Summary:
I love the floaty feeling of riding the Onewheel and I found a way to recreate a part of that sensation with this balance board by Fluidstance. Their high end balance boards are great for me at my standing desk. Not only do I get that floaty feeling while working, it’s fun, burns more calories, and has potential health benefits! Keep reading more for my reviews or check out the balance boards at the Fluidstance website.
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The Research:
I have had the chance to test two different models of the Fluidstance balance boards at my work and home office. After over 60 hours on these two boards, I can tell you that they are fun, easy to use, and may even have some health benefits.
Research is showing that the effects of sitting all day, specifically being sedentary and inactive, is harmful to one’s health. Many of us sit all day at our desk jobs and then pay lots of money and go out of our way to go to a gym so we can run on a treadmill and pick up heavy objects, all in an effort to counter the unhealthy effects of our desk job.
Dr. James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic told the Los Angeles Times, “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”
And I thought nosedives were dangerous!
This is clearly an over exaggeration of the dangers of sitting but I do have to say that sitting 8-9 hours a day is probably not beneficial for my health. That is why I use a standing desk and it is one of the reasons why standing desks are so popular these days.
More and more evidence is showing that even standing may not be enough to combat the harmful effects of being sedentary. Increasing your daily motion is important to preventing chronic disease and illness.
My work requires me to be at a desk. I’ve looked at solutions to keep me active while at my standing desk but the solutions were either too distracting for the workplace or they limited my motor control abilities to operate my mouse and keyboard (think standing desk with treadmill or stationary bike). That is why I wanted to try out the Fluidstance balance board.
The beautifully crafted board not only looks great, it also feels great. The angle and tilt is just enough to give you the sensation that you are floating on a paddle board or surf board and there is just the right range of motion that you can imagine yourself gently carving on something like a snowboard, skateboard, or Onewheel.
Nothing helps to pass the time quicker than being able to work while having the sensation that you are on your favorite board floating, cruising, or carving away. The great thing about the board is that while it looks great and feels great, its sleek design and low profile helps to keep it from being a distraction in the workplace or while you work.
If fact, I was able to type up this entire post while on my Fluidstance board at my standing desk. No problems whatsoever.
The board definitely helped me move more during the day. Often times I cannot stand at my desk for longer than 2-3 hours at a time. Anything longer than that and my legs get achy. On the Fluidstance Balance Boards, I was able to go 4 hours or more before feeling like I really needed to sit down.
If I needed to really concentrate and buckle down for a particular project I found that if I just put my weight on to one end of the balance board so that it rest on the ground I could comfortably hold that position while I tended to the urgent matter. Once the matter of urgency was resolved I just leveled out the board and continued rocking away.
The Fluidstance board is a fun way for anyone who uses a standing desk to get yourself up and moving. It looks great, makes you feel great, and it could be good for your health.
I had the opportunity to try out two models, The Level and The Plane. Here are my impressions of the two balance boards:
The Level Balance Board:
The Level Balance Board has a beautiful die cast aluminum base with a maple finish top. It looks great and feels great. The only drawback is the smooth wood finish gets a little slippery when I stand on it without shoes, wearing socks. It took a little bit to get accustomed to sliding on the board while wearing socks but after I got used to it, I actually found it fun to slide on the board in addition to all the balancing.
The Plane Balance Board:
The Plane Balance Board is a great option for those looking to save money. While neither board is cheap, The Plane is a quality balance board at a lower price. If there’s a product that can help me feel like I’m out cruising on my Onewheel while potentially providing health benefits, then I consider it well worth it. The Plane is just as functional as The Level and the top surface has more grip so standing on it in socks feels more stable.
Give it a try. There’s a 30 day money back guarantee! For current pricing, check out FluidStance for more!