Are footrests good for you? What the evidence shows
The honest answer isn't a simple yes. It comes down to one measurement you can check right now: do your feet actually reach the floor?
A friend asked me this over coffee, half joking: are footrests good for you, or is it just a desk gadget nobody actually needs? It's a fair question. The internet is full of confident answers in both directions, some insisting a footrest fixes your back, others (often on forums like r/OfficeChairs) warning that footrests confine your feet and do more harm than good. The real answer sits in between, and it depends almost entirely on one thing: whether your chair is already set up correctly.
The research, the ergonomics guides, and a fair amount of hands-on testing point to where a footrest helps, where it doesn't, and why the type you pick changes the answer.
The short answer
Footrests are good for you only when your feet don't reach the floor after your chair is set correctly. Research links that setup to reduced leg swelling and a helpful posture shift, rather than core strength. A reversible bamboo footrest like KomfiNest's adds a rocking mode so your ankle keeps moving instead of locking in place.
First, check your chair, not your footrest
Before talking about whether footrests work, it's worth saying the thing most footrest articles skip: you might not need one. Cornell Ergonomics is direct about it: adjust your seat height so the front of your knees sits level with or slightly below your hips, and in the vast majority of situations you won't need a foot support at all. A footrest is meant to be a second step, something added once the chair is already right.
Where it becomes necessary is when that chair adjustment isn't enough. Your desk is a fixed height, your chair bottoms out before your knees clear, or you're on the shorter side and even a properly lowered chair leaves your feet short of the floor. OSHA's computer workstation guidance covers this exact case: if the seat can't be lowered enough, use a footrest to provide stable support for the feet. That's the honest use case: feet that don't reach the floor, rather than a blanket recommendation for every desk.
What the studies actually found
Once you're in that situation, feet genuinely dangling, does a footrest do anything measurable? A handful of studies have looked at this directly, and the results are modest, real, and limited in scope.
A 2022 study by Wang, Lavender, Sommerich and Rayo, published in Applied Ergonomics, found that using a footrest during computer tasks increased how much workers leaned into their chair's backrest and shifted pelvic rotation, changes that could reduce spinal load. It's an honest study: it also found no change in the muscle activity measured by electromyography, so the fair reading is that posture shifted in a favorable direction. The study did not find a measurable drop in muscle strain.
A smaller Japanese study by Yamaguchi and colleagues (2014) tested footrest angle specifically and found leg swelling decreased when the footrest sat at a 30 degree tilt, linked to ankle movement that activates the calf muscle pump and helps blood return from the lower leg. The sample was six people, small enough that it's a signal rather than a settled fact, but it lines up with something ergonomists have said for a while: a footrest that lets the ankle move does more than one that locks the foot flat.
Research out of the University of Waterloo, covered in a UW news summary of the Fewster, Riddell, Gallagher and Callaghan work, looked at proactive footrest use for standing-induced low back pain and found that periodically shifting weight with a footrest reduced reported discomfort compared to standing flat-footed the whole time. That's a standing use case rather than a seated one, but it points to the same underlying idea: footrests work through movement, and stillness undoes much of the benefit.
Footrests at a glance
| No footrest | Static footrest | Rocking footrest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feet reach a stable surface | Only if the chair is set right | Yes | Yes |
| Ankle stays mobile | Yes, but feet may dangle | No, foot is fixed | Yes, rocks through the motion |
| Linked to reduced leg swelling | Not applicable | Only at the right angle | Yes, motion drives the calf pump |
| Common complaint | Sore feet, slouching to reach floor | Confines my feet | Takes a moment to get used to |
The real objection: footrests confine your feet
This is the complaint that shows up most in forum threads, and it's fair. A static footrest locks your foot at one angle for hours, and for a lot of people that's worse than having no footrest at all. If you've read a thread telling you footrests are bad, this is almost always what they mean.
It's also the exact problem a rocking design is built to solve. Instead of locking your foot flat, the base curves so your foot naturally rocks forward and back as you shift your weight, closer to the calf-pump motion the Yamaguchi study measured than sitting on a fixed pad ever is. The KomfiNest bamboo footrest is built as a 2-in-1: flip it one way and it rocks, flip it and lock the tilt knobs the other way and it sits flat and static for calls or focused typing. You get the stability when you want it and the movement when you don't.
The mechanism behind that difference comes down to ankle motion rather than anything mystical. A locked foot stays still for hours, while a rocking motion keeps small muscles around the ankle and calf working on and off, the same action behind the swelling reduction Yamaguchi's team measured.
Not every footrest is built the same
Whether a footrest helps also depends on what it's made of and how it's built. A foam wedge, a hollow plastic shell, and a solid piece of bamboo behave very differently once they're carrying a leg's weight for eight hours a day. Foam compresses and slowly loses height, which quietly reopens the exact floor gap you bought the footrest to close. Thin plastic can flex, crack, or slide out from under you. That works against the stable support OSHA actually recommends.
Solid bamboo doesn't compress the way foam does, and it doesn't have thin walls to crack. That's part of why KomfiNest built its footrest that way, rather than out of molded foam or a hollow shell.
Getting the height and angle right matters more than the brand
A footrest set at the wrong height can undo the benefit entirely. Too high, and it pushes your knees above your hip line. Your lower back rounds forward, the opposite of the neutral posture Cornell describes. Too low, and your feet are back to dangling. Because desks, chairs, and legs vary, one fixed height rarely fits everyone in a household or office.
