10 Benefits of Using a Ball Chair

Balance ball exercises
If you’ve been considering buying a balance ball chair, but haven’t made the jump yet, here are 10 great reasons why you should:

1. Improve posture

Sitting on a balance ball chair forces you to sit properly, engaging your core muscles and improving your posture each day. It’s possible that sitting on a balance ball for extended periods can also cause slouching like in a traditional office chair.

Physical therapist and Office Ergonomics Expert, Janice Jacobson, suggests alternating between your traditional chair and balance ball chair which will give more support to your lumbar spine and keep you sitting straight all day.

Many users report that after a few weeks of switching, their muscles become accustomed to the new feeling and they’re sitting much straighter throughout the day.

2. Causes you to move and change positions frequently

The bouncy quality of sitting on a ball chair keeps your body in constant motion. The unstable nature of an exercise ball causes users to stand up more and adjust their sitting position often.

Not only does this keep your body from stiffening up, but it keeps you actively thinking about proper posture.

Plus the nature of a swiss ball promotes activity: either by bouncing while you work or rolling around in your chair. Just be careful not to bounce off when changing positions.

3. Reduce lower back pain

Sitting with proper posture, changing positions and moving around (or even bouncing up and down) will reduce lower back pain over time.

If you experience an increase in back pain after switching to a balance ball chair, you could be putting too much stress on your lumbar spine.

Rotate back to your old office chair when you’re feeling tired or adjust the new chair so that your elbows are in line with your keyboard. Finding somewhere to rest your arms will help as well.

4. Align your spine

Sitting properly over an extended period of time keeps your spine in alignment.

Plus since you already have easy access to a swiss ball, why not do some lower back strengthening exercises to keep that spine straight as an arrow. Check out these exercises from Spine-health:

Ex. Spine Extension

5. Core Strengthening

Using a balance ball chair engages your core muscles. Save yourself some crunches by replacing your boring office chair with a new balance ball chair.

Using a balance ball at work not only grows core strength but also improves core stability, assisted by the deep muscles close to your spine.

There are countless advantages to building core stability including injury prevention, reducing back pain, and even protecting your inner organs.

6. Improve Balance

Strengthening your core and improving your core stability improves balance. A study published in Sports Med Journal found that core strength training has a:

“positive influence on measures of strength, balance, functional performance and falls.”

And do I really need to state the obvious: Just by sitting on a ‘balance’ ball, you are improving your balance. Try bouncing around a little bit, shifting your weight side to side to further work on your balance and wake up your legs.

7. Get a workout in

It’s never been easier to get a quick workout in when your office chair doubles as an exercise ball. Whether doing a quick set of crunches while waiting on hold or a few push-ups before the weekly meeting, an exercise ball is the perfect work accessory.

You can even get a full-body workout in! Check out Fitness Magazine for some great stability ball exercises like the plank pike-up and ball push-up:

Ex. Plank Pike-up

8. Improve your circulation

Traditional desk chairs can reduce circulation which might not sound horrible but listen to this: Sitting can lead to… death. That’s right, according to a recent study, participants aged 45 years or older who sat at least 11 hours a day have a 40% higher chance of dying within three years compared to their counterparts who spent four hours or less sitting.

On the other hand, sitting on a balance ball doesn’t reduce circulation at all. If you combine bouncing a bit with a few exercises throughout the day, you’ll get your blood pumping much stronger than it ever was with the boring old office chair. Say goodbye to an early death and hello to a more fit and fun office.

9. Get beach ready

Balance balls train your core muscles which translates to beach abs. While it’s true you’ll burn a few calories just sitting on the ball, it only amounts to roughly 30 calories a day.

This alone probably won’t get you the beach abs you want but if you can squeeze in some of these ab carving exercises a few times a day, you’ll be beach ready in no time.

Ex. Swiss Ball Oblique Crunch

10. Keep your brain active

There is overwhelming evidence that physical activity increases brain function and academic performance. That’s why if you can’t find a solution to a problem, it helps to walk around the office or go for a quick run.

Often the solution comes to you after physical activity. Using a balance ball chair brings physical activity to your workstation.

Just bouncing up and down while you work can wake up your brain and if that doesn’t work, try some swiss ball exercises, as long as your office environment permits it. It might seem strange today but, who knows, in twenty years, entire offices could be outfitted with Gaiam Balance Ball Chairs.

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