Many of us spend the majority of our professional lives sitting, which makes the office chair an all-important piece of furniture. Lately mine hasn't been cutting it, so as an experiment, I swapped my chair with an exercise ball. Here's what's been great about it, what's been less than perfect, and what you might want to consider if you're interested in switching to an exercise ball as your office chair. I don't have one of those $500+ Herman Miller ergonomic chairs, but do have a lumbar support roll for my desk chair, which is sized small enough for my frame so I fit comfortably in it and everything is measured for ergonomic workstation perfection (as best as I could manage, at least). But, maybe it's my increased awareness of the health hazards of sitting all day or just the years catching up with me, but this regular chair isn't working so great. Lately I've been catching myself standing up to type in bouts of nervous energy or, worse, slouching. My neck and shoulders perpetually ache.
Frankly, my butt hurts. My alternatives were to adopt a standing desk or a treadputer or try a more ergonomically-designed Aeron or similar chair (like a good pair of shoes and a quality mattress, it's the everyday things that are worth investing in). Being both a yoga lover and a cheapskate, I decided to first try out this exercise ball chair for $75. Besides being much cheaper than buying a new desk or a more expensive chair, the exercise ball chair promised to allow me to work in some abdominal exercise throughout the day and possibly improve my years-of-working-slumped-at-a-desk posture. This is what Isokinetics, the makers of the chair I bought, say about it:Your body, when positioned on top of an exercise ball, is constantly making small adjustments, often imperceptible, to remain balanced and thus is constantly exercising a large group of muscles in doing so. By strengthening your body's core muscle group you help improve your posture, have better balance and guard against back injuries.
The medical community, however, is at best inconclusive about the health benefits or disadvantages of using an exercise ball as an office chair. I found two case studies of patients with low back pain whose conditions improved after consistently using the gym ball, but, on the other hand, The New York Times reports that claims of exercise balls improving posture are also lacking in evidence (and disadvantages regarding spinal shrinkage may offset the increased muscle activity). The folks at Ergonomics Today are flat-out against ball chairs as office chairs, primarily for safety reasons (the potential for air collapse and the instability, partially due to the ball rolling away—something the ball base in my particular chair does away with).Jeremy Vigneault, a physical therapist at the Nayden Rehabilitation Clinic at the University of Connecticut, told me that "there is really nothing overly good nor bad per say about the exercise ball chair," noting that this type of setup doesn't offer any lumbar (lower back) support and it does take practice to maintain a good sitting posture on it.
He pointed out that most chairs, of any kind, try to exploit posture and back health as their key selling points, when really the perfect chair doesn't exist—it's more about practicing "good posture." Chad Garvey, a physical therapist, manual therapist, and patient advocate, also said there's not much evidence for these fitness balls reducing lower back pain and just advised me not to fall, as that's the main concern that's been reported with this type of chair.I was just glad no one told me sitting on an exercise ball chair was going to kill me. If you have back pain or another health condition or if you're the least bit concerned, definitely check with your doctor before attempting this kind of setup. If you decide to proceed, as I did, here's what you'll likely experience:The first time you sit on an exercise ball at your desk, your back will probably shoot up so straight you'll feel like a marionette. If you're like me, this will be a foreign, even delightful experience (oh, that's what it's like?).
Twenty minutes later, if you're like me, your butt will hurt and you will switch back to your regular chair which will feel mushy by comparison. After a couple more days of this, you may find yourself sitting on the exercise ball chair for much longer periods of time. (A week later, I spend the majority of my day on the exercise ball chair, but still take lots of breaks and occasionally switch back to the old chair.) After a little over a week of using the chair, it's impossible to tell if it's helping to increase my core strength, as I hope it will, but I do feel like I walk and sit much taller than I used to and can sit for longer periods of time. If it's only that I'm more aware of my posture, that's fine—in my book, the ball is doing its job. Plus, I now have another outlet for some creative nervous energy, am sneaking in some extra (albeit minuscule, in terms of calorie-burning) exercise, and my butt doesn't hurt anymore—what more could I ask for?If you've tried using an exercise ball instead of an office chair or have any opinions on these alternative chairs, share your thoughts with us in the comments.
You can follow or contact Melanie Pinola, the author of this post, on Twitter.Dear Lifehacker,I can't decide between sitting in a regular desk chair, moving to a standing desk, or using one of those fancy treadmill or bicycle desks. What, really, is the best option for my productivity and health? Dear DJ,There are more ways to hold your body while you work these days than ever—and that's a good thing. The standard task chair isn't perfect for everyone, but for some it still has merits (even though sitting for long periods of time has been deemed unhealthy lately). After trying out just about every desk arrangement possible, here's what I think you should know about your options. We're all used to sitting and it feels natural to work at your desk in a chair, since that's how we've all been trained since kindergarten. Given the right chair, you can work for hours at a time before you realize you've been sitting for so long. That's both a good and a bad thing.I've sat in generic desk chairs, high-end ergonomic chairs, chairs with built-in massagers (in the name of science, really!), and even exercise ball chairs...all to discover one thing: No matter how comfortable or well-designed your chair is, you need to get your butt out of it quite often.
