Posture Correction: Forget Expensive Ergonomic Office Chairs and Get Back On Your SpaceHopper!!
Posted by admin on Jan 7, 2009
There are many office chairs that offer good ergonomics, but I say that 99% of them are far from perfect. Why? Because they all imply that perfect posture is a static position that once you attain you won’t have backache.
I disagree with this definition of good posture, because no matter how good the position is, the body is designed for movement. One of the best ergonomic office chairs on the market is the Capisco which costs a whopping $675. Even though it is highly adjustable and encourages better alignment of the body, it still is severely limited when it comes to variety of positions.
I like chairs that allow kneeling on one or both knees, squatting, sitting on a foot, sitting ‘side saddle’, etc. Give me a cushion and a carpeted floor and I am much happier than sitting in a chair. In fact I normally end up kneeling or squatting on my sofas at home.
The only trouble is when I need to work on my computer I have to sit at a desk to use a keyboard and screen. As a long term sufferer of neck and back pains I have searched high and low for the best ergonomic solution. What I have found is quite amazing. The best ergonomic office chairs are SpaceHopper-like inflatable balls costing less than $30!!
My solution is to spend most of my day on a 15 inch high ball using about 8 or 9 different positions that I rotate as and when it feels necessary. When I sit on it normally, it is so low to the ground that my hips are flexed a lot more than a normal chair. Another of my favourite positions is to sit on one foot, which would be uncomfortable on a normal chair, but feels fine because the inflatable ball forms around you.
Perhaps the best thing about sitting on a ball is that you can gently bounce up and down as you work. Just put on your favourite music and bounce away – it’s just like using a Space-Hopper again!
I first found about these balls when my Alexander teacher recommended them. They come in a variety of sizes for different heights of people. If you want to get creative with the way you use your ball I would ignore those sizes. They are so cheap that you can try out a few different sizes and see which ones you like best. Like I say, my favourite is the very smallest one which gives a low squatting position.
I’m not sure about that… seems to me, sitting on plastic all day long is not very… breathable….
Breathability is not a problem for me. I sit (and bounce) on mine for several hours every day at my desk.
I tried this and found I was slouching just as much on a ball as I was in a chair.