You sit down to your computer to put in some productive time and start with all the best of intentions when it comes to good posture. You know, seated upright, upper body in lift, all systems GO. Yet before you know it – maybe this happens for you, too – you get this little collapse. Your chest sinks down. Your shoulders roll forward.  And – seemingly all of a sudden  – at or below the belt, your back starts to squeeze and tighten, and you just sit it out (guilty!) or squirm in discomfort. Guess what’s happened? You have created a fatal situation in your back.

In today’s video, I’ve got your back.

80% of all women have or will at some point in their lives experience back pain. And if you’re like me and spend a lot of time sitting at your desk at your computer, then today’s episode is for you.

My new favorite fitness toy: FitBall

I’ve got my favorite new fitness toy to share with you. Don’t be frightened. And don’t laugh! I know it looks very orthopedic, but that’s the point it IS orthopedic.

Sitting at your desk, maybe you’ve experienced this too.

Do you find that your back starts to ache ? Right down in the low back. A  few weeks ago. I started to notice that I was getting increasing pain in the lower back. Now, I’d been doing a lot of travel and I was a bit crunched in the back from all of that. Plus sitting long hours at my desk. And I thought, “I’ve really got to do something here”. I do corrective exercise, I get up and move about, but those long hours at my computer were really taking their toll on my back. Visiting my sister, she commented “I know what you might want to try – why don’t you try my new chair ball that I got at my chiropractor’s?” At that point, I was willing to try anything. So I used it, and I found out it  helped enormously and immediately went online to order one for myself.  And I couldn’t wait to tell you about it. Let me explain more about the problem, and why we are experiencing  the back pain. Then I’ll show you how to use this puppy to your own pain-free advantage.

Spine-friendly seating

Correct position while sitting would have you:

  • upright,
  • with a slight curvature in your lower back,
  • a little curvature in the upper back,
  • and also a little curve in the in the back of the neck.

This follows the naturally occurring curves in your spinal column, designed to cushion, flex, and distribute stress.

Correct sitting posture respects the natural curves of the spine

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Enter FitBall

The trick is, how to recreate that posture for extended periods of time when you need to be seated.  And that’s when this toy comes to the rescue. The FitBall is similar to  large exercise balls.  I’ve utilized the latter – large, fun orbs –  on occasion for sitting at my computer, but the height is never quite right plus there is a definite workload involved with these, and I don’t always want to be spending hours trying to balance myself when at my desk.  The FitBall is the perfect compromise.

Falling out of good position:  The graphic truth

Here’s what’s happening when we fall out of good position.  When we slump out of our natural spinal curves, what’s happened is we’ve created an unnatural flattening of the curve in our lower back – smack dab in the lumbar region. Specifically, the pelvis has started to sneak into a posterior tilt.  This means that the top of the pelvis has started to tilt back toward the wall behind you.  This in itself is not necessarily a “bad” or “wrong” thing.  As a matter of fact, many exercise techniques actually build this slight pelvic tilt in to portions of their technique. Yet in this situation – seated – you have drained the energy out of your upper body and collapsed it south, causing all of the workload and weight of the upper body to sit right in that lower back.  It’s no wonder the pain there screams at us.

There’s an easy solution

Setting up your FitBall is a piece of cake.  Put a little bit of air into it- it comes with an easy ‘blow hole’ and play with it to find just the right amount of fill to give you proper support, which will depend on your weight and body size. When you sit down, scootch right up to the front portion of the FitBall so that the air-filled area presses you slightly forward into a wonderful upright position.  My video demonstrates this clearly. You can then easily upright your spine, plant your feet on the floor, stay much more energized, and trust me, much less inclined to fall into a slump. You’ll find yourself better able to sit in good position for longer periods of time.  You should still get up and move about often – which I do – yet you’ll find resiliency at sitting much improved.

I did your shopping for you

Thinking that you might like to snag one of these for yourself, I snooped around the internet to find the best availability. Here’s where I found the best price and fastest delivery:  FitBall.  As a matter of fact, when I ordered shipping was free and I saved about $15 over buying at the chiropractor’s office.  Delivery was quick too. One more tip:  FitBall comes in different sizes.  I went for the larger, 15″ size so that I would stay solidly on the desk and wouldn’t have to navigate staying ‘on board’ and not rolling off the edges. Please let me know if you end up checking FitBall out yourself by leaving your comments in Leave a Reply below.  If you’ve found a different solution to this problem, let me know about that too!  In a pinch, you could use a pillow yet it is the air-pressured properties of the FitBall that give it functional edge. Here’s to better backs for busy women!

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