Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair – Ergonomic Stability Chair for Desk & Office | Yoga Ball Seat with Base, Air Pump, & Exercise Guide | Improves Posture & Core Strength (300 lb Capacity)

I've borrowed my co workers Gaiam Balance Ball Chair when she's been out of the office. I just loved it immediately, less back paid, less pressure on my legs and helped with my posture. I just had to get one for myself. It arrived today!!! Like a kid on Christmas I tossed my old uncomfortable office chair to the side and immediately put this together. I like the pop of color the green has....so that's about all the positives I can give. Assemble of the chair was very quick and simple. Inflating the ball however, with that ridiculous pump thing, I had to go into a conference room to put air in it. (just not appropriate to do while sitting at your office desk) The ball.....the ball is inflated to the max I didn't want to pop it. I placed it in the chair and it was like dropping a beach ball into it. This ball is SOOOOOO freaking small when I sat on it I could just about sit Indian Style on the floor!! I'm 5'10 about 150lbs. I immediately rolled it to the side and grabbed my neighbors ball and I'm sitting here typing this review in comfort. UPDATE 6/9/15: okay so I called Gaiam customer service about replacing the ball and was told to just give it a couple days to expand to it's full size. So today (day two) I came in and inflated more.....to my SURPRISE it's not perfect IT"S BETTER. I'm high yet still able to lean back on the back rest comfortably. This goes from 2 stars to 5 in my book. I couldn't believe it. If you think its to small on the initial opening let it sit in a warm space over night and then add more air......you'll be pleasantly surprised. Everyone at work is taking triple looks at my comfy, supportive, fun colored, new office chair! Love it. They should put a disclaimer in the description so people know what to expect. would have been helpful for me. Considering it? Go for it!!! Since I had it shipped to the office I don't know if I should return all of it or go in search of an adult sized ball. I did some digging and I see there are different sized balls on Amazon sold separately for 19.99. Seriously?! How do I just exchange the ball?! Hello, AMAZON? Anyone out there? I've spent allot of money on this site at least deliver the items pictured. The lady in the picture isn't squatting on the floor she's at desk level.

I love the chair. The only issue I have is with the quality of the ball. The ball does not compare to other exercise balls out there. But, I use this as a desk chair and for that, it's perfect. Stronger back, better posture, simple design. I don't know why we don't have more of these in offices....especially with everyone having back issues.

I wish I had purchased this sooner. It is so comfortable and forces a better posture. I don't feel like I need to get up after sitting for 15 or 30 minutes, even though I should. The only down side is that is does need to be pumped up every so often but that's to be expected. The exercise sheet it comes with is great but some of the exercises shown are awkward to do with the chair back on, as shown. It takes less room than my other office chair as it can tuck in a bit better and has a smaller footprint.

UPDATE: Having sat on this ball every day for about 4 weeks now, here are my updated thoughts: 1) I don't miss sitting in an office chair. I'm keeping correct posture consistently and am now challenging myself to sit in correct posture in non-ball chairs. I don't miss the lack of arm rests either. 2) My back soreness went away after a few days. 3) I have to re-inflate the ball about once a week, as it loses about 2-3 inches of air each week. (I have my monitor angled up and notice my height go down in relation to the angle after about a week). 4) The nuts on one side of the horizontal metal ball bar that secures it to the base of the chair unscrew themselves. They have fallen off three times and I am now leaving them off since the other side is still securing the bar in. 5) I'm contemplating buying another one for my home to use at the dinner table or general lounging. ORIGINAL POSTING/FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Let me preface by stating I have really revved up my efforts to eat better and be more physically fit over the past 3 years. I know the importance of posture but LOVE to slouch. I am male, mid-thirties, 6'4", 200 lbs, reasonably fit, eat very well compared to SAD eaters, and consistently go to the gym 2-3 times per week. I work a sedentary job in HR and do not know why it's taken me this long to buy a product like this. It was delivered last night and I took it to the office and set it up this morning. Here are my first impressions after sitting on it all day. (Note the preposition use: you may sit IN a chair but you definitely sit ON this ball.) 1) Setup: very easy. Took less than 10 minutes including unpacking. No tools required, though a mini wrench is included. Everything was snap in or screw on. A hand pump was included with the ball and it took about 2 minutes to inflate. I purchased the Leg Extenders to adjust for my height and was glad I did. It takes the recommended height to 6'1'' but I sit at a relatively low desk anyway. 2) Function: I am sitting about the same height as my office chair. I kind of miss not having arm rests but I've been told by other ball chair users that I will get used to this and never want them again. I don't understand the importance of the back rest. If you sit upright like I've been doing all day, your back won't touch the back rest. You can lean back at the expense of bad posture - the rest will push against your lower to mid back. It is removable though and I'm contemplating removing it already, like other reviewers have suggested. 3) Posture: Sitting on this balance ball encourages better posture. It feels more correct to sit upright than to slouch. I can slouch still by slumping my chest and shoulders but it feels wrong on it, like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing. 4) Feel: I don't doubt that I will be sore for a few days. I feel some soreness developing in my back due to sitting correctly and my shoulders due to having to hold my arms up off a rest all day. But just like with working out, soreness is your body's way of developing more muscle mass as it repairs strained and torn muscle groups. I feel confident that I will be way better off going forward. All in all, sitting still isn't the best thing you can do for your body. Our bodies were designed to move around, squat, jump, run, etc. But if you're in a job that requires sitting, wouldn't you want to do everything you can to make sure you're at least sitting in the healthiest way possible? I know I sure would.

