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A post over at GearFire titled 10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair caught my attention this evening. The post sounded interesting and relevant to me being an advocate of methods to improve all fitness aspects while at home or outdoors. As the title suggest, using an exercise ball or Swiss ball (the same thing) can pay dividends in respect to one’s posture, however as i read the post i found that i disagreed with almost all of the justifications the author provided.

The 10 points:

1. Forces proper spine alignment.
2. Causes you to frequently change positions.
3. Fitness is at your fingertips.
4. Improve your balance.
5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting.
6. Improves your circulation.
7. You’ll feel more energetic.
8. Burn up to 350 calories per day.
9. Really cheap.
10. C’mon, its fun!

I’m not writing this post because i have a grudge against the authors, i actually enjoy the blog a great deal as it provides a lot of good information for students. I’ve recently graduated and miss the student life so me reading their blog is probably a means of weaning myself away from an academic lifestyle.

I was intending to write about this topic myself because i do own an exercise ball and am sat on it as i type. But, since reading this post i’ve thought to myself, if misinformation exists in this form regarding a low risk topic what else out there in the blogsphere is being posted as ill-informed advice?

To Geoff R., i appreciate your efforts in offering people advice regarding their postural health, but, some topics are best left to those with specialist knowledge. Nowhere on your “about” page does it mention “exercise science” as an “area of expertise”.

1. Forces proper spine alignment - sitting on an exercise ball is an activity that requires co contraction of the inner unit of the core muscles and the spinal muscle groups. Without this co contraction the person sat on the ball will slump forward at the desk and support oneself using the wrist and forearms for stability. Simply sitting on an exercise ball does not force proper spinal alignment. The body will only sit upright with correct posture when reminded to by the brain, until the postural muscles are sufficiently adept to the correct posture. This will occur as a result of repeated bouts of sitting on the ball in the correct manner.
2. Causes you to frequently change positions - this is a valid point. Sitting on an exercise ball is like sitting on a normal chair on ice. If you’re not careful you may fall off.
   I agree with Geoff here. Because of the instability of the ball the postural muscles are systemically working to ensure that an upright posture is sustained. Likewise, when moving around at the desk to fetch the phone or other item, the postural muscles are required to counteract the instability of the body on the ball. This helps to promote flexibility of the trunk, strength, and endurance of the postural muscles.
3. Fitness is at your fingertips - for this point Geoff mentions that you can have a quick workout getting up. I’m going to take this point with a pinch of salt because you can do a few crunches, sit ups and errrm…more crunches. I’d prefer that if you do find yourself with a spare 5 minutes that you make the effort to get up and promote some circulation to the legs. Perform some squats with the ball against a wall, followed by a back stretch, and ab stretch. Trust me, you will feel a whole lot better and ready for you next stint at the desk.
4. Improve your balance - another fair point by Geoff. All that i will say about this point is that balance requires interaction from a multitude of senses, muscular sense being only one of them. Also, balance training is specific. By sitting on an unstable ball you will improve your balance at sitting on an unstable ball. For example, to improve your one legged standing balance, you must train standing on one leg and remove one or more balance stimulus, i.e. stability.
5. Get the 6-pack you’ve been wanting - completely untrue. As i mentioned earlier, the ability to balance sitting on a ball requires co activation of the spinal and inner unit muscles. These muscles have to constantly readjust to ensure the correct upright posture is maintained. The work effort exerted upon these muscles during co contraction has been hypothesised to provide a benefit to their endurance capacity. In search of the secret to gaining a 6 pack you will not find exercise experts advocating endurance training. What they will mention is eating clean with minimal fat intake, appropriate aerobic and/or anaerobic training, and an excellent core training programme.
6. Improves your circulation - in comparison to sitting on some chairs sitting on an exercise ball is 100 per cent better. The problem with sitting in a chair for a long period of time lies in the compression of surface veins and arteries therefore restricting blood flow. Also, blood pooling in the legs can occur. When sitting on an exercise ball this is accounted for by the small postural movements that help to pump the blood around the body. Also, so long as an angle of less than 90 degree is observed at the thighs, in relation to the floor, then blood will not pool as dramatically.
7. You’ll feel more energetic - true to a certain extent. After a period of prolonged use, sitting on an exercise ball will become second nature, in that respect you will be feeling a whole lot better about yourself simply because you will be in an upright and commanding posture. However, early on into switching from a chair to an exercise ball you will be liable to feel lethargy of the core muscles. This is due to the newly found activation they will receive after however many years of inactivity at a desk. My advice is not to run before you can walk. Don’t assume that you will be able to sit on the ball for 8 hour shifts 5 days per week. Start off simply with 20 minutes a day and gradually increase the duration of sitting over a number of weeks. The last thing you want to do is cause harm to the muscles that account for posture.
8. Burn up to 350 calories per day - I think this point was probably read on a piece of promotional packaging. I grant that the extra work performed by the postural muscles will add up to a few calories, but, a few calories only. I once read in a piece of research that it requires 250,000 crunches to burn 1 lb of fat. Make of that what you will.
9. Really cheap - I’m all for this point. Exercise balls are cheap in comparison to ergonomically designed chairs and are twice as versatile because they double up as a workout bench. It is important that people but the best version of exercise ball they can afford. Many of the cheaper versions do not guarantee against bursting. For the sake of a few pounds/euros/dollars/generic money you can buy a ball with a lifetime guarantee against bursting.
10. C’mon, it’s fun! - This is very much true. I’ve been using a ball for a couple of years now. I’ve found that my sitting posture has improved no end, and that my sitting balance is superb. I often find myself adopting challenging balancing postures, trying to push my new found skill to the limits.

I hope that by writing this post i don’t come across too harshly? The only motive for me writing in this way is a dislike for misinformation when it comes to health and fitness related issues. The authors at GearFire provide a great service for students, but, they should only advocate what they truly know and understand.

To me health and fitness are specialist subjects that should only be tackled from a qualified perspective. Be that experienced based, academically or both. But that’s just my opinion. What do you think?