Appointments at Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic offers appointments in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota and at Mayo Clinic Health System locations. For back pain relief, is it better to sit on an ergonomic office chair or a fitness ball? Answers from Edward R. Laskowski, M.D. If long periods seated at a desk are giving you a sore back, your office chair may need adjusting to give you better back support — or you may even need a new chair designed to reduce back pain. Sitting on a fitness ball for office work is not recommended. To stay upright on a fitness ball, you have to make constant, small adjustments in muscle tension and weight distribution. This effort helps you achieve the benefits of core-strengthening exercises performed with a fitness ball. Prolonged balancing on a fitness ball during a full day of work, however, may lead to increased fatigue and discomfort in your back. Edward R. Laskowski, M.D. Tarlov cysts: A cause of low back pain?National Institutes of Health.
Accessed Aug. 20, 2015. Kingma I, et al. Static and dynamic postural loadings during computer work in females: Sitting on an office chair versus sitting on an exercise ball. McGill SM, et al. Sitting on a chair or an exercise ball: Various perspectives to guide decision making. U.S. Army Public Health Service. Frequently asked questions: Ergonomics. Laskowski ER (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 20, 2015. See more Expert Answers Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Check out these best-sellers and special offers on books and newsletters from Mayo Clinic.— The Mayo Clinic Diet, Second EditionMayo Clinic on Better Hearing and BalanceMayo Clinic Healthy Heart for Life!Mayo Clinic on ArthritisThe Mayo Clinic Diet Online Other Topics in Patient Care & Health Info Diseases and Conditions A-Z Tests and Procedures A-Z Drugs and Supplements A-Z Patient and Visitor Guide
An exercise class using exercise balls. An exercise ball allows a wide range of exercises to be performed. Different types and sizes of balls at ISPO-fair 2014 An exercise ball, also known as a Swiss Ball, is a ball constructed of soft elastic with a diameter of approximately 35 to 85 centimeters (14 to 34 inches) and filled with air. The air pressure is changed by removing a valve stem and either filling with air or letting the ball deflate. It is most often used in physical therapy, athletic training and exercise. It can also be used for weight training. The ball, while often referred to as a Swiss ball, is also known by a number of different names, including balance ball, birth ball, body ball, ball, fitness ball, gym ball, gymnastic ball, physio ball, pilates ball, Pezzi ball, stability ball, Swedish ball, therapy ball, or yoga ball. The physical object known as a "Swiss Ball" was developed in 1963 by Aquilino Cosani, an Italian plastics manufacturer. He perfected a process for moulding large puncture-resistant plastic balls.
[1] Those balls, then known as "Pezzi balls", were first used in treatment programs for newborns and infants by Mary Quinton, a British physiotherapist working in Switzerland. Later, Dr. Susanne Klein-Vogelbach, the director at the Physical Therapy School in Basel, Switzerland, integrated the use of ball exercise as physical therapy for neuro-developmental treatment. Based on the concept of "functional kinetics",[2] Klein-Vogelbach advocated the use of ball techniques to treat adults with orthopedic or medical problems. The term "Swiss Ball" was used when American physical therapists began to use those techniques in North America after witnessing their benefits in Switzerland.[3] From their development as physical therapy in a clinical setting, those exercises are now used in athletic training,[4] as part of a general fitness routine [5] and incorporation in alternative exercises such as yoga and Pilates. in 2012, Neil Whyte completed the record for the fastest time 10 Swiss balls have been jumped across at 8.31 seconds.
The record for the farthest jump between two Swiss balls was also made by Neil at a distance of 2.3 meters in 2012 [7] A woman performing weighted sit-ups on an exercise ball. A primary benefit of exercising with an exercise ball as opposed to exercising directly on a hard flat surface is that the body responds to the instability of the ball to remain balanced, engaging many more muscles.[8] Those muscles become stronger over time to keep balance. Most frequently, the core body muscles — the abdominal muscles and back muscles — are the focus of exercise ball fitness programs. A major benefit of using an unstable surface is the ability to recruit more muscle units without the need to increase the total load. The greatest benefit of moving an exercise onto an unstable surface is achieving a greater activation of the core musculature, exercises such as curl-up or push-up performed on an exercise ball.[10] An unstable surface increases activation of the rectus abdominus and allows for greater activity per exercise when compared to a stable surface.
Exercises such as a curl-up on an exercise ball yields a greater amount of electromyography (EMG) activity compared to exercises on a stable platform.[11] Performing standard exercises, such as a push-up, on an unstable surface can be used to increase activation of core trunk stabilizers and in turn provide increased trunk strength and greater resistance to injury. Fitness Experts and some Doctors also recommend sitting on an exercise ball instead of an office chair. This is based on the theory that the abdominal and back muscles are constantly engaged and active in order to maintain proper posture and balance on the ball.[14] There is no scientific evidence of those benefits occurring by just sitting without additional exercises.[16] However, some people warn against using a Swiss ball as a chair due to ergonomic considerations[17] or biomechanical reasons. This large plastic ball, known as a "birth ball", can also be used during labour to aid the descent of the fetal head into the pelvis.