were called computer chairs. They were intended to help avoid the back problems associated with sitting in a constant hunched over condition. They usually had a rocker base, so that you could adjust your position by leaning slightly forward or back.
Kneeling chair with a rocker base.