I switched to fitball for sitting at a desk more than ten years ago.
After working in offices for about 5 years, I had noticed that I started to have frequent back aches. Besides signing up for a spine strengthening “yoga” course, I also decided to give fitball a try. By that time, I had already experimented with various types of ergonomic chairs. In a matter of a few days, I always found out how to sit on them comfortably–meaning with the spine bent.
Benefits of using a fitball:
- My lower back cannot rest against one point. My whole spine is constantly engaged. It is true that in the first days, maybe weeks, you might experience some pain after using the fitball. That is because of sore muscles though. I never experienced pain again using the fitball for sitting on it 6 hours a day in the past ten years. LiveStrong warns that “[w]hile you may be mindful enough to keep your core engaged and sit with proper posture on the ball, most individuals inevitably start to slouch over time.” Well, this applies to all kind of sitting objects. Avoid sitting for long hours is the key anyways. My workaround was to engage with a job that requires an office setup only part time.
- It allows stacking functions. If I wanna take a break, I can bounce on the ball a bit, or stretch my back. Outside of my working hours, it’s an exercise tool that is available for the my family.
- If I don’t need it temporarily, or planning to travel and work, I can deflate it and take it with me.
- It’s affordable to purchase (25 EUR).
- While it’s made of plastic, and therefore pollutes the environment, it lasts for several years, and is significantly less pollutant than an office chair. The energy required for producing one fitball is very small compared to other sitting objects.