Product Review: Gaiam BalanceBall Chair

By Kelly Turner on September 24th, 2009

• Share
• Link to StumbleUpon
• 3 Comments

Gaiam, the company that brings us such wonders as Yoga master Rodney Yee  and his ridiculous bod via DVD, has now given us the BalanceBall chair, designed to help you sit with better posture and strengthen your core.

Believe it or not, I’m sitting on one right now as I write this.

Gaiam developed the chair with chiropractor Dr. Randy Weinzoff to provide consistent support and proper spinal alignment. The chair has a small stability ball as the seat, affixed in the plastic base on wheels, with a high, curved back for support. It runs about $79.00, the cost of a typical office chair, and is available in blush, charcoal, plum, pool, and sage colors to fit any decor.

Meant  for desk jockeys and computer addicts, the BalanceBall chair takes a completely sedentary activity, like sitting, and makes it..well..slightly less sedentary.

This chair isn’t a miracle worker, but few things are.  It doesn’t force you to sit up straight, so you can slouch in it just as much as any other chair.  What it does do, however, is provide a slightly unstable seat that keeps your core engaged, thanks to the stability ball, and the ergonomic, curved back allows you to lean against it in a more natural position than flat backed chairs.

Is this going to give you a ripped six-pack and prep-school posture while sitting on your butt all day?  No.  But when you sit at a desk all day anyway, like most of us do, having a chair that conforms to the natural curve of your spine, and provides the extra core strengthening from the stability ball, can only help.  Plus, the stability ball is removable so you can get in some exercises on your lunch break.

And as an added bonus, the chair makes work a little more fun when you get to bounce up and down all day.