Bambach Saddle Seat FAQ
- What is the advantage of the Bambach Saddle Seat?
- Who should use the Bambach Saddle Seat?
- Will a kneeling chair work as well?
- Will a bicycle seat work as well?
- Can children use the Bambach Saddle Seat?
- Are there different saddle sizes?
- How high should I adjust my Bambach Saddle Seat?
- How high should I position my work?
- Do I need a backrest on my Bambach Saddle Seat?
- How long will it take to get used to saddle sitting?
1. What is the advantage of the Bambach Saddle Seat?
Bambach Saddle Seat's high, straddle posture supports and stabilizes your body, freeing your hands and feet for work and movement. It is easy to move about in your workspace, to reach equipment, or to reach a foot switch. This stable, straddle posture also improves hand accuracy and power, and improves sitting balance.
One "rides" the Bambach Saddle Seat just as one rides on horseback. It is the ideal sitting posture. The hip joints rest in a relaxed open position and the spine is in perfect balance. The unique seat contour ensures you'll bend forward from your hips, not from your back.
The Bambach Saddle Seat satisfies the requirements for healthy sitting better than a conventional chair. It is designed to:
- Rotate the pelvis upright and position the body's center of gravity over the ischial tuberosities (these are our seat bones).
- Keep the spinal column in its neutral curves.
- Expand the thoracic (chest) and abdominal regions to allow full function of the lungs and abdominal organs. In the upright position supported by the Saddle Seat, your diaphragm is not pushed up into your vital organs as in a conventional seat. Your abdominal organs (e.g., lungs, liver, alimentary tract) are not compressed and not pressing onto your bladder and bowel.
- Assist blood and lymphatic circulation.
- Enhance muscle tone. In the Bambach Saddle Seat your posture is active rather than passive.
- Ensure that work can be performed easily and comfortably.
- Reduce stress on the major joints by maintaining their mid-range
functional positions.
A conventional chair cannot support healthy sitting for work. In a conventional task chair your center of gravity is behind your seat bones with your pelvis rolled back and your lumbar spinal curve flattened. This leads to stressful muscular activity and you need very agressive back support to maintain an upright position for work.
The Saddle Seat places the center of gravity over your seat bones and stabilizes your pelvis in its upright, neutral position, thus supporting your neutral spinal curves. Your hip joints are in abduction and external rotation which reduces hip joint stress, as the ball of the hip joint now rests comfortably within its socket in the pelvis. This straddle position with knees apart is also thought to have preventive value against future hip disease (according to Prof. Dr. G. Schumoe, Orthopedic University Hospital, Bonn, Germany).
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2. Who should use the Bambach Saddle Seat?
The Bambach Saddle Seat is ideal for people who work with their hands, such as dentists, surgeons, machine operators, hairdressers, grocery clerks, artists, therapists, musicians, teachers and nurses in dialysis and maternity.
You will especially benefit from the Bambach Saddle Seat if your work involves:
- close hand-eye coordination requiring precision and accuracy.
- a lot of reaching.
- moving your body along with your arms.
- work spread out over a large area.
- varying work heights.
- dealing with heavier objects or forces.
- viewing closely or at odd angles.
- long periods of standing.
- getting up and down often from your seat.
If you suffer from painful conditions of the neck, back, or upper limb, or if you have a neurological or musculoskeletal condition, you may also benefit from using the Bambach Saddle Seat.
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3. Will a kneeling chair work as well?
No. The Saddle Seat supports more work postures than a kneeling chair. A kneeling chair only supports the body for forward work -- it does not support upright work. The Saddle Seat does. In addition, a kneeling chair puts pressure on the knees. There is no knee pressure in a Saddle Seat.
In a kneeling chair your feet are locked in underneath you. In the Saddle Seat your feet are free to operate equipment or help you scoot around your work area with your feet in full contact with the floor.
Getting in and out of a kneeling chair is difficult as your feet get entangled in the kneeling pad. Getting in and out of a Saddle Seat is easy.
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4. Will a bicycle seat work as well?
Not quite. While you can straddle a bicycle seat in the same way you straddle a Saddle Seat, the bicycle seat provides little support to the mass of the buttocks. This can be uncomfortable over a long period.
The position of the pelvis is different on a bicycle seat. The pelvis is tilted back, the body is not upright, and the hips are not abducted (not in the spread position). This makes the legs work very hard to stabilize the body.
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5. Can children use Bambach Saddle Seat?
