Saddle Stools and The Man From Snowy River

The human body is NOT meant to sit down at a desk all day.  Early man was all focused on survival, gathering food, hunting.  They weren’t sedentary, spending hours a day on an ever expanding derriere.  I’ve got it even worse than many.  Apart from my regular 40 hours on my butt, I spend quite a few more writing.  It’s a LOT of time sitting.  Quite apart from the side effect of said expanding backside, there are other, bigger problems caused by this modern trend of spending all day at a desk.  Back problems.

Two years ago, I was in such pain, I sought out chiropractic help.  Pretty sure my mom is still convinced I went to see a witch doctor.  I had an inverted S shaped neck curve, what my doc called a triple harmonic (meaning I had three major stress points in my spine).  Several months of traction corrected the curve and made the pain go away.  I’ll be on home traction for the rest of my life to maintain those gains.  Which is fine.  And hella preferable to invasive and expensive back surgery.

I’m always on the watch these days for ways to take care of my spine and prevent further injury.  That includes getting up several times a day to MOVE.  Getting a lap desk so that my laptop doesn’t have me dropping my head to look at it.  Yoga stretching.  And working on strengthening my core muscles.

One of the other things I’ve been planning on doing is getting myself a proper desk chair for working at home.  For the last several years, my preferred work location was either the living room sofa or (in the new house) my favorite chair.  This…hasn’t been awesome on my lower back.  So I started researching ergonomic chairs and what the best options were that would be better.

Now I have a swanky ergonomic chair at work.  This $650 puppy adjusts in about 75 different directions.  And it’s still not quite right for my body (made for someone taller).  Plus, I don’t have $650 to spend on a chair for home.  The results I found were…kind of surprising.  I was prowling wayfair.com looking at their stools and was amused to see a saddle stool.  I mean, this gives whole new meaning to back in the saddle.  Being always a horse crazy girl, the idea of this delighted me, except for that whole doesn’t have a back thing.   But the price was reasonable, so I did a little bit of research about the benefit of this kind of seating.  Came across this article.

Perhaps the greatest health benefit received from sitting in a saddle stool is back pain relief that can often occur from sitting in a regular office chair for extended periods of time. Not only are saddle chairs helpful in relieving back pain they can also alleviate neck and shoulder pain along with related headaches. The larger angle between the hips and the knees at a 135°  is a much more natural position to be in than the 90° angle, typically associated with sitting on a traditional chair. As a consequence posture is improved and tension in the upper back and neck is reduced. The backless feature on saddle stools also eliminates pressure that is typically felt on users back from leaning on a back rest, causing discomfort while sitting and especially when trying to focus while working.

Um, yeah.  Sign me up.  So I ordered it with my birthday money, as it was affordable and will work with the super tall table thing I’m using as a desk.

OMG, it’s so comfortable.  I mean, I’ll have to build up to being able to sit there for my full writing block (as this thing forces you into correct posture and improves muscle tone of your core, which has to be built up), but as soon as I slide on, I can feel the pressure in my lower back release.

Plus I get to feel like I did as a little girl when I used my softball mitt on a giant stuffed dog as a saddle while I watched A Man From Snowy River (which, yes, I can still quote every word).  I love the idea of feeling like I’m in a saddle while I’m writing.  Excuse me, I feel the need to watch some Tom Burlinson (while I pretend I didn’t find out he’s not really an Aussie)…

7 thoughts on “Saddle Stools and The Man From Snowy River

    1. Hahaha! That’s AWESOME! Sadly, this stool is going to be as close as I get to having a horse unless I strike it rich somewhere along the way–Dear Fate, You should get on that…

  1. Kait did you order online or find somewhere that actually had the saddle stool in stock to try it out first?

    Lower back pain for 20 + years and unless use high dose of Acetominophen daily some days can barely stand it. Have been using stretching exercises as well as other things because as have MS the pain is not going away even with any kind of surgery.

      1. Well that is what I thought, may stop by my dentist soon to see if they will let me try the stool there. I am short like you and as such find office chairs difficult to march what is comfortable for my nonexistent leg length.

  2. When I injured my back at work 2 years ago, I worried my riding days were over. It was kind of a surprise that my back didn’t go nova even when we’d be out trail riding for hours and hours. =)

    It’s the bending, lifting stuff (Even my 19 lb synthetic saddle and don’t get me started on hoof cleaning!), and walking around on hard floors that makes it hurt. The longest driving I do is 3 hours, but that’s for my route, so I’m “moving” a lot, throwing papers out of each window and it doesn’t usually cause back flares unless my back is already acting up.

    All of which is to say, I may try one of these chairs too. =)

  3. I know what you mean about 40 hours a week at work then writing at home. I’ve noticed lately I’m really hurting because I’ve been so busy at work I don’t get up and walk around. I need to make myself do that.

    Let us know if you still like that chair after you’ve used it awhile. I might be able to talk my boss into it. 🙂

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