I have worked in New York city for years, and recently, I noticed more and more folks have replaced their regular office chairs with a gym ball of all things. So after almost dying of hysterical laughter for a few minutes, I googled it, and saw the light. It turns out it's good for you.
This applies to whether you are at the office or working at home in the basement, these balance ball chairs are god-send for your aching backs. Here are some of the benefits of using an exercise ball as your chair.
1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidentally the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. The end result is better spinal health and less back pains.
2. Causes you to frequently change positions. This is because you are always trying to balance yourself. Doing simple things such as turning to face the phone, will result in your body assuming anew position. The more you shift, the less damage your body incurs due to prolonged sitting in same pose.
3. Fitness is at your fingertips. One of the best advantage of already sitting on a gym ball is that you can always do quick stretches or workouts without even getting up. Anytime you get bored, just do a quickie exercise. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health.
4. Your sense of balance will be improved. This one is very understandable. This is because you continuously try not to fall, in effect, improving your balance and strengthening your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office.
5. Improve those abs! Your body primarily uses your core abdominal muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. In effect, you are getting a continuous abdominal workout as you sit. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles.
6. It's great for the circulation. Sitting on an exercise ball promotes good blood flow throughout your body for the whole day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use.
7. You start feeling that energy boost. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. Using an exercise ball as a chair is a good way to ensure that you will be energized by the end of your working day.
8. Burn calories as you sit! More movement during the day means more calories burnt. If you burn at least 350 calories per day, you can lose at least a pound of fat every couple of weeks. Even if you do not burn 350 a day, the least it will do is to help you keep in shape.
9. Extremely affordable. These exercise balls, or balance ball chairs will cost you from $10 for the ball to $80 for the ball and the chair that holds it. This is a bargain if you compare it to those Herman Miller ergonomic chairs that can cost you thousands of dollars!
10. Hey, its fun! Everyone is a kid at heart when you think about it, so look at it as feeding your inner child as you bounce around all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day.
Author Resource:
Cyrill is a retired teacher living in the middle of the Las Vegas desert. In an effort to relieve boredom, while at the same time make some pocket money on the side, he has gotten into promoting a varied collection of sites such as providing info on the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair or the Mirage Hotel Las Vegas where he hangs out most of the time.
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