Working in tech left me feeling sore after work. It’s easy to slouch when you’re looking at a screen which isn’t quite high enough for you in a chair which isn’t the right size either. After a while, the slouching took its toll on my back and my energy level.
I went home and felt sore after almost 8 hours in a chair with little movement, but my back was killing me the most. Working out also got harder since I was always so beat down. I did a good bit of research and decided to try out an exercise ball.
Using an exercise ball as an office chair is a new(ish) trend. Whether it works or not is a bit disputed, but it definitely worked for me. There’s science both for and against it, so caveat emptor.
Stability
One of the first things you have to master with an exercise ball is stability when sitting. For the first week or two, I definitely noticed I was a lot more sore (in a good way) and my back had to stay better aligned to stay on it. I slept a lot better too.
Trying to get stability made me move, a lot. In the beginning, I had to swap my office chair in a few times to get a break because I just couldn’t stay stable that long. A lot of people who tried similar gave up at this point. I loved the soreness and the challenge, and I felt better focused from it when working so I pushed through. Once I beat the problem of stability, the ball became my favorite chair and my office chair was given away. I wasn’t going back.
Movement
If you fidget or like to move a lot, an exercise ball beats the crap out of a chair. While it may get some odd looks at work, you can bounce on it, move around on it, pull your legs up and engage your core, and all sorts of little bits of exercise which can keep blood flowing without having to get up. Though getting up and walking around is probably more efficient, I can’t when I’m stuck on a long call. Many places view your attachment to your desk as your commitment to the job, so an exercise ball can help you get more exercise than you would otherwise (even if it is somewhat trivial).
An exercise ball also allows you to stretch. Most people think of stretching with an exercise ball as this, but that are plenty of ways to stretch without getting weird stares at work. I can stretch and people just think I’m taking a mental break from my work. If you aren’t in too open an office, you can possibly even get away with doing full stretches on breaks.
Comfort
I find an exercise ball to be far more comfortable than a chair. This is doubly true for workplaces where you have little say in the desk height or the chair height. I can’t pick my desk at all at work. If I want a different chair, I need to spring for it, and a chair that would work for me would not be acceptable because it would stick out too much and wouldn’t fit the desk. An exercise ball, for whatever reason, is okay though at a lot of places since it gives the image of a health-oriented workplace. There were more specific requirements for a chair than there were for an exercise ball.
One thing to note though, is that the comfort of an exercise ball is going to be tied to its height. You have to buy one that fits you and inflate it properly. Most manufacturers have an online chart (or one on the box) to help you pick which one you need, but you need to measure to make sure you don’t overfill or underfill.
Cost
Exercise balls are dirt cheap. I got my really two really nice ones which have lasted over two years to date with no issues for $20 each (link: here). There are $5 balls which may be great, but I trust the more expensive ones more because the material is much thicker and very obviously better quality.
If you’re a bit on the heavier side, go for the better quality ones. I speak from experience here. The cheap one may feel okay and look okay, but I’d rather be sure. The one I use can supposedly withstand 2,000 pounds, even if they can barely handle a quarter of that, there’s still a huge margin of safety left over. I’d rather not take my chances to save a few dollars.
Expectations
Don’t expect it to be magical, but if you have back pain from slouching or your chair, an exercise ball can help remedy that. Most people give up during the hard part of getting used to sitting on one. Once you do it for a few weeks, you probably won’t want to go back to a chair.
My back hurts less, I can work out for longer, I have more energy. Basically, everything is better now that I resolved the issue my back was feeling. All it took was an exercise ball and some fidgeting and I feel way better.
Usual disclaimer, I’m not a doctor. If you’re looking to the internet for legitimate medical information, you’re probably looking in the wrong place. That being said, if you have back pain which is from slouching or being too sedentary, this might work for you. Check with a legitimate doctor though.
Featured image by Bruno Glätsch from Pixabay
Check out Black Mountain Products for great exercise balls: