Ergonomics of Herman Miller Embody

balanceballs

balanceballs

balanceballs

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I've got a Herman Miller Embody, the Logitech branded one. Whilst it's been great for my back, I've recently been having trouble with shoulder pain. This is since Battlefield 6 came out, funnily enough. I can't fully blame it on the chair but it's one of the most important parts of a desk setup and this seemed like a good place to post this. If it's wrong please move the thread.

  • My desk is height adjustable.
  • It has a decent width & depth (120x70cm).
  • Both my (27") monitors are on arms so can be positioned pretty much anywhere.
  • I've recently changed to a tenkeyless keyboard to bring my mouse further left, to reduce shoulder/arm strain.
  • Mouse and keyboard are wireless so can be moved anywhere on the desk.
  • Generally speaking I try to sit with good posture as much as possible but sometimes end up slouching a bit.
  • The top of my monitors are just below eye level.
  • I have a tendency to lean forward whilst playing games which is probably adding to neck and shoulder strain.
  • I've tried making my desk a bit lower, that seems to have helped a bit but it's still not quite right
I have tried various combinations of chair/desk/monitor height, but if I play any sort of FPS for more than 30mins or so I get really bad shoulder pain on my right arm (mouse arm). When just working or browsing it's not painful.

I've adjusted the chair to be a bit more supportive & tried having it in these positions:
  • Chair arms are pushed up against the edge of the desk - always feels like i'm a bit too far away and the chair then isn't "straight" relative to the desk because the arms are never quite mirrored position wise
  • Chair arms just under the desk - seems better but less support because there's the depth of the desk to consider before placing my elbows on the desk - probably adds strain due to the non-neutral angle
  • Chair arms all the way down (so I support my own elbows/wrists) - I then tend to push my arm forward on the desk for support and it causes more strain
I just can't get the right position. For size context I'm about 6'0" tall & weigh around 90kg.

Any tips for being more comfortable whilst playing? Perhaps a video showing some adjustments or ways to measure things so they're in the right place. I've found some stuff but not a lot specific to gaming. I never used to get these issues - must be getting old!
 
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I don't think there's really any good solution to this particular issue. The issue of keyboard and mouse control, is that the mouse is inherently in a position that forces your body to position the arm/shoulder(/and maybe back) into a weird position, that over time - depending on the person and how often you take breaks and supportive exercices to keep it in check, will eventually cause problems.

Other options include using controllers instead, since it positions the controls into a fairly neutral position for both arms and shoulders, reducing the amount of work the right shoulder has to perform alone (or your back if you haven't found that suitable position for yourself yet).
 
"The top of my monitors are just below eye level"


put the middle of your monitors at eye level. Its likely that your head is looking down so your neck is straining to support your head. raising your screen will naturally force your upper back and shoulders into the correct position that the chair will support.

This is probably a huge % of your issue. If you don't have a monitor arm then get one. your elbows being on the desk gets the shoulder pain to go away.
a monitor arm gets rid of the monitor stand being in the way so your arms can be further onto the desk and removes any tension.

I had this issue when I worked at home and smashed CSGO all the time. the week my monitor arm arrived and I raised my screen, issue solved itself quick
 
I have the same chair, drop the arm rests below the desk level and have the chair close to the desk. Mouse and keyboard way back from the edge and rest my forearm (mouse hand) on the desk.
 
balanceballs said:
I have tried various combinations of chair/desk/monitor height, but if I play any sort of FPS for more than 30mins or so I get really bad shoulder pain on my right arm (mouse arm). When just working or browsing it's not painful.
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This implies it's the intensity of movement that's causing the problem.

Try taking a break after 20 mins, and do maybe some gentle movement of the shoulder, and see if that helps.

Otherwise, keep tweaking the setup one thing at a time to identify what might be causing the issue.
 
Thanks all. Raising my monitors up a bit seems to have helped a lot. They're on individual arms so it's very easy to do.

I've tried the arm rests under the desk tactic a few times but it never quite feels right.

After a lot of messing around with monitor, desk and chair height I think I've got to a reasonably comfortable place and can play BF6 without any pain now. Aside from the pain of being terrible at it.
 
