You probably sit for your job. Most of us do— around 86% of us, in fact. And there’s even a disease being named after it–the oh-so-original “sitting disease.”
That’s because sitting has been linked to cardiovascular disease and weight gain. And everyone who works in an office 9-to-5 will agree, it zaps your energy.
Scott Bahneman felt the same way. After taking an office job, he gained weight and noticed his health diminishing. So he got off his ass and created a chair that acts as part desk accessory and part workout equipment.
The SitTight, which he brought to the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, allows you to work on your fitness in the same hours you’re working in Word and Excel. And the concept is pretty simple: Sitting in the chair, you balance on your center of gravity, which keeps your muscles engaged. Bahneman even says your mind gets a flex from having to stay aware and be mindful of your body’s stability.
The crew at SitTight call the overall experience: “Balanced Active Sitting.”
The bottom of SitTight looks similar to a half-Bosu ball, while the seat is arm and back-less, with a curved and cushioned sitting base.
We’re just happy it’s not the size of a treadmill desk and doesn’t involve a bouncy ball.
The adjustable height allows for changes depending on your build, the platform base serves as a footrest and prevents you from falling on your ass in front of your boss, while the balance component is an adjustable air bladder below the foot platform.
“What I love about this chair is it makes sitting an active process and engages the core and postural muscles, increases heart rate, and burns calories,” said Owner and President of Restore Physical Therapy, John Horsely.
So wait… we can get fit while we sit?
Yeah, that’s the goal. Not in the sense of making up for your gym workout, but in breaking the sedentary lifestyle we’ve come to adopt as a culture.
And it’s critical for our health, since reports say even if you exercise hard for 60 minutes a day, but then sit or lie down the other 23, the quick workout doesn’t make up for the rest – think of it like drinking one glass of water and every other drink beer. (Only on vacation, fellas.)
SitTight’s model for solving this huge problem shows great promise… $18,825 worth to be exact (as of Sunday, July 16). But on their way to a $30k pledge, it might be hard for backers to rationalize a $365 pledge getting them one chair. The normal cost for a SitTight will be just shy of $600— which is the ballpark (higher for some and lower for others) for stand-up desks on the market today.
The perk compared to its compatriots? Size.
SitTight weighs only 39 pounds and takes up only 24 inches. Stand-up desks also don’t have any elements of destabilization to them, so you’re never firing those stabilizer muscles.
And in the end, I’m willing to bet you’d value your health higher than $600, so think of it as an early Christmas present.
