Active Sitting
by Amir Nevo, BScK, CSCS, PFLC

Active sitting is a term that can be used to describe the way you SHOULD be sitting throughout your work day.  Do you sit at a desk at your work?  Do you sit on the same chair hour after hour, day after day, week after week?  If so, then it’s time to make a switch!

Companies develop better ergonomic office chairs every year, yet even strictly using the best ergonomic chair might not be the best game plan for your seated workday.  For many people who work in an office setting, sitting in an office chair without adequate back support, or sitting in an office chair and maintaining a prolonged rigid or slumped posture, can create a great deal of stress on the lower back.  This lack of back support and lack of spinal muscles being engaged to support the back, stresses the soft tissues and joints in the spine.  The bottom line is prolonged sitting in any kind of chair can lead to poor posture habits, reduced core stability, increased muscle tension, and can ultimately exacerbate pain in the lower back.  So what steps can you take to avoid all of this?

A stability ball makes a great exercise tool and is believed to improve spinal/core stability and could reduce the risk of back pain, but it can be used in more ways than just at the gym!   Consider taking the ball with you to work.  Admittedly, if you’ve never used one, you may be wondering what good an inflated vinyl ball can really do for you in the gym, let alone at work, but don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this very effective fitness device.   
When sitting in an office chair, many people tend to shift their weight forward which increases stress on the soft tissue, joints and discs.  This can subsequently create muscle tension and pain in the lower back and legs.  By replacing your office chair with a stability ball, the ball will force you to be more aware of your posture and will make it more difficult to shift your weight forward.  Furthermore, people tend to shift and change body position more often while sitting on the ball, which is believed to be better for you than sitting in one position for long periods of time. 

Sitting on a stability ball for prolonged periods can get tiring since so many muscles are engaged while doing so, therefore you may not want to use it all day, or every day.  The instability of sitting on a ball, however, keeps you aware of your posture and requires constant weight shifting, which can alleviate the type of pain that is associated with prolonged sitting and associated back pain.  

Tips to remember:

1. Take breaks to get up and move around, stand and stretch every 20 minutes, regardless of whether you are sitting on an office chair or a stability ball. 

2. Change up your seating arrangements (ball, chair, kneeling device, etc) weekly, or even daily or hourly. 

3. Once you start to feel discomfort, it’s time to switch your seating arrangements.

4. Consult with a Personal Fitness Coach to help you with your ball exercise program.
The stability ball may be one of the most inexpensive and most effective tools for strengthening the core and improving one’s fitness.  By regularly using a stability ball for your workouts at the gym, you can dramatically increase your core stability following structured exercises which incorporate the ball.  Consulting with a Nubody’s Personal Fitness Coach is an excellent idea for helping you design a stability ball workout that will address your core stability in the most effective way. 

You can also learn over 75 exercises using the stability ball when you purchase Amir Nevo’s “I Bought the Ball…Now What?” fitness DVD, specially priced for Nubody’s members!  This DVD would make a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!