10 reasons to use an exercise ball as your chair

That's *a lot* of entertainment for 4 seconds.  Now I'd like to see the blooper videos of of the non-gymnastically inclined trying the same thing.

no kidding!  LOL!!!




And one good reason NOT to use them:

A friend of mine (yes, I swear it was a friend! :-p) was using one at work.  One day she had an extra big lunch, and got your mid-afternoon food-coma.  She fell asleep for half a second, rolled off the ball and smacked her head on the corner of her desk!   She went back to using a regular chair.




I use one at home for my computer chair - mostly because I'm too cheap/lazy to go buy myself a real chair :-p

Anybody see the Office episode where Dwight used an exercise ball as his chair?

Very funny.

JC

she didn't get hurt badly, just a bump and a shocking wake-up call :-p.

it's OK to laugh - she laughs at it :-p



I do like mine at home, but I don't know if I'd want it for work...  I tend to fidget a lot on it

I've been using one for a little under a year, you really notice what it is doing when you go back to a regular chair and then to the ball and can feel it.

I have one at home too that I use when working on my htpc (home theatre PC) and want to sit right up by the TV and not back on the couch.

There was a 6 month period where it was just me in my office and it also became good entertainment when I got board and I'd just sort of roll under my desk while on a long phone call or bounce it pacing around the office.

The are only about 10 bucks at walmart I say give it a try anyone who is curious, if you don't like it just bring it home and now you have a ball to stretch on.

I'm a first grade teacher, and we've replaced all my student's chairs with exercise balls.  It was amazing to see the transformation in the kids.

Think back to when you were in elementary school.  Did you fidget in your chair?  Lean back?  Need to move?   Have bad posture?  With exercise balls, the kids have great posture, and they're able to move when they need to.  I had one girl that swayed side to side all day.  She was only moving about an inch in each direction, but she just needed to move.

Another of my kiddos had ADHD and was constantly up out of his chair, around the room, etc.  He got his exercise ball and started to bounce.  Not a lot... just enough to get the motion out of his body.  One day during math, he was REALLY bouncing... looking like he was just playing around... and I asked him if he knew what we were talking about.  "Greater Than and Less Than."  Right - so we'll see if he can keep it up.  I had him look at two numbers very close to each other, like 14 and 16.  He said, "14 is less than 16.  16 is greater than 14."  All the while just bouncing away.

Some teachers can't stand the idea of getting rid of their chairs, but there's a lot of brain-based research to back up the use of exercise balls.

There are companies out there that specialize in making balls for work/school.  If you think about getting one, find the company that has little "cow udders" on the bottom.  (I can't think of the company name right now.)  When you're on the ball, the "udders" pop up out of the way so you're using your core, have freedom of movement, etc.   When you're not using the ball, the "udders" help to keep the ball in one place without rolling around.  Very cool.

-Joel

Wow never thought of it that way.  I am sure it would have helped me in grade school....

I have one at my desk, but seldom use it.  Guess all the smack talking from co-workers kinda made me not want to use it. 
I'm turning over a new leaf....I'm gonna start sitting on my big silver ball....like the guys like to say! 

Think I might get one in my son's room for his desk.

It's all fun and games until someone loses a nostril!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDs8RvDZKTY

I had one that I used to use at work, but then we had our office remodeled and we all got new desks/cubicles. Now my desk is too high for the ball, and it just doesn't feel right...especially if I'm typing on the computer. So I brought it home and use it for abs and stretching. I guess I'll have to buy a bigger ball for work. I think mine was a 55cm...so maybe if I go up to a 65cm, it would work better with my higher desk.

Edited by nscrbug 2009-07-30 6:01 PM

Joel, just curious, did you have any issues with kids wanting to play with them? Such as rolling them around the classroom or bounce them like basketballs, etc?  I could see teachers being hesitant about using them for fear of kids making them toys like they do with everything normally.   I'm betting the first week was probably the hardest as they adjusted to using them as chairs?  

To get around the problems associated with giant toys being in the room (or at least that's what the kids might think), we all walked in together and stood behind the balls.  They stood behind the balls, bounced them once, bounced them a second time, then bounced them a third time.  Then we put them back and took a goofy pledge (Something like ... "I promise I will never bounce my chair again.  It is not a toy.  It is a chair.  It is my chair, and if I bounce it, its feelings get hurt.  But if I sit on it, just like a regular chair, then I make it happy.  And I'm a buddy, not a bully, so I will never bounce my chair again.")

It took about 2-3 weeks before the newness of the balls/chairs wore off.  After that, the kids just walked in, "unstacked the chairs" (took them off their containers on the table and set them up where the kids would sit) and got to business as normal.  It just became normal.

I did have one kiddo who, while I was out of the room to speak with a coworker, picked his ball up and threw it across the room.  I came in JUST in time to see it land by our computers.  To help him understand his consequence, I deflated his ball, packed it away, and he was allowed to stand for the remainder of the day (60 minutes or so).  When he came back in the next day, his ball had been replaced by a regular chair.  It wasn't until he wrote me a letter of apology (of his own accord, not from my pushing) that we had a heart-to-heart about the incident, why it was wrong, etc., and he asked for his ball back.

Honestly, I haven't had many issues.  Yeah, kids will gently bounce and move on them - but that's what they're for. 

-Joel

I used to work at a school for ADHD kids. These are kids with SERIOUS issues, ADHD only being one of them. For instance, we are allowed to put hands-on, and do so regularly (that means we physically restrain the kids because they are hurting themselves or others). So the exercise balls not only allowed all the benefits Joel mentioned, but took away a lot of very hard moveable objects from the classroom. It was great!

I really want to use a ball at work, but I'm not pushing my luck right now. They find some way to use it against me. Besides, I already have all my cooking gear stashed, i don't think they'd like me stashing more stuff!

I do want to get a trainer and bring it in, though...

At my work we are trying to convice the Admin that it would be a good thing to try. I work at a 9-1-1 center so we are in a chair 8-12 hrs a day, most of us the ball would be a good change of pace for even a little while (not the full shift just yet) and could even help the health of the employees.  We were also trying to get the office treadmills they max out at 2-3 mph only allowing you to walk, this would be great for my coworkers who sit and eat their entire shift. But they allege the expense  prohibits it. They said the taxpayers wouldn't approve, this is funny to me as our employees spend more time at the Dr's office with weight related health problems. Think about the insurace premium savings.

I use one. I bought it after watching something about how the human body adapts to demands.
I thought, what do I ask my body to do for 8 hours a day? Sit in a chair!

I do cheat a little - I got one that has a weight inside. It's a bag of sand. It's supposed to be resistance for doing exercises with it, but it results in making the ball stay in one place better. That's helpful at work.

I never thought about one for watching TV. That's a great idea! Wouldn't really go with my decor, though...

I'm convinced. I'll be picking one up this week.

X, except I'll try to go at lunch.

Thank you for sharing the article.... I work at home and sit in front of a computer all day long so, I went and picked one up last night.  My first day but I think this is a fantastic idea!

I'm not arguing the bennefits of using a ball, but "5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting."is not a true statement.

Vetoed by my boss as not being very professional.