Chairs with Balls – Press Release
July 9, 2012 - Mike Dilke
PRESS RELEASE
Chairs with Balls
That Improve Your Posture and Provide a Core Muscle Workout
Research physiotherapists at Limerick University have compared sitting positions on a standard office chair and The Back App chair. The team found that the activation of important trunk muscles was significantly lower on the Back App meaning that sitting upright required less effort.
The research leader, Kieran O’Sullivan, said “Most people would assume that sitting without a backrest would be hard. However, our work shows that using the Back App means that you sit upright more easily.”
A small ball at the centre of the circular base makes the user have to balance while they are sitting. The ball can be adjusted to change the amount the user has to balance from very little up to a level that provides a gentle core muscle workout.
The angle between thighs and trunk (known as the hip angle) is greater than on a regular chair. This leads to the shape of the spine, while sitting on the Back App, to be very similar to that when standing up. This neutral position is considered an optimal posture by physiotherapists.
The fact that sitting requires less effort on the Back App, according to Kieran, is “probably because of the larger hip angle or the motion of the seat or both.” Either way you will be using less effort to maintain a good posture, exercising you core and sitting on a very stylish chair.
This information released by Mike Dilke, distributor of the Back App chair in the UK, on mike.dilke@backapp.co.uk and telephone 01727 757221 or 07979 248286.
All questions to the researcher, Kieran O’Sullivan, to be directed to the University of Limerick press office via:-
Christine Brennan
Protocol, Public Relations & Communications
University of Limerick
Tel: 00 353 61 23 4921 / 086 781 8441