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I don't have a Herman Miller embody but I've also had similar problems with right shoulder pains when FPS gaming. What helped me was lowering my desk more than I thought I'd like. It's now 65 cm from the floor and roughly the same height of my belly button while I play. I also chucked my arm rests in the cupboard as they don't go low enough. Last thing I did was stopped sleeping on my right side. Seems like youve fixed your issue but i hope this helps.
 
fraps said:
I don't have a Herman Miller embody but I've also had similar problems with right shoulder pains when FPS gaming. What helped me was lowering my desk more than I thought I'd like. It's now 65 cm from the floor and roughly the same height of my belly button while I play. I also chucked my arm rests in the cupboard as they don't go low enough. Last thing I did was stopped sleeping on my right side. Seems like youve fixed your issue but i hope this helps.
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The thing with the Embody, which often stands at odds with how (I assume) a lot of us learnt how to play FPS games, is it really wants you to be in a slightly reclined position to have the backrest fully support you, whereas it's common to play FPS with a more bolt upright/slightly leant forward posture. At this point most chairs are pretty much just a stool and the backrest really isn't doing a lot, even in chairs that have a forward tilt function (which the Embody does not).

Best thing I did was to simply re-learn how to play in this slightly reclined position. I'm an arm aimer, so the front edge of my desk is roughly lined up with my elbow, and right against my stomach. The arms on the chair do nothing, I move them all the way down and they sit almost entirely under the desk. You're spot on with lowering the desk and that's where standing desks are fantastic even if you're not using them to stand, because you can get them much lower and really dial in the height. At first it felt like I was swinging a mouse like a pendulum and I lost all of the really controlled micro-movements you can do when sat upright/leaning slightly forward, but given my age now, and the fact I don't do this professionally, I'll take the comfier gaming sessions and slightly lower performance over, in the best case mild discomfort and the worst case actual pain.
 
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the embody chairs have the tendency to roll shoulders forward and some find this uncomfortable and some don't. Raising the monitor should help you a lot with posture but it wont fix the shoulder issue some have. I have the embody by the way and this has been one of the issues i have with the chair but lucky it does not cause pain, just minor discomfort. Honestly If I knew this before I would have got another chair. I would also recommend getting the headrest as that can also help with discomfort issues. Shoulder pain could also be sing of incorrect neck posture, the tech-neck posture.
 
I've had my Embody for a month now and have no issues with shoulders rolling forward or anything like that. It's mega comfy and I love that I can properly man spread too which I never could on the Secret Labs.

So yeah...great chair...only slight issue is it appears that the gas cylinder is busted on mine already and I've had to submit a warranty claim....after 1 month with a chair that cost over £1200. LOLZ?
 
My immediate thought on reading the OP was that your monitors were too low, pleased to see adjusting that has helped! I remember doing a desk work ergonomics training package and it said your eyes should be level with the top 1/3rd of the monitor and it’s always worked for me.

My wife recently had similar problems as she’s been working more from home on screens. She’s very petite so we struggled actually to find a chair that was comfortable for her as the chair bases were often too deep and would pull her knees up or she couldn’t sit flush to the back. We also had to get a foot rest to keep her feet supported while keeping her elbows at desk height (no adjustable desk here!).

We worked on the principle that all your joints should effectively be in a neutral position (feet flat to the ground; knees, hips and elbows at 90 degrees; back and neck straight). Getting all that right resolved her pain.
 
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Just got my Embody last night as I have been struggling with a pain just above my right hip when sitting in my old chair. Went in with a very open mind in that it would be 50/50 if I like it or not. Within 5 minutes the pain was gone and I just settled into the chair. A lot of the complaints I read about the chair are not an issue for me (armrests, firmness of the seat etc) however the chair is much cooler to sit on.

I’ll see how it goes over the next 2 weeks but after about 6 hours yesterday I had no issues. Worst case scenario it costs me £49 to return it.
 
balanceballs said:
Has anyone got the Atlas headrest for theirs? Worth bothering with?
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I have the Atlas and I've screwed it up as tight as I can and it still won't stay put.

rjk said:
"The top of my monitors are just below eye level"
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This is ordinarily good. Think how you look down to read a book or a piece of paper.

balanceballs said:
Whilst it's been great for my back, I've recently been having trouble with shoulder pain.
Click to expand...

Have you tried using a different mouse? Try a vertical mouse or a trackball.
 
After 1 week with the chair I can say that this is the most comfortable chair I have ever sat on. I have tried to put in as much seat time as possible to break in the chair and it has soften up a bit since I got it, I am now 100% certain Ill keep it. Only complaint is that the right armrest sometimes makes a slight noise but it is not enough for me to actually care.
 
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Jimbeam3678 said:
Bit of a bump but does the fact that the arm rests don’t move backwards and forwards become annoying ?
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these things can be totally personal but for me its not too much of a bother. I do feel a chair this expensive should have it and it would be nice if they added more padding on the chair everywhere but apart from that cant complain much.
 
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