I bought this ball for exercise and for sitting on while working, and it's perfect. I'm just over five feet tall and got the 55 inch ball. It's sturdy, thick, and comfortable to sit on. I tried using it on tile and carpet for exercise and it seems to work well!Inflating: It came well packaged and with nozzles, a tool to remove the plug, and a pump. The pump isn't high end but it works well and was actually sort of fun to use, though the cat didn't appreciate the soft squeaking! It has a nozzle for inflating & deflating, which will be useful when I move. Other reviewers didn't enjoy the inflating experience, but it only took a couple of minutes, maybe less, and could be done with a foot or with two hands. Finally, it also came with a strip of paper to measure/determine the proper inflation. All told, I was using it a few minutes after pulling it out of the package.