Your desk job is slowly killing you. Sitting all day in a chair is bad. Bad for posture, bad for health. While there are many possible solutions, I’m trying out sitting on a 75” stability exercise ball (bouncy ball for short) this summer.
At first, it was uncomfortable and made my lower back tired with all the balancing. A week in, however, I don’t feel any pain and really enjoy the alternative chair. My hope is that the balancing and bouncing eliminate some of the effects of sitting all day. Even if they don’t, it is undeniable that I am more active with a bouncy ball chair. Being active is good. I use a weighted, stable ball that doesn’t roll away when I get up. If all goes well, I will use the chair when I move back to my school office in the fall. Maria uses a bouncy ball chair at her job at IU as well.
I want to note that my back hurt for about a week as well when I first started using the bouncy ball as a chair, but since then I haven’t had any pain. Besides bouncing and rolling the ball while sitting on it, I like being able to stretch out my legs and back during the day (roll the ball forwards with your legs until your back is resting on it and your head is upside down), especially if I need to refresh my thinking but can’t get out for a walk. The bouncy ball has been my office chair since I started this job in August and I also used one as a desk chair in college for two years. Like Eric says, being active in any form is good!
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