Prior to joining Insider Inc., she was the lifestyle editor at Hearst's, where she wrote product reviews and gift guides, and developed the site's coverage of big deal days. She has over 10 years' experience covering product reviews and major deal holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day. She has interviewed startup CEOs and brand founders, reported on the rebirth of a fashion company that narrowly escaped bankruptcy, written guides to wardrobe staples like the best loafers, developed testing methodology for hundreds of stories, and edited countless reviews, buying guides, deal articles, and gift guides.

Sally started at Insider in 2018 as an editor and has since held the role of senior editor and deputy editor on Insider Reviews. Sally Kaplan is the Executive Editor for Insider Reviews, the product review wing of Insider's service journalism team. Check out the Gaiam Ultimate Balance Ball Chair on Amazon for $99.98 > I can't really lay backwards over my chair in the Business Insider office, but I'd definitely do it at home where I'm not at risk of our CEO walking by. I would highly recommend it to anyone who works from a home office specifically because it would be super easy to take stretch breaks using the balance ball. Overall, I can't say the balance ball chair has fixed my back problems or completely changed my life, but I can say that it's a fun and comfortable way to sit at work. I will say it's a lot more comfortable to use the ball when you're wearing sneakers, flats, or anything without a tall heel, and that you might want to adjust the ball based on the shoes you're wearing. This became a bit of an issue for me after testing out the ball while wearing different types of shoes over the course of a few weeks. The one disadvantage to this model is that in order to adjust the height of the chair, you have to either pump or deflate the ball until you get it just right - there's no simple way to adjust the height of the base otherwise. Though the ball is supported by a base and back rest that keeps it in place, I can easily recall the feeling of bouncing around on one just like it as a kid. Because the chair is so easy to wiggle around and stretch on, it gives you a playful, almost childlike sensory experience. I'll admit, I didn't really know what the brand meant when they claimed the chair had 'energizing' powers, but after sitting in it, I kind of get it. A few of the five wheels feature locks on them so you can stay perfectly in place, though I haven't had to engage the locking mechanisms at all (for reference, I have carpet underneath my chair). The ball comes off the wheeled base so you can use it for actual exercise, but I just use it to sit on. The setup of the ball is pretty straightforward - you just have to assemble the base and fill the ball with air using an included pump.

There's nothing about the chair that forces proper posture - in that you can still physically slouch if you want to - but it does provide an ergonomic base that subtly reminds you to engage your core and straighten up. An important thing to note here, though, is that it doesn't just do this for you automatically - you have to put some effort into it. The Ultimate Balance Ball chair is one of the newest in Gaiam's line of balance ball chairs, all designed to help you engage your core, improve your posture, and 'energize you' as you sit at your desk. Plus, I can use it in combination with the BetterBack to force myself to maintain proper posture if I find myself slouching on the chair during the day. Though it takes some effort on my part to keep my spine aligned, it has also helped with my discomfort and made sitting at my desk less of a daily stressor.

The most recent product I've tested to deal with discomfort is the Gaiam Ultimate Balance Ball chair ($99.98). I love this gadget because it essentially forces my back into a properly aligned position, so I don't have to engage my core or do anything special to reduce my back pain.īut I'm here to tell you about something that has made sitting at my desk, well.kind of fun! You may have caught the article I wrote about the BetterBack, a posture corrector made famous by its appearance on 'Shark Tank' (and kept famous by how well it works). This doesn't bode well for me as someone who sits at a desk all day, so I'm constantly on the hunt for products that make me feel a little more comfortable, or at least a little less terrible. I'm in possession of a pretty messed up back.

At $99.98, it's cheaper than most other ergonomic chairs, making it a solid value.

I tried Gaiam's new Ultimate Balance Ball chair, and found that it's super fun to sit on, and has helped me focus on better posture at work.

I have extremely bad posture and even worse back pain.

Yoga ball office chair