by Laurette Ziemer
Evening Standard
London, England
Corporate America seems to have gone slightly loopy -- office chairs are being banished by the thousand and replaced with oversized beach balls.
Walk into more than 300 companies and you'll find everyone from chief executive to office juniors gently bouncing at their desks while they enjoy their working lives as if there was nothing stressful going on.
With legs straddled at 90 degrees and with calves gripping these graphite-coloured latex balls, our overseas cousins have discovered the perfect way to work and exercise at the same time. Even when sitting perfectly still the spine is being strengthened. Slight movements work various muscles, and the floor-pump action as you inflate it breaks the monotony of a dull day.
"It may look different but it's amazingly comfortable," said Manhattan accountant Nick Tarrant after nervously trying a ball for the first time. "I'm going to get one. I can just see myself bouncing around the boardroom or tryng to explain persion plans as I rock gently backwards and forwards." Bouncing relieves stress.
"It really increases your work rate," said office manager Karl Aaman as she bobbed gently up and down at her desk. "I feel great."
The ball, looking like a Sixties Space Hopper toy without the hand grips, is taking over the nation. "If you get tired of sitting on it, you can throw it against the wall or practice basketball," said Mr Tarrant, doing just that down the corridor of Ball Baker Leake on 42 Street.
"It has changed my life," said a Wall Street Banker. "I've used it for two months and my back and shoulders feel better than ever. I've now got one at home."
The Arizona manufacturers have created the newest version, The PostureBall, in tasteful executive grey latex which is designed to replace the traditional leather power chair. Dr Susanne Klein-Vogelbach came up with the idea 80 years ago in Switzerland, as an exercise prop.
Arizona fitness guru Deby Harper realised its chair potential when she saw her son was able to concentrate and work better while sitting on her exercise ball at his desk.