Gaiam Classic Balance Ball Chair, Stability Seat

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.

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.

Overall, this product is functioning as expected with no issues. I have had the chair for about a month now and so far so good! You may see in other reviews that the metal support bar has snapped or the chair feet have crushed in - I can see how this would happen if you are sitting down on the chair too aggressively or if the ball is over-inflated and is putting too much pressure on the support bar. The chair frame and support bar are not made of the most sturdy materials but if you are gentle with the chair and are careful to sit down slowly on it - you shouldn't have any issues with these pieces breaking. I have had other balance balls that I have used and was a little worried about the ball being too small after seeing other reviews. I'll be honest - it does look very small when you inflate it!! This is normal and I promise that it will fit in the frame and be tall enough for you to sit comfortably at your desk. While the parts are not the most heavy duty - the ball itself seems to be of high quality and is durable so far. I only gave the chair four stars due to the lower quality of the parts/design for the support bar. My experience using and sitting on the chair gets five stars though! I bought this due to lower back pain and discomfort sitting in a desk chair all day and this has helped me with my posture and pain so far. If you are weary of buying the chair due to the pieces breaking (as I was before buying) just remember to be gentle with the chair and not to put too much tension on the support bar by over-inflating the ball!

This thing is great and has been a more comfortable and generally healthier desk chair than I’ve ever had. I have a nice $800 chair that was killing me, given that I spend up to 10 hours a day at my desk and have spine problems. This was the perfect solution. Definitely follow the instructions on the 24 hour initial blow up and then doing it again - the ball needs to be stretched. I have only had to reinflate it twice in about three months and the first time was a week in, and I think it was still because the ball was stretching that time. I have even found ways to use it for my PT exercises, but the main use has saved me so much pain and discomfort. The only criticism I have is that the inflation device that comes with it is difficult to use and leaks when you get close to fully inflated, making it harder to get it to the size that it needs to be. But I purchased an electric inflation device because I am disabled and could not really get it done with the hand one and that solved the problem. My IT guy was here for two hours, told me he was just going to try it and then use the regular chair. At the end of the 2 hours, he was still on the yoga ball and asked me where I got it and how much it was at the end of it because he wanted to purchase one himself. Given that a normal desk chair will run you upwards of $500 for an uncomfortable one that won’t last, this is more than worth the price.

I've sat on yoga balls for years and this is the first time I'm trying a chair. These used to be really common around 200, but now they're bing phased out. This was a good buy for the money I paid for it. The assembly was supper easy and. maintenance is minimal. The chair is very stable making it really hard to fall off of it which is a concern with yoga ball. I put roller skate chair which makes it move easily..

No plug. No pump. Wrong size ball unless you're a 5yo child. Once assembled you're not going to be able to disassemble to return so this was a total waste of money. Off to see if I can salvage my loss with a ball that might actually be useful.

I love this chair for the way it helps me have less pain in my back. However, the ball lasted less than two years before it split randomly (while not sitting on it) at a seam. I replaced the ball and will see how long this one lasts. If it does not last, I will try another brand.

...so many opinions on something so simple. As for my opinion on why it works, it keeps me from getting too chair-lazy when confined behind the desk. Form: per aforementioned comment, it's a big green ball in a frame. One question that came up whilst browsing the web, and various offerings here on Amazon, was that of different manufacturers all looking the same. Is it unusual for one factory in China to co-brand one product to many...absolutely not. The name in the mold inset is Fit-Chair. This exact product is marketed under a slew of different names. I chose Gaiam because I liked the price, the green ball, and the fact that the company is located in my old stomping grounds of Colorado. Fit: I'm 5'11" and in my search for this type of seating surface I noticed a number of reports that the ball was too small. Concerned would be too strong of a word to use when placing my order, however, based on reviews from others I hoped (once delivered) I would find most of the complaints regarding seating height were due to under-inflation of the ball and that's exactly what I found. If you do as suggested in the enclosed single page idiot guide you will likely find the same. The instructions state to not inflate in excess of 22 inches - at 22 inches the ball sat much higher than expected. My work surface may sit shorter than other computer desks at couple inches shy of three feet - I had to let out quite a bit of air to arrive at 90 degrees for knees and elbows. It's simple, measure 22" from the wall and stand the box the chair is shipped in at that mark. If you can't roll the ball through that gap you've over-inflated. If you have a boatload of clearance, you're under inflated. Start with the stated max and work to your ideal seating position from there. Function: I sit upright. I bounce about. I roll to and fro amongst my three desk tops. I find the ball comfortable, and feel better when the afternoon lazy time hits - late day with no caffeine can get long. (Trying successfully to quit.) In addition to keeping my core engaged while seated, the freedom to bounce/roll/whatever also keeps the mind engaged. The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair serves it's designed purpose perfectly for me.

Très bien installé. Roule très bien exactement ce que je recherchais. Toujours en état depuis l'achat l'an dernier. Confortable et résistant

Recibí la caja y el artículo en buen estado. Se arma fácilmente. Al niño le encantó la silla.

La compre por menos de 100 euros y la verdad que es una silla fantástica. Hay mucha gente que usa los balones de fitness sin ruedas, pero el problema esta, que para moverla, y colocarla en la posicion correcta (y no deformar la pelota) es molesto. Ademas trae un agarrador para moverla con mas comodidad (no es un respaldo lo que aparece atras). Creo que de las sillas que he encontrado tanto en almacenes como en Amazon es la mejor relación calidad precio

Fabulous chair. Great for core stability and reducing back pain

Love, love, love this chair. Helps me with my posture and lower back pain when sat too long at a desk. Can’t recommend this item more. My hip pain and lower back pain is gone just like my massage therapist recommended. Easy to assemble. It comes with instructions as well as an exercise sheet to do with the seat. It feels solid and well crafted. The height of the seat works great for me without extenders (I’m 5.5 feet or 167cm). This model has the option to add extensions for taller people which is great. I inflated the ball in several steps as recommended and worked great. Couldn’t be happier with it.