evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall) (02/01/86)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** We have three balans chairs at home - one conventional model that I use with the computer and two "tripos" recliners. All have proven to be extremely satisfactory. The standard balans is comfortable enough that I have had 10 hr sessions without noticable back strain (I can take about half an hour in a conventional chair before I have to get up and walk around). The tripos models are used in our living room as primary chairs and we have no complaints. A word of caution -- the Balans brand is of much higher quality than many of the copies floating around. The chairs are built up of laminated wood and the amount of "give" seems to be important. Steve Crandall mhuxt!evans
wjr@frog.UUCP (STella Calvert) (02/10/86)
In article <1439@bbncc5.UUCP> akhanna@bbnccv.UUCP (Atul C Khanna) writes: >I'm considering the purchase of one of those chairs that is supposed >to discourage slouched backs and other unhealthy back postures - I >believe the original chair was called/made-by Balans. I'd appreciate >information, both on personal experiences as well as on brand >names, good deals, etc. Did you ever get me started! This is an unabashed testimonial from someone who has become a true believer. For most of my adult life, I have had a wretched back. Specifically, I could count on spending several days in bed, bitching and moaning, after any household move, or occasionally from something as simple as picking a bottlecap off the floor. About a year ago, we got a Balans for our computer room. It lives in front of our game machine, so I use it more, the more tense/hostile I am (if I feel like killing centipedes or invaders, I'm saving up for a backache, usually.) Since then, I have not had ONE episode of back trouble, though my weight has not decreased, nor my general level of exercise increased by much (other than the lack of several bedfast days). I am firmly convinced that the Balans chair is the reason. There are a couple of things that would have been good to know before I started using it. One, placement of your legs and butt on the pads is critical. Since I'm also "blessed" with funny knees, if I settle onto the chair with my KNEES on the shinpads, I will fairly quickly cripple myself. If I put my butt too far down on the bumrrest, that too will make my knees crazy, as well as cutting off circulation to my gluteus maximaximus (and you ain't never seen nuthin' funny till you've seen someone try to walk with the whole back of her lap asleep....). Two, I wish I'd been warned that while your bod is adapting to the chair, it will complain a little. Since your previously neglected back and stomach muscles are now responsible for holding you up, they are continuously exercised as you sit. Therefore, the first week or two, you may find those muscles complaining gently about the overwork. But they adapt fairly quickly, and after that, the better condition of those muscles fends off the backache demon. But I'd have been much less concerned if I had been explicitly warned to expect some initial complaints from my underused muscles. GET A _REAL_ BALANS CHAIR! GET A _REAL_ BALANS CHAIR! I'm VERY glad that I had heard of the Balans chair via Victor Papanek's book before I ran across the cheapies. I've seen Balans-like chairs for under a hundred dollars, and taken the opportunity to settle into them for extended tests. They might look the same, but they aren't. For one thing, the copies are usually stiffer (less flexible) than the REAL ones. This might seem safer when you sit down on it, and compare it to the wabbly feel of the original Balans chair. But all those little motions are providing the exercise that your back needs, and encouraging your knees to tolerate the extra stretch. For another, I've seen a pseudobalanslike chair after a cat has sharpened on it a few times, and the real thing's upholstery is much better. In addition, the angle and spacing between the shin and butt pads is important to the effect, and I haven't found a cheapo imitation that gets it right. Of course, I probably wouldn't buy it if we did, since the Balans chair pays some reward to the fellow who designed it, while the knockoffs almost certainly don't. And ever since I put the last carton of books down next to the last cinderblock after our most recent move, and realized that I had NOT gotten a backache (for the first move in ten years!) I realized that I OWE the designer. The Back Store -- in Newton -- is a good place for Boston-area folks to try out these darling devices. And unfortunately I don't know of any off-price outlets for the real thing. You can get an imitation for about $60, while our Balans cost $189, but we'd do it again -- in fact, we will do it _three_ more times when we figure out what we want for a dining table. Another plug for the Balans itself -- the upholstery and finish colors are open stock, so we'll be able to finish our dinette set anytime, rather than having to buy all four at one time to get the match. [Does this article go to NJ? I hope so....8-)] By the way, there are models (including, I believe, one BY Balans) that have one shinpad rather than the two on the original. It is impossible to settle onto this gracefully. The split between the two pads on the original enables you to step into place, position your rear on the seatpad, and fold your legs into place. I tried for almost half an hour to find an equally graceful way of sitting on the single shinpad type, and gave it up as hopeless. Incidentally, it's the most comfortable chair I've found for either menstrual cramps or overeater's syndrome. Not quite equal to lying down under a heatingpad, but it's very difficult to read news on the waterbed anyway. STella Calvert Every man and every woman is a star. Guest on: ...!decvax!frog!wjr Life: Baltimore!AnnArbor!Smyrna!<LotsOfHitchhikingAndShortVisits> !SantaCruz!Berkeley!AnnArbor!Taxachusetts Future: ... (!L5!TheBelt!InterstellarSpace)
ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (02/14/86)
> GET A _REAL_ BALANS CHAIR! GET A _REAL_ BALANS CHAIR! > For one thing, the copies are usually stiffer (less flexible) than the > REAL ones. This might seem safer when you sit down on it, and compare > it to the wabbly feel of the original Balans chair. But all those > little motions are providing the exercise that your back needs, and > encouraging your knees to tolerate the extra stretch. Well, yes and no. If you have a bad back and need the exercise, yes. But if your back is in reasonable shape, and your bank account isn't, the cheap imitations are *still* better than a regular chair. We have a cheap imitation at the terminal at home and I have a real Balans chair at work. Both are much better than "real" chairs. (My supervisor offered me a fancy terminal at work. I told him I wanted a Balans chair instead. While we were negotiating on just how much I could spend, I found one just sitting around in another department because the person who got *his* supervisor to buy it left and no one wanted it. Except to laugh at. The one problem with the Balans chair is that *everyone* who comes into your office wants to try it.) > By the way, there are models (including, I believe, one BY Balans) > that have one shinpad rather than the two on the original. It is > impossible to settle onto this gracefully. I have the one shinpad model at work. In a skirt it's tricky; in pants you just walk up behind it, swing one leg around and onto the pad, then kneel forward and swing the other leg around. I find it's easier to reach shelves from this also. I just rise up on my knees to get down the manuals that I would have to stand up for from a "real" chair. Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl (or ihnp4!mtgzy!ecl)
spp@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Stephen P Pope) (02/20/86)
I've sat in some of the imitations and they are fairly inferior -- also the real Balans are coming down in price. You should be able to find the "Balans Multi" for $100 on sale. It's possible Balans has patented some of the proportions of the design, and the imitations can't approximate it too closely. steve