I hadn't truly realized that until I started trying the other desk options (standing and so on). Switching strategies made me realize how stationary I was for so long in my desk chair, and how much my body really wanted to move and not be confined. Still, for long sessions at the desk, few things beat an ergonomic chair.To counteract the ill effects of sitting so much, however, you should get up at least once an hour and also get about 30 minutes of activity daily. If you can sit fewer than 3 hours per day (including sitting on the couch in the evening), all the better. Pros: You can work for long periods of time while seated, there are tons of chairs to choose from to find the right fit (all at different price points), and sitting is the default mode in most office environments (no cubicle desk hacks necessary). Cons: It's easy to miss much-needed breaks, and your body might pay for that. If you don't want to switch to a standing desk but want to reduce the possible health hazards of sitting for long periods, sitting at an angle might do the trick for you.
Crew co-founder Michael Cho killed his standing desk in favor of a reclined chair, based on evidence that leaning back, at about 135 degrees, is better for your spine than leaning forward or sitting upright. After seeing a La-Z-Boy recliner turned into a desk chair, I dragged an old recliner into my office, put an ottoman under the desk so I could put my legs up, and locked the chair into recline mode. It hasn't been the panacea for my poor legs (previously standing all day) I thought it'd be. For one thing, it's hard to get up from this, not just because it's so comfy and makes me lazier, but it's just an awkward arrangement. The chair doesn't swivel, and I need to be close enough to the desk to see the screen, so there's just a narrow space for getting in and pit. More importantly, while leaning back, it puts the monitor farther away than optimal, so I find myself craning my neck forward to see the screen. My lower back feels great, but my neck and shoulders do not. All that said, with a better chair that rolls away and a different setup (perhaps some sort of desk surface that can roll the screen closer to you), this could be the best compromise between sitting all day and standing all day.
You'll still have to get daily exercise and get up out of the chair often, though.Pros: Might be healthier for your back than regular sitting, and it's pretty comfortable (except for encouraging neck craning). You don't even have to get up to take a nice nap. Cons: Might not be great for your neck and shoulders, and not just any chair or desk will work with this arrangement. After all the negative news about sitting, standing desks are all the rage these days. Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani reported her experience after a year using a standing desk, and I found mine to be much the same.After hacking my desk into a standing one, I found that it was easier for me to think clearly compared to while I was sitting. I think it's because I like to move when I have creative energy—fidgeting or pacing or just adopting a different position, and a standing desk offers that freedom of space. There's also more room to stretch and exercise throughout the day (I'm using FitBolt for the reminders and tips).
The downside is that it's hard to maintain proper posture when standing for long periods of time. Your weight might shift too much one way, you'll lean in farther than you should, etc. Also, going from sitting to full-on standing takes easing into, and standing for eight hours at a time isn't healthy for you either (cue sore legs and tight calves). A few exercises can help, as can, simply, sitting down occasionally. Pros: May be healthier than sitting non-stop (if you don't stand non-stop), encourages more physical activity, which could boost mental activity.Cons: Can be a pain if you stand too long, you have to hack conventional desks, not all workplaces are standing-desk friendly. And then there are the fitness "desks"—treadmill desks and bicycle ones, where you can work with your laptop or tablet while getting fit. The whole "killing two birds with one stone" thing is very appealing. Combining exercise with computer work does work well—but that depends on the kinds of tasks you're doing.
Forbes reports that a recent study found workers who adopted a treadmill desk scored higher on productivity tests than previously, but previous studies found that things like typing, mouse clicking, and even solving math problems declined when users tried treadmill desks. I use my tablet on a treadmill while surfing the web for stories, and find that's a good combination. It's easy to swipe through articles while walking fast and it makes the time go by faster, but I don't think I could type efficiently at that pace. So, if anything, a running or cycling setup may best serve as a compliment to your main working mode.Pros: Sneak in exercise, save time Cons: Can't do it all day, best for only certain types of tasksIn the end, I don't think there's one perfect solution, since all of these modes have their caveats. If you keep those downsides in mind, though, you can adjust your workspace for both comfort and ergonomics. For example, I'm ditching the recliner and getting an office chair designed with reclining in mind for those long writing sessions, but keeping my standing desk setup to switch to when I know it's time to move.