I purchased this Gaiam Balance Ball Chair in late December 2005.
It's an item you have to get used to if you've sat in regular office chairs for a long time (I've sat in padded-foam/plastic chairs for over 15 years, over 40 hours per week). I'm 6 feet tall, 155 lb., and practice Vinyasa Yoga every now-and-then, and I am no Yoga expert by any means.
1. The purpose of doing Yoga ball exercise is to align your body through training the core muscle in your torso--your abdominal muscle will help support your back. This practice, over time, will give you better posture. Also, "constant-centering" myself on the ball reminds me not to bend forward my shoulders or slouch.
2. My old office chair has a pneumatic height adjustment at 19"-20" This ball seat height (with the doughnut-shape base) is about 23" tall; sitting down on it, at my weight, brings it down to about 18"--of course, it will depend on your monitor/keyboard setup and on how much air you put in the ball. I raised the table height 3" higher and purchased an adjustable keyboard/mouse extension tray. I make the ball as firm as possible.
3. The back support is detachable (which I've done) and allows you to center yourself over it more. Don't lean on the back support for too long, or you may hurt your lower back.
4. You will experience some back pain for a few days, some shoulder pain if you're use to having an armrest, and neck pain if you had a headrest. Keeping my chest open and head up help my abs stay taut.
Minus half-star for the rolling wheels because they sometimes trip me over when I get up and stand. So, I spread my feet and use my leg muscles to stand upright. I recommend it still because it motivates me to get up and walk around. It's not healthy to allow the legs be pooled with blood (which causes veining) over two-three hours at a time. This item is at a decent price range, offered here on Amazon. Hope this helps! Gaiam Balance Ball Chair (Black)
I used one of these at my last job. This is a wonderful chair. The first time that I sat on it I fell off, but then once I learned how to sit on it, it was amazing. It kept my back straight, and kept me sitting upright, and I didn't feel so sleepy after 8 hours at the computer. I love this chair. It it worth the price.
The chair is surprisingly comfortable. I'm not sure how *much* it helps me with balance or toning, but I do actually feel like I'm using my muscles a little more than usual while sitting all day at the office, so I feel pretty good about it. And it looks really nice, too.
Overall I like the chair a lot, just one real complaint. There is no height adjustment. For me it's not much of an issue because my desk happens to be at around the right height. But this might be a problem for someone else. I suppose you could let some air out of the ball to make it a little lower, but that doesn't strike me as an ideal solution.
I do have one suggestion for anyone buying this chair. There are four wheels that you snap into the proper places onto the bottom of the chair when you're assembling it. Two of the four have locks you can flip down to prevent the wheels from rolling. I have found that with these two wheels attached on the front side of the chair, my feet keep accidentally hitting the locks and activating them so that it's difficult to roll the chair. I'd suggest putting these locks on the back side of the chair unless you plan to leave the locks activated most of the time.
I've been using just a plain gym ball as a chair instead. You don't really need or miss the back because the ball gets you to hold your spine in correct allignment. So I recommend just buying a ball (much cheaper) and using that alone.
I love my ball chair and sit on it continuously at work. It was easy to get used to and I can move around quickly and easily. My sitting posture has improved.
I do have one complaint. My pants were showing a lot of wear and tear in their bottoms. After sitting on a pillowcase on the ball for a while proved that the material the ball was made of was the source of the problem, My seamstress mother made a fabric cover for it and...no more problems!
I have been considering this purchase for a while, and decided to spring for it when the price dropped. I am a musician and am very conscious of body alignment -- I do yoga, Pilates and Alexander Technique to maintain my body for playing. My old desk chair was not allowing me to sit truly well, and this product does. Sitting on a ball is great by itself, but the wheeled base allows it to truly function as a desk chair -- for instance, to roll over a few inches towards the printer, or rotate around to the other part of my L-shaped desk. I don't miss the arms at all. I am usually typing or writing when sitting at my desk.
The chair is very comfortable and was very easy to assemble. You should know that the manufacturer cautions against leaning on the back rest, called the "support bar;" it is for "stability during the exercises." There is a booklet included that shows a series of exercises using the ball both on and off its roller base. There are locks on two of the casters for use in doing these exercises.
My caveat, which does not reflect on the quality of the product, is that the ball is too small for me to use off its base. I am 5'8", and use a 55 cm ball. I did not see the FitBall product, which uses the exact ball I like for exercise, and I probably would have purchased that if I had, so I could store my ball on the chair. I may yet; this chair is an acceptable height for my computer keyboard, but rather low for the other part of my desk.'
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