Gaiam Balance Ball Chair

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Disclosure- the below was provided to me in order to complete this review.  All opinions are my own and honest.

If you are like me, and most people, you are sitting behind a desk all day. Obviously, one of the most difficult places to exercise can by at your desk at work. Sure, there are small things you can do to keep moving. Frequent breaks, go for a walk, desk side exercise and my personal favorite copy machine yoga.  (kidding- they might institutionalize you if you tried that.)  But there is a new breakthrough in seating, called active sitting.

Active sitting is when your body has to do micro-balancing maneuvers in order to keep balance on the chair. This doesn’t mean tip your chair to the brink and keep it there all day, there are special chairs especially made to do this. One such example is the Gaiam Balance Ball Chair. This chair takes the familiar Balance Ball classically used in exercise programs, and sits it on a stable stand with wheels on it. This makes the ball the perfect height to sit on easily and do your daily desk work while still getting a work out. It might not seem like much, but after an hour or so you will notice some odd muscles that you didn’t know existed worked out in one of the easiest ways possible. Some notes to keep in mind are do not try to sit all day on this chair the first day, build up on your time on the chair so you don’t have a lot of strain and that “ow” feeling” the next day. The chair is also brightly colored and has a ball on it so kids will probably gravitate to it. This isn’t a problem unless they take the ball off and start to throw it. Just a point to be aware of. Personally I love the chair, sitting still too long drives me nuts even if I am busy with work. This chair helps keep my body busy while I am keeping my mind busy.

Some benefits of active sitting include:

• Improved posture

• Increased circulation and blood flow

• More calories burned

• Builds strong core muscles and a healthy back

• Improved spinal alignment

• Reduction in tension in the back

• Engaged abdominal and lumbar muscles promote

Pelvis and spine flexibility

• Opens chest and airwaves for improved breathing

The Balance Ball chair is available in 2 colors Wasabi Green and Ocean Blue. This retail for $89.98 and are available now from Gaiam and http://www.gaiam.com/