Our Company
What can you STAND to lose?
Neutral Posture, Inc. a contract-seating and computer accessory manufacturer headed by Rebecca Boenigk, CEO, and inspired by her team of ergonomists, has asked the question: What can you STAND to lose?
"Rather than standing up to take a break from sitting," says Dr. Mark Benden, ergonomist and EVP for Neutral Posture "we say, let sitting be the break from standing." This is the idea that posed the question, "why bias computer stations toward only sitting when there are so many benefits to mixing your day up with sitting and standing?" Research has clearly proven that too much of either can be detrimental to our employees' health and well-being. Unfortunately, computer advancements have left us so sedentary and tied to our desks that we must work at finding ways to provide our bodies the movement that they desire to keep us healthy and vibrant.
Recently Neutral Posture decided it was time to re-evaluate the idea of only sitting down at a desk---a strong departure from what office dwellers have been told to do since the dawn of office culture, as we know it. The use of desks that move up and down as needed are great in theory, but participation rates for most people are minimal since everything else in the station is biased towards sitting and to stand requires time, effort and motivation.
The result of this re-evaluation became the Ntune™ Seating System which includes patented components like the Nstep™ that can be used with any system furniture capable of being set up at standing height.
"The chair plays a vital role in the Ntune™ Seating System," says Boenigk, "standing is hard work; it burns more calories because your body is working harder. Having a great chair is even more critical now because you need to be able to provide your body true comfort and support using ergonomics and adjustability."
The Ntune™ concept is all about raising desk heights from 30" up to 40" and then raising the chair, to stool height, allowing users to easily and freely stand up to work when needed. The extra 10" of storage under the 40" desk is a 33% gain in cubic storage. Facilities planners will welcome this benefit once they learn to utilize products from forward thinking companies like Neutral Posture. It's really that simple, but for some, the idea is still very radical. For others who are ready to depart from the workplace "norm" however, and become "in tune" with what our bodies need, there are benefits to be had.
"Just by standing for 2 hours throughout an average workday will burn 280 extra calories," says Benden. "In one year, that can amount to roughly 20 pounds. Results vary depending on body shapes and metabolisms "but even in the simplest case" assures Benden, "everyone could stand to lose with this technique."
The Ntune™ Seating System will be shown for the first time at NeoCon 2007 in the Neutral Posture showroom 10-153.
Neutral Posture is a Texas-based manufacturer of ergonomic office seating products and accessories. The company is the largest woman-owned furniture manufacturer in the U.S., owned by mother-daughter team of Jaye Congleton and Rebecca Congleton-Boenigk. Neutral Posture is a certified women's business enterprise (WBE), and is one of the top diversity suppliers for the U.S. government and for Fortune 500 companies worldwide. The company holds numerous patents including a patent for the NeXtep™ U.S. Patent # 7,036,886.
