One of the easiest ways to improve your posture at work and get a proper workout as well, is to use an exercise ball 
as your office chair. Using an exercise ball as an office chair will destabilize your core and force you to keep yourself upright.
While some experts are weary of whether using an exercise ball as a chair will actually help maintain and improve posture, there are some who firmly believe it does help. The lack of armrests, back support and other attributes to a chair makes a user pay more attention to their posture. In addition to helping your posture, the exercise ball keeps you active which also improves awareness and productivity at work.
When you are sitting in an office chair you might find yourself slightly hunched over a keyboard, but an exercise ball forces you to maintain an upright position. This turns passive sitting into active sitting. There are numerous chairs on the market that promote proper back support, and while they help maintain your posture an exercise ball actively helps improve it. GearFire.net has a list of 10 reasons why you should give this method a try.
10 Reasons to Use an Exercise Ball as Your Chair
1. Forces proper spine alignment. Because an exercise ball is not stable, your body needs to try to balance itself on it. The perfect spinal posture is coincidently the easiest to balance with. Thus, your body will automatically try to align itself into the proper posture. This helps improve your spinal health, and decrease back pains.
2. Causes you to frequently change positions. An exercise ball causes to you to change your position often to balance. For example, if you turn 45 degrees to face the phone, your body will assume a new position. This helps reduce damage caused by prolonged sitting in the same position.
3. Fitness is at your fingertips. Another great thing about using this alternative to a chair, is that you can do stretches or mini-workouts whenever you want, without getting up. If you’ve ever stuck waiting for a minute or two, you can make productive use of that time with a quick workout or stretch. Because it’s much more convenient, you will probably do it more, thus resulting in better health.
4. Improve your balance. This one is very understandable. Sitting on an unstable surface all day will improve your sense of balance, as well as the reactions of your muscles. The result? An overall better balance, that can be observed out of the office.
5. Get that 6-pack you’ve been wanting. Your body primarily uses your core (abdominal) muscles to help compensate for changes in balance. Thus, your essentially getting a low-key abdominal workout. This may not sound like a lot, but consider the amount of time you spend on your computer at the office, or at home. Those hours can build up, and result in a strengthening of ab muscles.
6. Improves your circulation. Using an exercise ball will keep the blood flowing to all parts of your body, throughout the day. A desk chair on the other hand, reduces circulation to some parts of the body after prolonged use.
7. You’ll feel more energetic. It has been proven that staying in one position, will make you more tired, while moving around and being active with give you more energy. With an exercise ball as a chair, you will feel much more energized after you finish your work.
8. Burn up to 350 calories per day. More movement during the day = more calories burnt. Burning 350 calories per day = losing one pound of fat every 10 days. You may not burn quite 350, but nonetheless, it will help you stay fit.
9. Really cheap. Specialized exercise balls designed for sitting usage can range from $15 to $80. Much cheaper than buying an ergonomic chair, which can range anywhere from $100 to $400 and up.
10. C’mon, its fun! Who doesn’t like the idea of bouncing around on an exercise ball all day. Exercise balls are an exciting alternative to chairs, and may just give that spark of fun to your day.
If you’re interested in trying this method, push your office chair aside and bring in your exercise ball. Even swapping out your office chair for a couple of hours can do wonders for your muscles, spine, and office productivity.
