Researchers say stability ball can be office chair

Get the core workout you have always wanted – while at the office.

Using a stability ball as well as backless chair stools might decrease the constrained or confined body postures that occur at workplaces when sitting for long periods of time.

Although sophomore Bari Sloves has never used a stability ball as an office chair, she said she thought it was a good idea.

“I would use one of the workout balls to sit on instead of a regular chair,” she said.
Using a stability ball or backless chair stool can also strengthen core muscles as well as improve posture.

“There may be increased musculature skeletal disorders from sitting in chairs,” said Kelly Baute, a researcher in the Indiana Ergonomics Laboratory at the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

These new alternatives to sitting in regular chairs can be a good break for the body as well as some exercise for the day.

“Users of the ball or backless chair may have the opportunity to change their posture,” Baute said.

While using a ball might help the body, there are limits to how much it should be used.

“People should not completely substitute the chair for the ball,” Baute said. “It should be a slow transition to the ball, using it a little bit each day and slowly increasing the amount of time using the ball.”

In addition to a core muscle workout, a study by Baute and her colleagues found reaching with the non-dominant hand results in different firing patterns in leg musculature than when reaching with the dominant hand.

The greatest amount of muscle activity was found in the shin muscle when it reacted with the hamstring muscles. This reaction provided a stable foundation in the body during the reaching movements.

Baute’s research was done using nine men ages 23 to 29, who performed a reaching task while sitting on a stability ball at a desk.

Each of the men picked up a cup of water and moved it away from them and towards them.

This reaching task had the most effect on the participants when they moved the water cup with their non-dominant hand.

The lower body can learn new skills and potentially strengthen shin muscles as well as the core muscles, as well as allow for more movement in the sedentary work day.

“My health teacher in high school made his kids use a stability ball while watching TV to strengthen their core,” sophomore Shari Ginsburg said. “I think it’s a good idea because it strengthens without you thinking about it.”