Too. Many. Headlines.

So, we started sitting on balls at work.

Yeah, I know. Hence the title of this post. There are just too many jokes to choose from on this one.

This was not a company change. One of my coworkers said she had thought about bringing one of those stability balls into work to sit at her desk. If you are familiar with these, also called pilates balls or Swiss balls and used in rehabilitation or at the gym, you know that they are like giant bouncy balls that you used to bop around on when you were a kid (at least, when I was a kid I did). They require a bit of balance to stay on and you can do a number of exercises with the ball.

The potential group razzing she could receive was what prevented her from doing this. Upon hearing us say that we would not tease her, but in fact join her, she purchased one, along with 2 more of us, and we all pumped them up and sit at them at our desks.

I've read mixed reviews on this practice. This abstract doesn't agree that it's a good idea for prolonged use, but items such as this (where they are obviously interested in selling the ball) say that it helps with core strength and balance. I think that I agree with this assessment that it can be good for you, but not for prolonged periods. I've done it for 2 days now and find that I enjoy switching back to my chair after a while. However, my abs are a bit sore (which may be sad) and my quads are as well from the little bounce that the ball encourages. We found an amazing number of links on the topic of "active sitting" and even this book of exercises.

Bottom line, if you'll pardon the pun, is that it's fun. I would suggest it for a change, but not for the long run just yet, although we've seen office chairs that employ the ball as a seat, with back support and casters to roll on.

At least no one can say we're not on the ball.