Balance. Strength. Flexibility. This is the reported benefits a person gains from wearing the Power Balance bracelet. However, many people, including myself and some colleagues at Mississippi State, are very skeptical of these claims. First, how do these bracelets improve balance, strength, and flexibility? Second, when you watch the demonstrations of the tests on their website, the tests in which the athletes wear the bracelets is always performed second. This creates what is known as an order effect, in which a person performs better on a test the second time they attempt it. We had even discussed conducting scientific testing on the Power Balance bracelets. Well, it seems researchers at the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse beat us to it. They tested 21 athletes wearing both the $30 Power Balance bracelet and a $.30 placebo plastic bracelet performing similar tests to those found on the Power Balance website. They found no difference in performance between the Power Balance trials and the plastic placebo trials (neither the participants nor researchers knew which bracelet they were wearing). They did find an order effect, in which participants did perform better during the second trial regardless of which bracelet he or she was wearing. So, what does this mean? The Power Balance bracelet does not improve balance, strength, or flexibility. Why spend $30 on a bracelet when a $.30 bracelet will give you the same results? Check out this link to view the full report from Outside the Lines.
