Just replaced my office chair w/a stability ball

[hjohnson050711]

ohh man - this should be interesting. i figured i sit on a chair 9 hours a day there had to be a way to incorporate fitness

....and there it was - replacing my chair with a stability ball

i will probably fall off before the end of the day

[clseale]

Haha. Someone tried this at my office and HR told them no.

[DefenseAgainstTheDarkArts22]

I work at home and did this awhile ago. I do keep my chair handy because some days I am just too lazy to sit properly. It helped with my posture (plus I don't sit with my feet on my desk all day) and my lower back pain.

[aurora]

Congrats! I have one at work but I admit I'm too lazy to sit on it the entire day. I usually do the first couple of hours when I come in, which I figure is better than nothing!

Jun 19, 2012 10:32:52 GMT -5 clseale said:

Haha. Someone tried this at my office and HR told them no.

Really? Why would HR oppose this? It's supposed to be quite good for your health, whereas sitting in an office chair at the computer all day is known to lead to a wealth of problems.

[Brie]

Jun 19, 2012 10:48:58 GMT -5 aurora said:

Congrats! I have one at work but I admit I'm too lazy to sit on it the entire day. I usually do the first couple of hours when I come in, which I figure is better than nothing!

Jun 19, 2012 10:32:52 GMT -5 clseale said:

Haha. Someone tried this at my office and HR told them no.

Really? Why would HR oppose this? It's supposed to be quite good for your health, whereas sitting in an office chair at the computer all day is known to lead to a wealth of problems.

I imagine that in my office it would be viewed as unprofessional. I couldn't really conduct meetings in my office bouncing on a giant ball without looking a little weird.

[ebeth]

Jun 19, 2012 10:50:33 GMT -5 Brie said:

Jun 19, 2012 10:48:58 GMT -5 aurora said:

Congrats! I have one at work but I admit I'm too lazy to sit on it the entire day. I usually do the first couple of hours when I come in, which I figure is better than nothing!



Really? Why would HR oppose this? It's supposed to be quite good for your health, whereas sitting in an office chair at the computer all day is known to lead to a wealth of problems.

I imagine that in my office it would be viewed as unprofessional. I couldn't really conduct meetings in my office bouncing on a giant ball without looking a little weird.

also, safety issues. you are way more likely to fall and hit your head from a stability ball then from an office chair.

good luck OP. I did this for about a week. and not even all/most of the day that week. now my stability ball is sitting under my desk while I sit in a regular office chair.

[ChiKate]

I've been using one for about 5 months now and really like it. Granted, sometimes I'm lazy and don't sit on it correctly (i.e. push my feet against it for more stability) but I feel like it's better than nothing.

[clseale]

Jun 19, 2012 10:55:26 GMT -5 ebeth said:

Jun 19, 2012 10:50:33 GMT -5 Brie said:

I imagine that in my office it would be viewed as unprofessional. I couldn't really conduct meetings in my office bouncing on a giant ball without looking a little weird.

also, safety issues. you are way more likely to fall and hit your head from a stability ball then from an office chair.
good luck OP. I did this for about a week. and not even all/most of the day that week. now my stability ball is sitting under my desk while I sit in a regular office chair.

Yes, this was the issue. Of course now that marketing has moved further away from the main building, we have a community scooter we play around on. They haven't seen that yet!

[hjohnson050711]

they joked and said they were going to have me sign a release haha

[Deleted]

I use one to WFH. I feel so much better. I've been using it for a year now. There are several people at work who use them.

They do have a "real" ergonomic seat with a rolling base for the ball so it's more seat-like and not just a ball. No tipping then.

[omalley]

A lot of guys I work with sit on a ball and a few even have "standing desks" where they raised their monitors and stand all day. I work at a trading firm so people are chained to their desks during market hours. Good luck with it...I should give it a try as well.

[hjohnson050711]

2 hours into it - so far so good, i can feel my core though

[aurora]

Jun 19, 2012 11:45:44 GMT -5 omalley said:

A lot of guys I work with sit on a ball and a few even have "standing desks" where they raised their monitors and stand all day. I work at a trading firm so people are chained to their desks during market hours. Good luck with it...I should give it a try as well.

I had an adjustable desk (so I could use it standing or sitting) at a temporary position once and I loved it! It was so great to be able to change positions and also helped with the mid-afternoon sleepyness so I think I was actually more productive.

As for the balls being more dangerous, well, I would certainly raise a stink with an awful lot of medical report backup if HR told me I couldn't use one for that reason. So many of the primary US health problems are related to sitting at computers too much!

[hjohnson050711]

yea - i usually hit a pretty hard slump around 2:30 so we will see how i do. core is starting to talk though - we are in hour 4 i think

[Wines Not Whines]

Some people in my office do this. I should try it. I have a stability at home that I never use (I used it during pregnancy).

[ebeth]

Jun 19, 2012 13:35:25 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jun 19, 2012 11:45:44 GMT -5 omalley said:

A lot of guys I work with sit on a ball and a few even have "standing desks" where they raised their monitors and stand all day. I work at a trading firm so people are chained to their desks during market hours. Good luck with it...I should give it a try as well.

I had an adjustable desk (so I could use it standing or sitting) at a temporary position once and I loved it! It was so great to be able to change positions and also helped with the mid-afternoon sleepyness so I think I was actually more productive.

As for the balls being more dangerous, well, I would certainly raise a stink with an awful lot of medical report backup if HR told me I couldn't use one for that reason. So many of the primary US health problems are related to sitting at computers too much!

be that as it may, you fall at work and fracture your skull, break an arm, whatever, your company is going to have to pay for it NOW in a variety of ways. I don't think they care very much about the US health problems. I work in public health and I wouldn't be at all surprised if my employer told me my stability ball chair had to go.

[hjohnson050711]

we are at hour number 6 i think and i am starting to feel it in the core. ready to go running at 4 and get off this thing

must be working tho....

[wildfloweragain]

As a teacher I sit on one at school. I don't sit a lot, except for reading groups. My students all sit on balls, too. No injuries in 5 years.