Anyone use an exercise ball instead of an office chair?
 

If you do, please tell us why you like it and why you are never going back to a chair again. :)

Ridiculous. I prefer to have back support in a good office chair.

The idea is that sitting on a ball makes you assume a perfect posture, and also eliminates neck and shoulder pain for most people. Apparently you also burn calories from balancing on the ball all day.

Yup, you have no choice but to use perfect posture with the ball. I use it at the computer once in a while. I like to balance crosslegged on the ball while watching TV quite a bit too. Good for the back and shoulders for sure. I have a terrible back, and I notice the difference a fair bit between periods where I spend alot of time on the ball, and times when I haven't been using it often.

I used one for a couple of years and got tired of it... Now I'm back to lounging with horrible posture.

Interesting read: 10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair

Using exercise ball as chair? You guys serious? ... I never thought of it.

Is it actually better?

I use a swiss ball to work out my core.

I love my Swooper: http://www.relaxtheback.com/the-swop...hair-1036.html :thumbsup

Mine's deflated in the cupboard. I found it irritating having to switch between it and the proper supportive office chair several times per day when you get tired.

Plus it's not good when you're mashed :)

That reminds me, I must get it out again, the kids will love it.

How long does it take from: stopping being sore in the first place from maintaining good posture up to the point that you can sit on it all day and not feel like you've been exercising all day? I'm really out of shape and my posture is horrible, but i'd love to try it.

Completely wrong - I had back problems about a year (or more) ago and went to visit a doctor and read shitload of info online as well.

Sitting in front of the computer with no support for your back = trouble!!!

After the treatment, all I did was to replace my computer chair with a plain solid kitchen chair and I haven't had the problem since (touch wood) - this chair is just the right height, very solid and provides the optimal support for my back.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9708/ballvd.jpg

fucking chair version? :upsidedow

My doctor wants me to do it.
I'm way too uncoordinated :1orglaugh

lol I did the same thing when my office chair broke, I don't miss the office chair at all but my wife misses her kitchen chair alot.

The ball works for most people, but not all. People who've had a back injury, seem to have a hard time using a ball instead of a chair.

But just because it didn't work for you, doesn't mean you should go around saying the benefits of an exercise ball are 'completely wrong'. :2 cents:

I don't find it takes too long. I just leave it in the living room and sit on it whenever I watch TV. Way back when I first had a roommate with one, I started using it as a living room chair it maybe took a couple weeks before I could sit there and watch and entire movie balancing on the ball. I just sit crosslegged up top and balance myself out. Get my back nice a straight and zone into the tube for a while. I always wind up getting lazy again, and just feeling like being a sloth. So I fall out of the habit for periods. You definitely feel way better though. Really you could probably achieve the same results just sitting down and doing some light yoga every day. This just combines my love of laziness with a little bit of exercise.

that's pretty impressive if you can burn an extra 350 calories per day..I think I'd spend more time worrying about wiping out than typing

Would you hit it?

http://www.expresspros.com/shared/im...rcise-ball.gif

Might as well work on a bean bag chair or on the floor. So what's the difference of sitting on the edge of a chair? I spend a lot of time in the gym and those balls are just fads like ab rollers, dump them in the closet with body by jake products. I see trainers trying to train clients using the balls or come up with weird ass exercises to justify their training sessions (meanwhile never use the ball for their own routines). Advertisements and commercials are made up of actors who have been training for years the real hard way and then get a paycheck by the makers to lie that they got six pack abs using them. The same way before and after pictures are taken, don't believe the hype.

You want a strong back? hit the gym and do dead lifts, good mornings, bent over rows, standing shoulder presses and squats and lunges. The idea is move about and move your butt.

The best part of the ball is it wont break your back throwing it into the garbage.

You clearly don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Every trainer that has a Kinesiology diploma uses theses balls in their own trainings. It's the best way to work stabilisators among other things. Fonctional trianing.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=weBmerBUKY8

Look arround 3 mins. This grandfather would kick your ass.

He's a PHD, and most of the current training methods were adapted to his studies on functional training.

I've got one here in the office, but my kids spend most of the time playing on it.

I've tried a few times to work while sitting on it, but my desk it a bit too high for it to be comfortable.

dildo chair?

:hitit .

This post is full of some much misinformation, it gave me a headache. :thumbsup

I'd probably break my back falling off of it 10 times a day.

I had one in the closet, now sitting on it.
My back started hurting lately in the mornings, hope this will help a little bit.

No, those slippers are ridiculous and make me want to kick her in the twat.

Clearly too cool to be caught on one of those faggy chick balls huh? :1orglaugh

at least you have a sense of humor about it. ok let me paraphrase my ramble. sit up straight in a chair and you will be fine. keep it simple.

And grandpa Paul Chek would probably make a good fight. lol i am 230lbs and competition shape so i do ok with my own methods. I agree with many of his concepts but he made the swiss ball popular but that's not how he got that body. Quoting him "Anyone with two brain cells to rub together should be able to look at one picture of me and know that you can't do that with just a Swiss ball".

Had a shitty morning and was cranky. I apologize bushwacker for the headache. And yes i clearly know nothing. Am i forgiven?

and hmm i dont know if i would hit it because if there's one thing i've learned from too many Three's Company episodes is that just because you see long hair doesnt mean there isn't a mustache on the other side.

All the ball does is force you sit straight. Sit crooked, well you're gonna fall the fuck off. It doesn't allow you to slouch at all. Whereas a chair offers that opportunity.

I pulled a ghetto move and used an exercise ball with a TV tray for the laptop for about six months. It wasn't too difficult to get adjusted to, and I felt more alert.

Then I gave up because my lab's black hair would somehow get dug into the carpet the ball was on top of, even though the f'n dog wasn't close. After that, I tried the stand-up desk for a few weeks, but hated that, as I was always pacing around and couldn't get comfortable. Now I'm in the worst posture position possible with a laptop on the couch, so I need to re-asses and change up again.