Yes. In fact, the Bambach Saddle Seat was originally developed for disabled children. Children naturally sit with perfect posture in the Bambach Saddle Seat. They love the greater freedom of movement and easy access to activities that the seat provides. It's the ideal seat for a student. Very small children will need the foot platform accessory.
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6. Are there different saddle sizes?
The standard Bambach Saddle Seat fits most adults and school-age children. The sheepskin cover widens the support surface for larger people, and also adds softness for people with sensitive or delicate anatomies.
We have experimented with narrower seats and the results were disappointing. It is the spread of the legs, called hip abduction, that stabilizes the pelvis and allows the pelvis and spine to rest in a natural posture. Hip abduction also insures your hip joints are in their ideal alignment in their sockets. As hip abduction decreases, the spine became less stable, the pelvis tilts backwards, and the hip joints move out of their ideal close contact position.
Be sure that your clothing does not interfere with your hip abduction (leg spread). Wear loose trousers or a wide skirt.
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7. How high should I adjust my Bambach Saddle Seat?
In a Bambach Saddle Seat you sit much higher than in a conventional seat. You are actually in-between sitting and standing.
When standing next to your saddle seat, the seat contour (the hollow part) should be about two inches (5 cm) above the crease at the back of your knee. This height opens your hip angle and allows your feet to rest comfortably on the floor.
There are three pneumatic lift sizes available to customize the height of your Saddle Seat.
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8. How high should I position my work?
If you normally work at a traditional office or computer desk, you need to raise it quite a bit to benefit from the Bambach Saddle Seat. Place a shim under the desk legs (for example, using Deskalators™, wood, or bricks) or raise your computer screen and keyboard.
If you usually work on a high drafting stool or in a standing posture, you can probably switch to the Bambach Saddle Seat with little or no adjustment of your working height.
If your work is higher than ideal, use the Bambach Saddle Seat with a footring.
If your work height is lower than recommended you may have to tuck your feet under the Saddle Seat. This limits your mobility in the seat and your spinal postures will be less than ideal. Even so, this may be preferable to a traditional task chair if your work requires reaching forward. Many occupations require working at a lower than ideal height, for example, preschool teachers, car door assembly work, podiatrists, and nurses operating dialysis machines.
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9. Do I need a backrest on my Bambach Saddle Seat?
The open hip angle and straddle posture supports the lumbar curve without a back rest. Traditional "ergonomic" chairs support your lumbar curve by pushing into your back. This is not the case in a Saddle Seat.
In activities that are static in nature, for example, dentistry, surgery, drafting, art, clerical work, and high bench work, a Saddle Seat with a back rest can be helpful. If you select a model with a back rest, use it just as a rest.
Lean against the back rest while you rest, listen, talk, or when you sit back to work. You should not need the back rest for most upright and forward work.
Take care not to position the backrest so far forward that it pushes you onto the front pommel of the seat. That hurts. In the Saddle Seat there should be no back rest pressure pushing into your back.
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10. How long does it take to get used to the Bambach Saddle Seat?
Start by using the seat no more than one hour each day. It may take a few weeks to get used to the unaccustomed seat pressures. Unless you are a seasoned horseback, motorcycle, or bicycle rider, you should build up to saddle sitting gradually. If you have been sitting with poor posture for many years, your body will need time to adjust -- your hips may be tight and will need time to stretch out; your abdominal and back muscles may be unaccustomed to upright postures and will need time to tone. Be patient.
Have you ridden a horse? Remember when you first get into the saddle you have to wiggle around, sit back and deep into the saddle, then after a while it becomes quite comfortable. It's the same with the Saddle Seat. If you experience some saddle soreness, try adjusting the seat angle to a more horizontal position so you can sit down and back. And remember, in time your body will comfortably adjust.
Explore all seat tilt and height variations. Small adjustments will change the distribution of pressures. You may be more comfortable with the sheepskin seat cover which both softens the seat.
BACKREST USERS: For the first few weeks push the backrest as far back as possible so you are using the seat only. Begin using the backrest only after you become fully comfortable in the seat. Adjust the seat tilt (usually backward) until you are as comfortable as can be considering your current fitness. Your fitness for healthy sitting will improve and as it does, you will find yourself using the seat in a more central position.
MEN: Some men have difficulty in adjusting. This is made easier by having the seat tilted down at the front to the maximum. Also, when sitting down, sliding back onto the seat helps to position the male parts more comfortably, the same as horse riders.
TIGHT HIPS: Some people experience tightness in thighs and hips. Again your body will adjust. The position with your knees apart greatly reduces the chance of hip joint disease at a later age. Tight muscles, tendons and ligaments will soften and relax over time, which is desirable.
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