As a full-time network administrator, most of my day is spent sitting behind a desk. Recently, I’ve started to notice some bad habits in my posture that have caused me to have back and knee pain on a regular basis. I’d heard that sitting on a balance ball was a good way to ease back pain, but the balls I tried were too short to reach my desk. I learned about the Gaiam BalanceBall chair while surfing on Amazon and it looked like it was worth a try. What caught my attention with the chair was the base and how it lifted the ball off the ground enough to help me sit more comfortably at my desk. Before we get into the nitty gritty of the review, let me tell you a few things about balance balls in general. Balance balls (AKA yoga balls, Pilates balls, gym balls, etc.) are inflated rubber balls that are used in gyms and yoga classes for various exercises. The difference between sitting on a balance ball verses a regular chair is that the body responds to the instability of the ball and forces your core muscles to work at keeping your balance.
It also forces you to stay focused. If you don’t focus on sitting correctly when on the balance ball, you’ll find yourself kissing the floor. Sitting on a balance ball won’t give you six pack abs, but working with one on a regular basis will help improve your posture and help strengthen your core muscles. Now, on to the review… Some assembly is required to get the chair ready for use, but the instructions are easy to follow and I had mine built in about five minutes. The size of the ball that comes with the chair is perfect for anyone between 5′ and 5′ 11″ in height. The bad news is that if you’re under 5′ or over 5′ 11″, this chair won’t work for you. Instead, Gaiam suggests you check out the Total Body Balance Kit. It’s not a chair, but it comes with three different size balls to use so you can find the right fit for your height. Once you have it assembled, it’s time to get sitting. The first step to sitting on a BalanceBall is making sure that you inflate it to the correct height.
If you inflate it too much, it may rupture. If you inflate it too little, you will be uncomfortable while sitting on it and you won’t be doing your body any favors. The general rule here is pretty simple: If the ball you’re using is sized at 52 centimeters, then it should inflate to be 52 centimeters tall. Once the ball is inflated properly, place your “sit bones” in the middle of the ball and keep your back straight (don’t lean on the support beam). Your shins and thighs should be at a 90 degree angle. If they’re not, inflate or deflate the ball until they are. Getting used to the BalanceBall chair on the first day was a little rough. In my old chair, I would wheel myself around my office space instead of getting up. The wheels on the BalanceBall chair are not designed to handle that kind of swerving around. I also found myself bouncing and swaying to the point where I got a little sea-sick. An hour or so break in my regular chair, though, and I was ready to hit the ball again.
After a few days, I noticed a significant difference in my posture and the overall feel of my back. It’s only been about a week since I’ve started using it, so it will take a bit longer to see if it’s made any difference in my core muscle strength, but right now I’m happy to have less back pain and more comfort in my day. After losing my ball to a pair of scissors (I should have taken my own advice), I had to sit in my regular chair for two weeks while I waited for a replacement to arrive. During those two weeks, I realized how much of a difference my BalanceBall chair made in my overall focus and comfort levels while at work. Now that I’m sitting pretty on my replacement ball, I couldn’t be happier with my decision to go from ordinary chair to extraordinary chair. The Gaiam BalanceBall chair comes with a neat little book with simple exercises that you can do right at your desk and is available on Gaiam’s website for $79.98. GeekMom received a Gaiam BalanceBall for review purposes.
Despite the popularity of balls-as-chairs in the workplace, the answer to this question is a cautious "maybe." If you work at, let's say, an active lifestyle magazine in Santa Fe, New Mexico, you’re likely accustomed to colleagues perched gingerly atop oversize bouncy balls, like prospective circus performers. Studies have shown that sitting on an exercise ball, as opposed to a regular desk chair, helps to burn an additional 30 calories per eight-hour workday. But is it good for your back? In the gym, exercise balls can provide great stability training, challenging your muscles to keep you balanced as you run through the standard sets of crunches and shoulder presses. As Dr. Edward Laskowski, co-director of Mayo Cinic's sports medicine center points out, “Even if you’re strong, you may not be very stable.” It's important for athletes to train stabilizer muscles to prevent joint injury as they tackle heavier weights or longer runs. Getting a good fit for your exercise ball is important.
As with any sitting device, you should use the "90-90" rule: make sure you're creating ninety-degree angles at your knees and hips, so that your hips are even with your knees, your back and legs are perpendicular to the ground, and your feet are resting squarely on the floor. (If the ball is too high or too low, you’ll end up leaning forward or backward, putting unnecessary stress on the spine.) Since most of us spend much of every day sitting at our desks, Laskowski recommends an ergonomic evaluation, in which a physical therapist comes into your office and fits your workspace to your body. (Some larger companies offer this sort of service in-house.) Especially when you’re recovering from a lower back injury, working your stabilizers is important. That said, you don’t want to overdo it. As always, Laskowski says, “If it’s causing you pain, making you stabilize too much, then you should ease off.” And sitting on a ball all day might well be too much for most people.
A 2009 study examining the effects of sitting on an exercise ball as opposed to a chair concluded cautiously that "the advantages may not outweigh the disadvantages." A separate 2009 study found that "both seating types [chair and ball] were found to replicate a poor sitting position." The trouble is, the ball only works if you sit up straight—which most people don't. Dr. Nick Shamie, an associate professor of spine surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, specializing in high performance athletes, says that balls are definitely not right for everyone. The benefit of a good old chair, he says, is that it supports your lumbar spine, lowering the pressure on your disks and your risk for disk degeneration: “Maybe initially it’s better to sit on a ball, but as you tire, you can get into trouble. The danger is the typical hunching or arching that happens as the day wears on. It only works if you maintain perfect posture." As an example, if you get tired or distracted and start leaning to one side, you risk straining the joints on the side of the spine, leading to muscle fatigue, lactic acid buildup, and pain.