Active sitting on Zami is the basis for a better movement. How is that possible?

Exercising a lot is essential for a healthy body. But sitting in a passive sitting position represents an obstacle for better, easier movement.

Unbalanced pressure on the back

The spine, especially the (young) intervertebral discs, cannot handle the increased pressure when sitting passively on chairs. They will deform or lose the ability to grow healthy. Reliable researches from Scandinavia showed that the pressure in the adult intervertebral discs when sitting passively on a chair is much higher than with heavy lifting! Sitting for prolonged period of times then leads to more harmful skewing.

Sitting behaviour research

Scientists discovered why and how active sitting can create a nice S-curve in the back, which protects us against ‘deterioration’. All our joints have a natural relaxed position. This also applies to our hips, their resting position is at an angle of 135 degrees between the torso and thigh. The researchers found that when we sit at 90 degrees, which we usually do when sitting on chairs, the pelvis is pushed back and the lower back loses its protective cavity. The short hamstrings are very much needed to stay upright.

Sit safely on the Zami

With the Zami as an active sitting solution, you can easily create that “safe angle” in the hips thanks to the double curved seating surface. You can put your hips and knees in all positions, which allows you to feel relaxed and easily change (sitting) position. Furthermore, balance sensors placed under our sit bones ensure that we sit upright to get our heavy human skull correctly laying on the pressure points of the sit bones.

There are more active sitting solutions, such as the ball, the saddle stool, wobble stool, knee seat, but, due to its unique shape, stability and strength, the Zami combines all their advantages in one product.

Piet van Loon – orthopedic surgeon

The Zami Ergo

The Zami-Ergo stimulates you to move because of the convex, double curved seat. You are free to use the Zami Ergo in the normal position, but also as a saddle seat. The legs are wide apart, so you can put your legs anywhere and rest your feet behind the front legs.

The consequences of sitting incorrectly

Ruud Jan Kokke, designer and user from the very beginning (scoliosis).

Both in my environment and in the world of sedentary work and learning, I have heard and seen many consequences of incorrect sitting, people with back pain, hernias and, just like myself, with scoliosis. Well-known Scandinavian designers (and doctors) all point out that sitting at a right angle of 90 degrees is bad for your back. Instead of a nice natural S-curve in the back, the back becomes more rounded, curved or just too flat at the bottom. That is becoming a problem at an increasingly younger age. I really see it a lot out there: the “game boy back”.

On Zami you sit on the sit bones. They are our physical designated area to sit on. Most chairs are soft and hollow, making our skeleton “floating” on our hamstrings and glutes, but without the possibility move freely. In this case, there is no direct contact with the sit bones anywhere. This is what this design does. By sitting on our own sitting bones, we immediately stimulate our muscles to correctly balance our heavy head and shoulders above them. Try it out!