So do you need a tall backrest? Maybe or maybe not.
Some job roles will benefit from a taller, or shorter backrest. Security for example, where operators may be looking at screens at a high level will be spending a lot of time more reclined than someone typing out a LinkedIn post, and will benefit from a full length of support.
Some people have spinal injuries or abnormalities that require targeted support.
A backrest that extends high above a body with a short torso is clearly doing nothing, and taller people will mostly feel some benefit from a longer backrest.
We can’t apply the same answer across the entire seating spectrum. For example, the CoreChair I used for Thursday’s post has a specially sculpted seat that supports the pelvis in a particular way, so doesn’t need much of a backrest no matter how tall you are (although I expect particularly tall people won’t like it at all). Saddle stools which probably promote the very best posture for sitting, don’t need a back rest at all.
But most office chairs are what we might call ‘lumbar support’: as we sit, the pelvis reclines, our weight is now behind the pelvis rather than above it – a position we cannot hold without help, so we lean into a backrest.
At Backworld we don’t really like to talk about the average person. Just as two people with similar looking size 9 feet might find identical footwear remarkable and awful, so the same applies to chairs.
We don’t like to talk about the average chair either. ‘What’s your favourite chair?” I’m often asked. It doesn’t matter, you might hate it. But some products are clearly going to suit more people than others, and one such chair would be the Rh Logic 200 series. Extremely well made, comfortable, with lots of adjustments and options to suit different users, and available with a medium, or a high backrest.
Nearly everyone who chooses a lumbar support chair like the Logic, which is most people, will go with the taller backrest. Not because the *need* it, but simply because they like it.
If you want a neck rest, another item that is rarely bought on a needs basis, it will reach most necks when mounted on the taller backrest.
But if you’re working from a desk in a corner of the lounge, you might want the equipment there to look less ‘officey’ and so long as you are comfortable and correctly supported, choosing products, for this reason, is perfectly fine. And a lower backrest without a neckrest is going to be a lot more discreet.