Nothing unusual about these ...

Just three shiny little red-orange balls -- just the right size for juggling. Doesn't everyone keep a set of these at their desk at work?


Ah, but they are much more than mere juggling balls! These fellas are exerballs -- "exercise juggling balls".

And they're heavy.

They're sold in weights ranging from one pound to maybe two and a half pounds -- I don't remember for sure anymore, but I think mine are about a pound and a half each. Which doesn't sound like a lot, but believe me, that's plenty. I once tried juggling the two-and-a-half-pounders, and the sheer impact of the balls landing in my palms sent shock waves through my wrists and up my forearms (not to mention that I could hardly stand to keep them in the air for more than about ten seconds). So I'll stick with my little orange guys.

My coworkers are used to my little juggling breaks, but newcomers are always surprised at first when they see me juggling and turning red in the face from the effort. Then I toss one of balls to them. Oof! Ha! Bit of a nasty shock, but it definitely clears up the situation for them.

It's something to do when I'm running a build or waiting for something to reboot. Or just as a random break in my afternoon, if my upper arms don't kill enough for some reason.

I think juggling exerballs definitely counts as "weight bearing exercise", too, so that's a bonus.