The Swopper Philosophy

The Problem

In today's office environment many of us sit for 8 hours a day or more at our desk. This represents almost one third of our waking day! As we sit in our chairs our backs are supported by the stability that the chair provides. Some of us strive to sit in better, more ergonomical chairs, hoping to receive further support and comfort for the back. For those of us who suffer from back pain, the current solution to alleviate this discomfort is to use an ergonomic chair that provides support.

Unfortunately, this solution has one major flaw as it encourages further inactivity in the postural muscles of the back. The more support we provide the back, the less activity is required in the postural muscles. The common phrase "if you don't use it, you'll lose it" now comes into play. As we sit in our chair day after day, our postural muscles actually become weaker and weaker. Think about it this way...if you were to lay in bed for 8 hours a day 5 days a week imagine what would happen to your muscle mass? It would waste away! And guess what? This is exactly what is happening to our postural muscles when we sit in our chair.

The other disadvantage to sitting in our chair is that we are sitting on a rigid, non-moving platform. This keeps our joints and muscles stuck in one static position. Since we are unable to move into a variety of positions, our joints and muscles soon become stiff. This inability to move also encourages poor blood flow to the joints and muscles, and blood is what supplies all the healthy nutrients they require.

The Solution

Fortunately, the swopper has provided a FUNctional solution to these problems!

The Swopper allows for sitting in 3 dimensions (rather than 1 or 2 dimensions to date). This provides an active sitting environment rather than our current static environment. With the Swopper, the following elements are adjustable:

Height
Spring Tension
Lateral Movement

By decreasing the lateral stiffness of the Swopper, you create a more unstable sitting environment. This added element of balance encourages our postural muscles to activate while we sit. By keeping the postural muscles active, we allow them to stay strong so they can meet the demands imposed on them in our day to day lives. We are able to adjust the lateral motion available to suit our individual needs.

The spring tension can also be adjusted providing a variety of bouncing sensations and vertical movement. The bouncing motion can assist in providing fresh nutrients to our intervertebral disks keeping them healthier as we age. It also allows us to release energy and decrease any stress that we develop from working.

The height can be adjusted to meet our ergonomical requirements.

The Benefits

The benefits of active sitting are:

Provides a fun, energized experience while sitting
Strengthens core muscles of the back and abdomen
Improves posture and stabilization of the spine
Enhances your balance and overall relationship with gravity
Improves circulation to the lower extremities
Improves nourishment to the intervertebral disks
Assists lymphatic flow
Provides relief for back pain
Prevents de-conditioning of the spine

Conslusion

A new paradigm shift is occurring in our thoughts on sitting. As we continue to understand the many benefits of "active sitting", our sitting environments at work and at home will change. Just as the concept of wearing a seatbelt eventually became a common practice so will the concept of active sitting.

Our ultimate goal in life is to be happy. If our health becomes a liability it can prevent us from doing all the active things in life that keep us happy. Using an active sitting platform is one important step we can take in maintaining our health as best we can. It will allow us to continue to perform the activities that keep us happy, and ultimately to age with grace.