Reaching in sitting: The effect of seat design and body manipulations.

Abstract

Sitting is a common and familiar position used daily as a platform for many motor activities in the workplace, at school, or at home. To investigate how difference in the chair design and selected sitting manipulations contribute to reach distance in sitting. Ten healthy subjects were required to reach forward as far as possible while sitting in an adjustable chair with 0°, 10° forward or 10° backward inclination of the seat, with and without footrest and leg support, with legs crossed, and when holding the edge of the seat with the contralateral arm. In comparison to sitting with feet on the footrest, the maximal reaching distance decreased significantly when sitting on either forward or backward inclined seat (p < 0.05) and it increased when the subjects held the edge of the seat while seated with footrest and the posterior leg support (p < 0.05). There was no major effect of crossing the legs or the use of anterior leg support on the maximal reach distance. Modification of the chair design could increase or decrease reaching distance in sitting. The outcome of the study provides a background for future investigations of the effect of sitting positions on reaching distance in the workplace, at home, or at school.