Think you're "on the ball"? Or your students? Check this out:
Several elementary school classrooms across the country [the US] have replaced their hard plastic chairs with bouncy ball seating. In my opinion, the idea is absolutely genius. I wish I got to sit on a ball in school…
Mrs. Raabe’s fifth-grade class in Charlotte, North Carolina recently embraced ergonomic innovation in an attempt to increase attention spans and facilitate good posture. The classroom is now a sea of motion in which children bob and weave, sway and bounce their way through lessons perched atop brightly colored fitness balls. The old metal-and-plastic chairs stand in lonely stacks at the front and back of the classroom.
In a letter the students sent to school administrators, the children outlined six compelling reasons they should sit on balls instead of chairs.
“We will be able to wiggle in our seats so we will not feel the need to get up and move around as much and miss parts of lessons,” they wrote. “The balls will help our posture. The balls will help our handwriting because our feet will be on the floor, and we will be sitting up straight.”
That's awesome. From "Ten Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair":
1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. This helps improve your spinal health, and decrease back pains.
2. Causes you to frequently change positions. An exercise ball causes to you to change your position often to balance. For example, if you turn 45 degrees to face the phone, your body will assume a new position. This helps reduce damage caused by prolonged sitting in the same position.
3. Fitness is at your fingertips. Another great thing about using this alternative to a chair, is that you can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. If you’ve ever stuck waiting for a minute or two, you can make productive use of that time with a quick workout or stretch. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health.
4. Improve your balance. This one is very understandable. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office.
5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting. Your body primarily uses your core (abdominal) muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. Thus, your essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles.
6. Improves your circulation. Using an exercise ball will keep the blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use.
7. You’ll feel more energetic. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized after you finish your work.
8. Burn up to 350 calories per day. More movement during the day = more calories burnt. Burning 350 calories per day = losing one pound of fat every 10 days. You may not burn quite 350, but nonetheless, it will help you stay fit.
9. Really cheap. Specialized exercise balls designed for sitting usage can range from $15 to $80. Much cheaper than buying an ergonomic chair, which can range anywhere from $100 to $400 and up.
10. C’mon, its fun! Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day.
Don't believe? Read some other articles here and here to see what some experts are saying, and generally the results are quite positive.
I'm really raring to try it and report back the results. Now, the next question is where I can find exercise balls in Korea to buy. Anyone care to join in this experiment, and if it proves useful, go "balls to the walls" with me?
And clearly, this may give new meaning and purpose to commenter "iheartblueballs" over at the Marmot. It may very well turn out that soon, we may all be hearting blue balls, too.
