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The proper chair is essential to a comfortable and healthy work environment, especially for those who spend a great deal of time at a desk. Or you can swap your chairs for a ball — a stability ball, to be exact.
Stability balls have been linked to the reduction of back problems, strengthening core muscles and keeping people awake during their post-lunch crash. It even helps some people stay a little more focused at work.
The CEO and the ugly green ball
Andrew Reilley said he got the idea to use a ball from his son, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and gets fidgety when he sits down to do homework.
Reilley said the ball had a calming effect on his son and he wanted to see whether it could help him, too, because he shares some of his son’s restlessness.
“His behaviors were, as much as I didn’t readily admit it, remarkably like my own,” Reilley said.
Reilly uses the ball mostly at his computer at work, but as a single parent and the CEO of Internet marketing company United WebWorks, Reilley often needs to take his work home with him.
“It’s funny because I have the greatest computer setup, and I always thought when I went home and did work from home, I would miss this great computer setup at the office, but, in fact, I generally miss this stupid ball.”
Reilley is keen on being fit and is always interested in something that will give him that extra workout. But he admits that’s not what the stability ball is really about.
“The exercise component is definitely secondary, which for me is a big deal because I do take my exercise seriously,” Reilley said.
He said using the stability ball has certainly made a difference at work, otherwise it would just be a contradiction to his meticulous personality.
“Everything has got to be matching in my office, and it is, except for this big ugly green ball,” Reilley said. “It’s a demonstration of my commitment.”
An expert opinion
Also known as Swiss or yoga balls, stability balls were first used by Swiss therapists to work with children with cerebral palsy.
Part of what makes the ball a dynamic exercise and therapy tool is that sitting on it is a constant balancing act. The extra work it takes to stay on requires more core muscle effort than sitting in a chair.
The ball can also prove to be easier on a person’s back than a regular desk chair.
“The ball not only provides cushion, as opposed to sitting on a hard surface, but it provides shock absorption for the spine,” said Jenna Gardner-Morgan, a physical therapist and ergonomics expert at West Rehab Services Inc.
Gardner-Morgan, who uses stability balls in patient treatment, said some of the benefits, on top of core strengthening, include postural awareness, improved circulation and a boost of energy.
Dr. Michael Vaughn of the Savannah Chiropractic Center said the theory behind using a stability ball is great, but one of problems is practicality and making sure to keep a proper posture.
Someone sitting on a ball doesn’t have the luxury of leaning back or slouching forward when they need a rest. This is part of why using a ball can be uncomfortable for those starting out.
“As with any exercise program, when a person begins, there will be soreness, especially if you’re not used to engaging your core and lower back muscles. This is why we recommend not completely throwing out your office chair just yet,” Gardner-Morgan said.
She recommends people start out with 20- to 30-minute sessions on the ball and gradually increase the time each day.
In a 2007 case study, led by chiropractors Larry G. Merritt and Celynne M. Merritt, two people with chronic back pain added stability ball workouts to their regimen. One of them found the ball uncomfortable at first, but the longer he used it, the less it bothered him. His back pain, and doctor visits, subsided.
Some people, like Reilley, benefit from the sense of movement the ball brings, which allows for more freedom. It’s become a focus activator of sorts, a trait that has helped the ball land in all kinds of settings, even in a class of rambunctious second-graders.
The teacher and the bouncers
After a tough year, Tiffany McGarity wasn’t sure how she was going to calm her hyperactive class at Windsor Forest Elementary, especially when she admitted to being too jittery to sit in a chair herself.
“That summer I went back and I was like, ‘I gotta do something to make these kids a little calmer during the day’,” McGarity said.
She came across the idea of using stability balls in the classroom on Pinterest and was hooked on the idea. She got the go-ahead from her principal, acquired funding for the balls and brought them into her class to see how the students would respond.
A year later, her classroom can almost pass for normal, with colorful posters and book shelves packed with school supplies. The exception is that most of the kids are raised 2 feet off the ground by big turquoise balls.
Rather than the balls creating chaos, McGarity saw improvements in her students’ alertness, focus and overall performance.
“It just increased their focus on what they were doing because they’re still able to move around and wiggle around.”
The results were even better than she expected.
“Each time, we’ve taken the scholastic reading inventory — that’s the reading test they have to take — each time, my test scores have increased like crazy,” McGarity said.
The boosts in scores were observed by McGarity and a school testing coordinator, but she said the delight comes in how devoted the students are to the balls.
“The kids love it, and they take responsibility for it.”