What is a Swopper®?
A Swopper® is a special round chair which lets you sit in motion—move freely up, down, forward and backward in any direction—and the seat rotates 360 degrees. It gives you fluid, energized movement as you sit—like "sitting in motion". Swopper® is an innovative, evolutionary seating platform which allows you to have continuous motion in a seated position. This new concept of “sitting in motion” is critical for a healthy spine and for overall wellness. Swopper® is the answer to avoiding low back pain (preventive medicine), relieving existing back pain and encouraging a healthy spine (therapeutic rehabilitation) by supplying the long forgotten ingredient of movement into the seated position.
Swopper® is new to the United States. Designed and built in Germany, it was first introduced there in 1997.
How do I adjust the Swopper® for my height, weight, comfort and other reasons?
Go to the Sitting and Adjusting section for details.
What does it do?
Swopper® allows you to move and actually exercise your spine and muscles of your back and abdomen while you sit. You can tilt forward, backward, and from side to side very easily while always maintaining complete control of the movement. Additionally, you can bounce gently up and down while seated. All of this intuitive, controllable movement is wonderful for your posture, relieving low back pain and encouraging a healthy spine.
How is it a solution to the problem of back pain?
• It reduces the risk of users developing low back pain by letting them move and exercise their back while seated.
• It relieves current sufferers' low back pain by providing motion to the lower back while they sit.
• It helps stabilize the spine and muscles of the back and abdomen, promoting a healthy spine and overall wellness.
Who benefits from the Swopper®?
• Someone who needs, or is often required to be seated for long periods of time during the day.
• Someone who wants to improve their posture, strengthen their back muscles and relieve the pain associated with static postures.
• A person who is conscious of the need to maintain a healthy spine as well as improve their overall wellness.
• Someone who appreciates modern furniture for their home or place of work.
Why doesn’t Swopper® need a back?
Although available, Swopper® does not need a back because the whole objective here is to strengthen lower back muscles by way of unsupported sitting. The person sitting on a Swopper® already has a back (“their own”) but they have become accustomed to not using it. As a result, de-conditioning of the spine and muscles of the back occurs, most commonly resulting in low back pain and discomfort. By sitting on a Swopper®, the user is able to assume correct posture easily, even while forward leaning, thereby eliminating the need for a back support. This is one of the reasons Swopper® received the prestigious Gold Award for Workstation Task seating at NeoCon 2001.
Why doesn’t Swopper® have arms?
Swopper® does not have arms because it would be far too restrictive as well as would promote a static sitting posture. One of the key health benefits of sitting on a Swopper® is that it gives the user access to a full range of unrestricted, natural, fluid and intuitive movement in all directions simultaneously. In addition, when the user is moving while working, they gain the added health benefit of increased blood flow to all areas of the body. You can stretch over to the desk or file cabinet without getting our of your chair.
Why doesn’t Swopper® need casters?
Although available, Swopper® doesn't need casters because there are a lot more health benefits related to having to get up and go to your fax machine, filing cabinet, printer or whatever, than there are with “scooting” across the floor on wheels. In fact, this bad habit is the cause of a lot more accidents at work than you would believe, and is responsible for many low back injuries. Swopper® is very easy to move about, weighing just 23 pounds. If you have a “U” shaped workstation and have two different work areas in close proximity, it is worth noting that your range of motion from your seated position on Swopper® is drastically increased from that of a conventional chair with casters. This means your reach is extended while maintaining correct posture. If this is not possible, then the compact nature of Swopper® does allow for two units to fit in a compact work area if you so choose. It can also be fun and energizing to move from one to the other.
Why does Swopper® have a “convex” seat?
Unlike all other conventional seats, Swopper®’s unique convex seat pan allows the pelvis to assume the correct position to improve the user’s posture with ease – no slumping! Additionally, circulation is not impeded and, in fact, with the motion one experiences on a Swopper®, circulation is actually improved “while sitting”.
More Info on Swopper®
We spend almost two-thirds of our waking hours sitting down – working, driving, eating, relaxing, even playing. Human beings were not built for such a static, sedentary lifestyle, especially in fixed, motionless postures now known to be potential risk factors for chronic musculoskeletal problems (most notably spinal pain). That’s why low back pain and other musculoskeletal problems are at epidemic proportions.
Numerous chair companies have designed their chairs around the concept of total and complete STATIC support, thinking that the more support the user has (and thus less motion), the better the seating device. Unfortunately, this only serves to perpetuate the problem, leading the user down the road to face more of the problems that a sedentary lifestyle has to offer.
The “evolution” of seating has finally produced a better way to sit – Swopper®! Swopper® was developed by a German structural engineer and a world-class physiotherapist. This husband and wife team, Joseph and Dorle Gloeckl, combined both of their unique talents to bring about the revolutionary Swopper®. After years of treating patients for spinal pain, caused mainly by their bad sitting habits at work (sitting statically with poor posture for long periods of time), Mrs. Gloeckl realized that she needed to offer some new treatment and relief. Understanding the physiological needs of the spine, she and her husband set out to create a therapeutic, energizing, pain relieving “platform” for those people who were truly interested in solving their spinal problems.
Swopper® utilizes all of the principles of the physio-ball in a stable, more adjustable format. The physio-ball is a mainstay within the physical therapy world. It allows the user to move randomly in multiple planes. This keeps the spinal musculature and joints healthy and active. However, the physio-ball also brings with it many hidden risks. Many people are unable to sit on the physio-ball due to clothing choices, work surface heights and space requirements. Swopper® effectively solves all of these problems by allowing users of all shapes and sizes to effectively institute healthy sitting habits (with the added benefits of versatility and stability). We call this “sitting in motion.”
If you listen carefully to your customers, many will say: “I feel exhausted after sitting all day – and my back hurts, too!” Then they ask in wonder: “Why do I feel like this?” The answer lies in the rules that govern the physiology of the spine, and can be distilled down to one simple word – MOTION! Static postures are damaging to the spine. Creating a lifestyle that allows us to move frequently improves our overall health. Swopper® addresses the real issues (physiology of the spine) that cause people to suffer from the ravages of static sitting by providing a truly unique alternative to traditional seating.
