Exercise Balls Have No Benefit

Is an exercise ball part of your daily workout regimen, or maybe you sit on one these things at your desk at work in hopes of losing a little weight or gaining better posture?

I hate to ruin your day, but it's a total waste of time!

A new study out of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada has found there are no advantages to sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair.

People who use exercise balls didn't gain more muscle, lose more belly fat, or even develop better posture than people who sat in chairs.

And get a load of this, sitting on an exercise ball only led to people burning four extra calories per hour.

That means during your typical 8-hour workday of sitting on your exercise ball, you burn a whopping 32 calories. Or the equivalent of about three peanut M&M's.

Experts say if you want to be healthy while at your desk, you're much better off just standing for about 15 minutes every hour. Doing that will lead to about two hours of standing a day, which is the correct amount to stay healthy, without the potential of having back pain.