• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Marketinia

Marketing Solutions for Moving Forward

  • Home
  • Topics
    • Business
    • Construction
    • Family
    • Fitness
    • Furniture
    • Health
    • Swimming Pool
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us

Should You Sit on an Exercise Ball at Work?

Last updated on November 13, 2011 by Sozo Staff Leave a Comment

Most people know that sitting all day at work isn’t exactly the healthiest lifestyle, but, unfortunately, this is often a necessary condition of most people’s jobs. Many people aren’t familiar, however, with all of the potential health risks associated with prolonged sitting. Sure, sitting can result in poor overall health due to the lack of physical activity it obviously entails, but there are number of other consequences associated with prolonged sitting as well. For example, being seated all day at a desk can result in lower back pain, neck pain, bad posture, weak muscles in both the core and the gluteus maximus, and a number of other ergonomics-related health issues.

While selecting the right office chair could help to alleviate some of these symptoms, many of them, such as the muscle weakness and poor posture, are largely unavoidable with any type of traditional chair, no matter how ergonomically conscious. Therefore, a new trend is emerging: the use of exercise balls in the office. While replacing your desk chair with an exercise ball might not be appropriate for every office building, if your boss is open to you making the switch, consider the following three reasons to do so today:

1. They force you to change positions.

lady sitting on an exercise ball as a chair for her deskOne of the most important pieces of advice for proper ergonomics is to change positions frequently. This helps to prevent you from relying on the same muscles continuously, which usually causes people to strain the muscles or place undue stress on them. Exercise balls, having no back and lacking even feet, are somewhat mobile, which forces you to change positions as frequently as is recommended.

2. They help you to align your spine properly.

Exercise balls aren’t instant, miraculous posture solutions, but they can be hugely beneficial. Because they’re backless, sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair encourages you to maintain proper posture because if you happen to slouch, you’ll feel and notice it almost immediately. The ball also helps to align your spine, because, in the process of balancing yourself atop the ball, you’ll also learn to center yourself. This centering acts to reduce the stress placed on the spine caused by bad posture and can help to significantly reduce back, shoulder, and neck pain.

3. They help to strengthen.

Exercise balls are inherently good for you. Because they are unstable and you are attempting to remain stationary perched atop them, your body will be forced to work harder than it would on a regular chair. Not only does this improve your sense of balance, but it also helps to strengthen some of the very muscles that traditional office chairs serve to weaken. The stabilization muscles are located mostly in your core, so, if you use an exercise ball, you engage those muscles and help to strengthen them just by sitting at your desk. And for those users who fear that they’ll become tired of working to stabilize themselves throughout the day and think they’ll need a break, there are chair-type stands available for your exercise balls. These – like this balance ball chair made by Gaiam – are relatively cheap (especially when compared to the price of a traditional chair) and can help to provide you with a little bit of a rest period if you feel you need one.

Although exercise balls certainly won’t fix all of the health issues associated with sitting at a computer all day, they can help to make your time at work a bit healthier. They can help to strengthen your core, which is often weakened by traditional chairs, and they also help you to maintain proper spinal posture and alignment. Finally, because they’re so mobile and bouncy, using an exercise ball forces you to change positions frequently, thereby saving you from the dangers of sitting in one position for too long.

Request an Online Office Ergonomic Evaluation

Contact Daniel Baumstark, Washington, D.C.’s physical therapist, to obtain an ergonomic evaluation for your office, desk and work environment. Office ergonomic evaluations can be submitted online along with a couple pictures of your desk and seating.

Filed Under: Health

Additional Articles

young toddler girl jumping into swimming pool
Benefits of a Swimming Pool for a Healthy Lifestyle
elderly-couple-enjoying soothing water in hot tub
Finding the Link Between Hot Tubs, Stress & Weight Loss
Aquatic Workouts: Who Can Benefit, Part 2
pool noodle exercise
Aquatic Workouts: Who Can Benefit, Part 1
group of preteens in pool with personal floats
Poolside Safety Tips for Drowning Prevention: Evaluating PFDs, Part 3
Poolside Safety Tips for Drowning Prevention: Evaluating PFDs, Part 2

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

fifteen + 1 =



Primary Sidebar

Lyon Financial

Popular Articles

  • How to Keep Track of Your Flash Drive
  • Stretching: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?
  • Benefits of Ambidexterity
  • Should I Use Genuine Mahogany or African Mahogany?
  • Marine Grade Plywood Uses and Facts
  • How Much Is Your Trucking Business Worth?
  • What’s All the Excitement over X10 Home Automation?
  • Product Review of NuCedar Materials
  • Heated Driveway Installation by D'Amico Electric of Westchester, NY
  • Mooresville, NC Septic Pumping & Cleaning
  • The Truth About Recovering from Shoulder Labral Repair Surgery
  • Encourage Healthy Choices by Adding a Pool to Your Backyard
X10 Home Automation

Recent Posts

  • Winterizing Your Swimming Pool, Part 2
  • Winterizing Your Swimming Pool, Part 1
  • Keeping Up with Swimming Pool Material Innovation, Part 2
  • Keeping Up with Swimming Pool Material Innovation, Part 1
  • Ipe Wood: An Unusual Lumber Species, Part 3
  • Ipe Wood: An Unusual Lumber Species, Part 2
  • Ipe Wood: An Unusual Lumber Species, Part 1
  • Benefits of a Swimming Pool for a Healthy Lifestyle
  • Maxtrix Bed Options for Kids Rooms
  • Long Island’s Favorite Full-Service Children’s Bedroom Furniture Store
Lyon Financial

Reader Feedback

  • Alice Carroll on Gymnastics Tips: Back to the Basics with 6 Beginner Moves
  • Alice Carroll on The Vinyl Liner Pool Owner’s Guide to Swimming Pool Repairs
  • Alice Carroll on Concrete Sealer: What You Need to Know, Part 2
  • Alice Carroll on Vinyl Liner Options for Your New Swimming Pool
  • Afton Jackson on Pros & Cons of Fiberglass Swimming Pool Liners
  • Alice Carroll on Concrete Sealer: What You Need to Know, Part 3

Copyright © 2023 Sozo Firm Inc · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer · Sitemap