Power Balance Phenomenon

While playing football in high school and always looking for ways to improve, me and a friend bumped into a Boston College linebacker that we knew, Steele Divitto, in one of our local supplement shops (Now he is a rookie for the NY Jets). While in line behind him, the owner of the store, Brian, notices a bracelet around his wrist and asked him what it was because he had seen them once before. Steele mentioned it was a Power Balance bracelet and said that he sells them for the company. After asking Brian if he wanted to see what it does, he walked around the counter next to where we were standing. Steele said to “put both feet together, arms up parallel to the floor, and then lift one heel up towards your back.” Once Brian was in position, Steele mentioned that he must keep his arms stiff while he pushes down. Steele then pushed down on Brian’s one arm making him tilt over and lose balance. Then, the Power Balance bracelet was placed on Brian’s wrist and they continued to try the exact same experiment. To our disbelief, Steele could not overcome Brian’s balance when pushing down on the arm again. Therefore, being the skeptic I am, I needed to try it; same experiment, same result.

            Long story short, I became obsessed with it and bought about ten on EBAY… I would then show friends and family how it worked, and no matter how much they didn’t believe it was real I would stand by its “powers” because of the over-reliance on that one personal experience. I held a confirmation bias for over a year, continuously searching for information that confirmed its abilities while shrugging off bad reviews. After further research, I came across an honorable source which studied the bracelet in a double-blind test and the results confirmed that they had no impact on the user’s flexibility, balance, or strength. To the garbage they went!

-Mike Rubino