sitting on chair / swiss ball

[helm]

recently I have been sitting a lot at my desk and found that my cair is really crappy. after sitting for about 4-6h my rump (that end part of the spine) starts to hurt, and there's an uncomfortable sensation at mid back. the chair is not really ergonomically formed and well upholstered. nevertheless, there's no $$ and space for a new chair, and I will not be needing it anymore in 2 months.

for that time I thought sitting on a swiss ball might be better for the back. and it's fun to bounce up and down on it.

but reading a little more on it made me question that. here's a short excerpt from http://www.ergoweb.com/news/detail.cfm?id=1091:

Exercise balls are not recommended for prolonged office sitting.

* Sitting on the exercise balls with no trunk support and the constant trunk movement certainly does activate trunk musculature and therefore aids in maintaining muscle tone. However, since the muscles shorten during contraction, there is a huge compression placed on the intervertebral discs. Prolonged compression is contraindicated, especially during sitting since the pelvis is rotated forward which flattens the lumbar lordosis adding a further compressive penalty to the discs.
* I don't know if it is published, but Dr. Stuart McGill (University of Waterloo) told me that the EMG in all trunk musculature goes through the roof while sitting on the exercise balls. In particular, the Quadratus Lumborum muscle is highly active and it places a high compressive force on the discs.
* Furthermore, in the morning since the spine is elongated due to lying down for eight hours after sleeping and the intervertebral disc space is larger, the spine is much more unstable. Lifting and excessive spinal movement in the first couple of hours in the morning is not recommended. Therefore, an exercise ball or similar device should probably not be used first thing in the morning.

what do you think? any positive/ negative experiences with those balls?
maybe I should alternate between the chair and the ball, like 2h chair, 1h ball etc.

[eLvarouza]

I really wouldn't know, but can't you look into another solution? E.g. get up and walk around a bit more often, or bring in a pillow from home to sit on.

[bigwhat62]

hope you arent lke dwight here:

[helm]

not all the time, bigwhat

nevertheless, the buzz is already over and the air is out of that thing, I guess I'll go back to normal sitting and some movement from time to time...

[Love_Deadlifts]

hope you arent lke dwight here:

That was the first thing i thought of when he mentioned sitting on a swiss ball at work... you beat me to it.

[bigwhat62]

one of my favorite shows. cant wait for the next season, the strike screwed up last season.

[mjh]

I tried to show my American girlfriend the British version once, she hated it. Said it was "too painful". I understand, a good friend refers to it as "cringe comedy".

On topic now, I've switched from a sit down desk and "ergonomic" chair to a stand up desk. The main benefit is that I can't just vegetate, I have to move around after about 10 minutes. This usually means doing a bit of housework or making some food. It's also drastically reduced my time spent aimlessly surfing.

[bigwhat62]

I tried to show my American girlfriend the British version once, she hated it. Said it was "too painful". I understand, a good friend refers to it as "cringe comedy".

On topic now, I've switched from a sit down desk and "ergonomic" chair to a stand up desk. The main benefit is that I can't just vegetate, I have to move around after about 10 minutes. This usually means doing a bit of housework or making some food. It's also drastically reduced my time spent aimlessly surfing.

i have seen bits of the UK version, maybe i can get a season on netflix cause i liked it.

as for the office setup, i have an ergo chair and all the jazz. but i still have to get up and stretch. if i am in a telecon i usually just stand the whole time at my cube.