the ball

I read a story about a teacher somewhere who decided to replace all her students' chairs with exercise balls. The net effect was less fidgeting, more exercise for the kids and generally happier kids. I thought why not try it myself. I have chair problems. I've gone through several generations of office chairs and eventually got a kneeling chair which has worked well. But now it's upholstery is going bad and the cushioning is not great anymore. So I got a ball to try.

There was a problem however. I picked the wrong size. I got a huge ball - big mistake. It took a while to pump it up to the required 92 inch circumference. As it got bigger and bigger and bigger and I kept measuring and pumping I began to realize that maybe I'd made a mistake in choosing the size. Finally I got it up to the 93 inches and then I took it up to my desk. Well, I couldn't fit it thorough the doorway of my office. No matter how hard I squeezed it wouldn't go. All I could do was deflate it. After getting it down to about 74 inches I was able to get it through the door.

It's a bit mushy now to sit on now. I have been rolling around on it for a few days. My legs seem happier and I do tend to bounce and roll on it as I sit here and work but it does require a little strength. I found my back muscles were working in places where maybe they don't usually get much action. So it's got to be doing something good- at least it's a sort of exercise or whatever? Who knows- time will tell.