Inspired by the design of suspension bridges, the Herman Miller Sayl chair provides a unique seating experience. A quick glance at the back of this chair will instantly reveal the influence of suspension bridges. But the back of the Sayl chair is designed for more than just looking great!

The backrest on this chair is quite unique in the world of ergonomic task chairs due to the amount of shoulder freedom and flexibility it provides.

Many chairs have large, overwhelming backs. Worse, some of them have “shoulder pads” that force your shoulders to roll forward when you’re sitting on them, resulting in an obviously undesirable posture.

The Sayl takes the opposite approach. The back gives a lot of support where it needs to be, down and up in the middle, but the back tapers in the middle as you go up, freeing up the shoulder blades and shoulders to move up, down and around, and provides no restrictions of any kind! Leaning back and stretching your arms in this chair is easy, comfortable and natural.

The back is made of a supportive yet flexible and comfortable material with an open design that allows air circulation to help keep you from overheating.

The Sayl is also available with some other attractive features, including:

forward lean – Forward tilt allows the chair to tilt a few degrees forward for intense computing sessions. This “attention” pose can help you focus on the task at hand, and then when you’re done, you can return the lean back to normal, or lean back and recline with knee bend, which brings us to the next point.

knee bend – The Sayl features a knee tilt mechanism which means the pivot point for recline is at the knees rather than in the middle of the chair seat (as with most standard office chairs) . This means you can recline without your feet leaving the ground and also allow for a stable reclining posture during long periods of work.

lumbar support – A lumbar support option is available that can be adjusted vertically to help you get it in the right position on your back.

Seat depth adjustment – The seat slides back and forth to allow different users of different heights to use the chair comfortably.

If chairs with too much upper back padding bother you, you should definitely consider the Sayl as it is one of the best chairs on the market in terms of shoulder and upper back freedom.