A New Way to Get Fit: Just Sit Down

By now you've heard all the warnings about how unhealthy it is to sit for hours on end. But if you have a job that requires you to be at a desk, what can you really do about it? French designer Benoit Malta thinks he might have the answer.

Malta was inspired to develop something new to help people get the physical activity they need when he found out that workers spend about 70 percent of their days sitting down.

What better way to solve that problem than to go to the source of the problem – the chair. After nine months of research and development, Malta finally had a concept he thinks could work: a chair with only two legs.

Image source: benoitmalta.com

Image source: benoitmalta.com

Image source: benoitmalta.com

Malta's design, called Inactivite, forces the person sitting in the chair to use their core abdominal muscles to sit upright and occasionally shift positions to maintain a sense of stability. While it might sound dangerous to some, Malta vows he designed it with safety in mind.

"The structure of the chair was designed in order to prevent people from falling out  – the legs have been inclined 12 degrees relative to the vertical axis and the height of the back was designed to help prevent it," Malta said.

Comfortable? Maybe not. But Malta said that might be just what's needed to whip people into shape.

"Our houses are becoming more and more comfortable and people would not imagine a house built with the idea of discomfort." But as Malta also pointed out, "discomfort can put the body in motion and out of its chronic stationary posture."

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like fitness fanatics can ditch their regular office chairs just yet: Malta didn't introduce the concept to be mass-produced. Right now, he said, the chair is simply a "unique piece."

"Design is not just about filling a gap in the market, the practice of design can be used to make people think about ourselves to change our behaviors," he said. "I hope it will encourage people to try to be more active."

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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