This is the practical case for a footrest with a few tilt settings rather than one fixed slope. KomfiNest ships with 3 tilt angles and a 16 inch wide surface, wide enough that both feet land on it rather than balancing on a narrow edge, a common complaint with smaller footrests.
Built to actually hold up
None of this matters if the footrest itself doesn't survive daily use. A footrest rated for light decorative use won't hold a full day of shifting weight, and a wobbly base undoes the stable support OSHA's own guidance calls for. KomfiNest's is solid bamboo, rated to 250 lb, with floor-safe grips locked into grooves rather than glued on, so it doesn't skate across hardwood the way some lighter, glued-pad footrests can after a few months.
Worth saying plainly: the tilt knobs need a firm twist to loosen and retighten when you switch between rocking and static mode. It isn't a one-touch flip, and if you have limited hand strength, that's a real adjustment to plan for rather than a quick toggle. It isn't a step stool, either. Treat it as seated foot support, and keep your full standing weight off it.
If your feet already fall short of the floor and you'd rather move than sit locked in place all day, the KomfiNest 2-in-1 bamboo footrest switches between a rocking mode for active sitting and a static, locked-flat mode for calls or focused work, all in solid bamboo rated to 250 lb.
Frequently asked questions
Are footrests good for you, or can they cause problems?
Footrests are good for you mainly when your feet don't reach the floor after your chair is set to the right height. Research ties that setup to reduced leg swelling and a shifted seated posture. It isn't a fix for back pain on its own. Used when your feet already reach the floor, a footrest usually adds nothing and can encourage slouching. Ergonomics guides like Cornell's are clear on the order: fix your chair height first, then add a footrest only if your feet still don't land flat.
Do footrests actually improve circulation?
A small study by Yamaguchi and colleagues (2014) found leg swelling decreased when participants used a footrest tilted to 30 degrees, compared with no footrest, linked to ankle movement that activates the calf muscle pump. The sample was just six people, so treat it as a promising signal rather than settled proof. The circulation effect seems modest but real, and a footrest that lets your ankle move, like a rocking design, appears to engage that pump better than one that locks your foot flat.
Should my feet touch the floor without a footrest?
Ideally, yes. Cornell Ergonomics' guidance is that once your chair is adjusted correctly, in most situations you shouldn't need a footrest at all. A footrest is meant as a second step, something added once the chair is already right. It becomes appropriate once your seat is set so your knees sit level with or slightly below your hips and your feet still fall short of the floor, whether that's a fixed-height desk, a chair that won't lower far enough, or simply being on the shorter side.
Is a rocking footrest better than a static one?
For most desk workers, yes, and the reason is simple. A static footrest locks your foot at one angle for hours: the single most common complaint about footrests in general. A rocking design keeps your ankle moving, which research links to better circulation through the calf muscle pump, and it locks flat when you want stillness for a call or focused typing. You get the support of a footrest without the trade-off of being pinned in place.
Can a footrest hurt your posture instead of helping it?
It can, if it's the wrong height or angle for your body. A footrest set too high pushes your knees above your hip line and rounds your lower back forward. That undoes the benefit entirely. Cornell's tutorials describe the goal posture as knees level with or slightly below the hips. A footrest with a few tilt settings, rather than one fixed slope, lets you adjust for your own legs instead of guessing. That matters more than the brand or material you choose.
Sources & references
- Cornell Ergonomics: Sitting and Chair tutorial (chair-height guidance and the disqualifier that most people don't need a footrest once the chair is set right).
- OSHA: Computer Workstations eTool, Chairs (guidance to use a footrest for stable support when the seat can't be lowered enough).
- Mayo Clinic: Office ergonomics: Your how-to guide (feet flat on the floor or a footrest as part of proper seated posture).
- Wang, Lavender, Sommerich & Rayo (2022), Applied Ergonomics, via PubMed (footrest use shifted posture and backrest contact, with no measured change in muscle activity).
- Yamaguchi et al. (2014), International Journal of Affective Engineering, via J-STAGE (leg swelling decreased with a 30 degree footrest tilt in a small six-person study).
- University of Waterloo: Low-tech footrest can help prevent lower back pain (summary of Fewster, Riddell, Gallagher & Callaghan on proactive footrest use and standing-induced back pain).
Key takeaways
- Footrests only help once your chair is set correctly and your feet still don't reach the floor, per Cornell Ergonomics.
- Small studies link footrest use to reduced leg swelling and a favorable posture shift. They stop short of proving pain relief or reduced muscle strain.
- Ankle movement, as in rocking, appears to matter more than a fixed angle for the calf-pump effect tied to swelling.
- A static, locked-foot footrest is the version most people complain confines their feet; a rocking design is built to answer that.
- Material and stability count: foam compresses, thin plastic can crack or slide, solid bamboo holds its height and stays put.
Nora Bennett, Ergonomics & home-office writer
Nora has spent 10+ years writing about workspace setup and testing desk gear for remote workers. She reads the primary literature and builds real desks to see what holds up over time. She's a researcher and tester, not a clinician. More about Nora Bennett
This article is educational and reflects publicly available ergonomics guidance and research. It isn't personalized medical advice. Nora Bennett is an ergonomics and home-office writer, not a physician. Talk with a doctor or physical therapist about persistent back, leg, or circulation pain.