Published April 21, 2005

Sit on it

Stability balls help students with posture and concentration

It's not unusual for a group of fifth-graders to wiggle in their seats.

It is unusual when their seats are actually large, colorful, inflatable balls.

Students in Kris Kozel's classroom sat on the "stability balls" during their independent reading time on a recent Wednesday afternoon. A bystander initially may be surprised at how calm and how focused the entire class was on the task - considering the lack of chairs.


Kozel, a teacher at Jackson Elementary School in Des Moines, has been using the stability balls in her classroom since October.

The use of stability balls, also known as physio balls or fitness balls, is an increasing trend not only in athletics but also physical therapy and workplaces, said exercise physiologist Fabio Comana.

Using them in the classroom can have benefits for students, if the balls are used appropriately, he said.

"I think it's a novel idea," said Comana, with the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization in San Diego. "I think it certainly has tremendous potential."

Stability balls help challenge nerves called proprioceptors , which send signals to your core muscles, making them contract when your spine is out of alignment, Comana said.

The constant movement needed to stay on the ball helps build the body's core muscles and improves balance, coordination, flexibility and circulation, he said.

Increase time gradually
Novices' core muscles can easily become fatigued when initially using the ball, so children should gradually increase their time on it, Comana said. He suggested 20- to 30-minute intervals on the ball, followed by a break.

Stability balls also require maintenance, because a soft or unstable ball increases the likelihood of injury, he said. The balls also need to be changed according to the child's growth.

But one small study, partially sponsored by the American Council on Exercise, found there was no difference in muscle activation when sitting on a wooden stool vs. a stability ball.

"While it appears that sitting on an exercise ball accommodates increased movement, there is little effect on spine loads and muscle activity and the resulting spine stability," said study author Stuart McGill in a press release from the council. McGill said more research on stability balls still needs to be done.

Lisa Witt, a former teacher at Park Avenue Elementary in Des Moines, received a grant that helped her create the stability ball curriculum that teachers at Park Avenue and Jackson elementary schools use.

Witt, who since has moved to Wisconsin, said students must first learn the history of the stability ball and take a test before earning the privilege to use it in the classroom. Witt has started her own business as a consultant to schools interested in using stability balls.

The students start slowly, Witt said, gradually increasing their sitting time, beginning with a total of a half-hour to an hour daily.

When kids are tired, they should switch to a chair, Witt said.

"Kids have to listen to their bodies," said Witt, who hopes that kids will become more aware of their bodies by sitting on the balls.

Helps posture
Students sitting on the balls have permission to move around and get comfortable, she said, which helps improve their posture and blood circulation.

Witt also provided teachers with movement cards explaining exercises students can do using the balls when they get antsy.

Kozel said Witt made a compelling argument for how sitting on the ball would improve students' core muscle strength.

"Given our kids' inactivity, and given the fact that over the years we're requiring more and more seat time for kids, I thought it would be worth pursuing it to see if there would be some benefit to our kids in terms of overall academic performance," Kozel said.

Kozel's students said it took awhile to get used to the ball - like learning not to bounce on it too much, and being careful not to rock too far back and fall off it.

Relieves stress
Since they've gotten the hang of it, students said they've seen physical and mental improvements from sitting on the balls - from having better posture to being able to concentrate more.

"On the stability ball, you got to sit up straight," said Anthony Stewart , 11. "It makes your back feel like it's in the right shape."

Stewart said he notices that he stands straighter after sitting on the ball.

JewellyAnna Hyden , 11, said sitting on the ball helps relieve stress while taking tests and helps her concentrate.

"The ball lets you bounce around a little bit and move," Hyden said. Another perk: She now can do 15 sit-ups, compared with five when she had not been sitting on the ball.

Stacks of chairs are piled in one part of Kozel's classroom, easily accessible to students who want to swap a ball for a regular chair.

"Sometimes my back hurts, so I get a chair," said Itzel Saucedo , 11, who likes sitting on both the chair and ball.

For Casey Collins , 11, the balls are not only more comfortable than chairs, but they keep him more focused.

Collins said sitting on the ball has helped him concentrate on math, a subject he didn't like in the past.

"It just keeps me more alert," he said.

Linda Reysack , principal at Ekstrand Elementary School in the eastern Iowa city of DeWitt, said Ed Thomas, a physical education consultant with the Iowa Department of Education, brought the idea of stability balls to their school as part of a physical education grant.

The balls, as well as other special cushions, are additional tools available to help students who have trouble staying focused or are fidgety, Reysack said.

Students in three other classes at Jackson Elementary in Des Moines - two fifth-grade and one fourth-grade - also have been sitting on red, blue, green and yellow spheres.

More kids on the ball
Sue Crook , whose fourth-grade classroom sits adjacent to Kozel's, said she saw the potential of stability balls to help her own students, some with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and one child with balance problems.

"I whined. I wanted it so badly," Crook said of the opportunity to have stability balls in her class. She uses a stability ball while on the computer.

Students' time on the ball is spread throughout the day, with them sitting on the ball about 50 percent of the day, and much of the time the kids are sitting on the floor, Crook said. They also sit on the balls in the computer and media centers, right outside their classroom, she said.

Thomas said the growing nationwide interest in tools such as the stability ball represents a rediscovery of the importance of good posture and body mechanics in children.

Thomas, who uses a special stability seat cushion, said the balls help students sit upright instead of in a hunched position as they would in a chair, which impairs breathing and blood flow.

"The beginning of physical fitness is the alignment of the child," he said.

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