I will update if my impressions change later. This item arrived quickly and was quite easy to put together following the instructions. The hardest part was blowing up the ball, for the nozzle of the air pump really did NOT want to fit into the hole for the ball. The directions also state not to blow the ball up larger than a certain measurement, but did not supply a measuring tool. This would be simply remedied by supplying a ribbon of paper or plastic in the length of diameter that the ball should not exceed. I did follow the protocol of filling it, letting it sit for a few hours, and then filling it more to make it easier as it got hard at the end, and a good bit of air was constantly coming OUT of the pump they provided. I'm not sure if my pump was defective or everyone deals with this. The brakes, yeah the brakes flip to locked REALLY easily. Simple solution would be to put the two wheels with the locking ability on the rearside of the chair instead of the front. No big deal. I was under the impression from the description on amazon that the chair comes with that backside piece as a backrest, but the instructions in the box CLEARLY state that it is not strong enough for that purpose and is meant for stability when performing exercises. I bought this chair to use as an office desk chair as advised by my chiropractor. The ball allows for some lower back and pelvic movement and will hopefully keep my back happier than my standard chair. I love that it doesn't have armrests. Those only get in the way. I'm very comfortable sitting here as I write this, slowly teetering back and forth. The base adds a level of stability that I appreciate. I already wish I had paid more for the swivel base, but the reviews for the swivel base showed many issues with breaking. All in all I'm satisfied with my purchase and hope to get good use out of this.

This was great initially, and not difficult to put together and inflate. BUT, after only 2 weeks of use (by a 160 pound person), the ball developed a 3" split along the center seam rendering it useless! This was incredibly disappointing as the chair was purchased for my son who has ADHD and functioned as a desk chair to help him concentrate.

---- Ball Chair Concept in General: (4 stars) ---- As far as the ball chair concept in general, I like it. I started using this chair almost 7 ago and I do think it has helped with posture and strengthening my back. I’ve had trouble with back and neck pain for years due to my job and sitting and typing at a computer all day. It hasn’t completely relieved the back and neck pain but it seems to have helped. As a side note for those who might have similar issues, for me, jogging a mile or so 2 to 4 times a week is really what helps me the most. It took, maybe, a month to build up to sitting in this chair all day. The first week I couple probably 15 minutes at a time for about two hours, then back to regular chair. Now I’ll do most of the day but switch out now and then if I’m getting tired. But I sit for hours at a time, I’m not up and down. ---- This Specific Ball Chair: (3 stars) ---- It’s fine but not great and there seems be some issues with consistency. I’ve been using the same chair for about 7 months without an issue. I bought two chairs, one with a black ball and one with green because I was going to give one away. I set up the first chair no problem but on the second chair ran into an issue with the front support bar. The nuts that came with the chair didn’t match the bar (different threads). I thought I was doing something wrong but since I had another chair I was able to confirm the nuts were faulty. No big deal, I’ve been using the chair without the bar and it seems fine. I pumped up the green ball first. It was really stiff and I had to struggle to get it pumped up, then let it sit overnight, then pump it up more, then let it sit overnight, and finally get it to the right size. It seemed like it would pop but I just kept pumping. The black ball was completely different, it was so easy to pump up I didn’t have to let it sit overnight and I actually pumped it up more than I needed to without even struggling so then had to let some air out. The black ball was so much softer to sit on, as well. It’s been almost 7 months and the green ball, while it has softened some, is not as soft as the black ball right out of the box! I read another review where someone had two chairs and their green ball was the soft one. So I don’t know how consistent my experience will be with others. I would like to see more quality checks and consistency.

I can't give a very honest review of this chair, as i have only had it for one day. But I do want to iterate what a lot of others have been saying--follow the ball inflation instructions! When I first inflated the ball I thought it was the wrong size. It was so small that I was afraid to use it. It was like a beach ball. I was so disappointed. So, I left it for 24 hours and (cynically) let half the air out about 30 hours later, and re-inflated. Now, it's perfect. It really does stretch and grow. It fits the chair, and it's the right size for a grown up to use at a desk. Kind of a relief, really! I have two kids who both wanted the chair because it was so small and perfect for them yesterday, and I had no interest in buying a second defective product :P So far, super comfy. I am working right now for the first time in 3 months with no acute scapular pain. I have lots of enthusiasm for this product, even though I don't yet know how it will be long term.