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The first step to improving desk jobs is to sit better. A smart chair helps you do that.

Sitting at a desk all day—no matter where that desk is—doesn't need to wreck your body. Yes, we know sitting all day is bad for our hips and backs and necks. No, we haven't gotten a treadmill desk and at this point probably never will. Sitting is not inherently bad. As human people with human bodies, we should feel comfortable moving and being in all planes of motion, including sitting at a desk. The issues come about when we sit in suboptimal positions for long stretches of time.

Getting a good chair won't solve everything but it certainly helps. Sitting in a cheap chair with little to no support means gravity is pulling down on the parts of your body that slouch when seated, like pulling your neck forward or getting your back into a prolonged arch position. An office chair designed ergonomically means that its details are meant to provide support for the more vulnerable parts of your body.

Now, an intelligently designed office chair is a little bit like shopping for shoes that are actually good for your feet, which is to say that your options are perhaps not the most beautiful items you've ever seen in your life. But hey, there's nothing more beautiful than good posture and not feeling like garbage at the end of every day, right? Right??? We can hope so. Here, 13 of the smartest ergonomic office chairs to power you through another day.

Branch's ergonomic chair is one of the least expensive options here, which is great for people who want something gentle but aren't ready for a full-scale investment. There are eight points of adjustment (including height, tilt and tilt tension, and seat depth) to get you into your perfect positioning—and to move you into the next one once you start feeling achy.

Physical therapists love Fully and it's easy to see why. The stuff is simple, smart, and meant for welcoming movement into the work day. You might have seen Fully around the Internet because of its very good standing desk but its seating options are just as good. This is a simple task chair with solid lumbar support.

Task chairs are the kind of office chairs you're probably most used to seeing but ergonomic designs at their best push beyond that standard construction. You might get something like this: A chair with a smart shape. The seat leaves room for the legs so your hips don't get crushed upward and the back is open, which means you can use it as standard lumbar support or you can swing around and sit on it backward.

Part of what makes sitting at a desk all day painful—especially on the back—is that most chairs don't require you to keep your core engaged. A kneeling chair relieves your legs from fatigue but gets your core in a position that requires it to stay engaged and protect your back from overuse.

This little task chair is minimal and smart and great for just about every kind of office space. It might look simple but the back and seat have more bend to them than your standard chair does. That bend means you get some support but without turning off your muscle engagement completely.

Vari's task chair is an Internet favorite as far as ergonomic chairs go. The seat is wide and cushioned, the armrests adjustable, and the bendy mesh back as supportive as it gets. It has the features and function of a pricey chair at a more accessible price point.

Herman Miller reigns supreme in smartly designed office chairs. If you're ready to really go for it, you can't go wrong with nearly any of the brand's options. The Sayl chair is under $1,000, which is on the cheaper side of the brand's offerings, and still has the support and high-quality materials of its pricier picks.

The Aeron office chair is the gold standard of smart office chairs that last a lifetime. In fact, there's a whole secondhand market of refurbished Herman Miller Aeron chairs for people who want the good stuff but don't want to spend $1,300 on a chair. But if you've got the budget, this is the office chair that will last.

There are lots of ways to prevent the kind of pains that pop up with sitting at a desk and making sure your body isn't cramped up into one single position is the best way we have. This ErgoStool provides some relief from standing but not total relaxation, keeping your legs, hips, and core engaged. It moves around as you do, and you can use it to sit or to lean while at a standing desk.

Humanscale's desk chairs are virtually indestructible and meant to flex to your body and movement, rather than restrict you into it. It is pricey for sure but it will last you forever—and keep muscle pain to a minimum in that lifetime. It's Living Product Certified, too, which means all of those materials are made sustainably.

If you need support for your back and your neck while you sit, Steelcase's office chair has a headrest to support proper spinal alignment. You can adjust just about everything about the chair, and we recommend doing just that for consistent movement throughout the day.