Toyota Motor : Too Good to be True? Toyota's New Chairs Boost Health as You Sit

Unlike the brain or muscles, these connections cannot be consciously honed. Odashima and his team needed a way to develop them subconsciously.

Their solution was to create the swivel chair mentioned earlier.

The researchers investigated the difference in muscle activity between a fixed-seat chair and a tilted swivel chair. They found that the latter repeatedly engaged inner muscles not just in the pelvic region but all over the body.

The new chair promises to boost muscle coordination and improve abilities that were previously lost. In other words, it may strengthen areas that cannot be consciously trained in the same way as our muscles or brains.

And unlike those arduous training routines, you simply need to sit in a chair, which requires little conscious effort to sustain.

What's more, while sitting in the same position for long periods places strain on the hips and can easily cause lower back pain, a moving seat makes staying in a fixed posture more difficult. As a result, the tilting chair could be effective in reducing back pain.

Toyota's team is also exploring various other types of chairs. What they all have in common is wobbling, unstable seats. It's all about kinetic chains-if that sounds complicated, read on for a simple explanation.