The Power balance bracelet

 
PROFESSIONAL cyclist Bradley Wiggins used it at last year’s Tour de France.
Pro triathlete Andreas Raelert also wore one enroute to a second-place finish at the 2010 Ironman World Championships.
We are talking about Power Balance’s wristband – the silicone band that its makers claim help athletes perform at their best.
The company made the news last December after an Australian consumer watchdog found the wristbands to be a scam and ordered refunds to be paid to dissatisfied customers.
Controversy aside, there is no shortage of professional athletes who openly endorse the “performance-enhancing” wristbands. Wiggins is one of the many pro cyclists who sport the Power Balance.
Last year’s Garmin-Transitions ProTour team (this year’s Garmin-Cervelo) have been spotted with the band too.
The question is: Do the bands really work?
Together with eight other cyclists and triathletes from the Nanyang Technological University’s biathlon team, we put the Power Balance wristband to the test.
Throughout February and March, we wore the bands while swimming, cycling and running, and recorded our experiences and performance.
Personally, I was cynical. I believe there are no short-cuts to success and the only way to become a better cyclist is to get out on the road and log the distance.
Also, seeming product contradictions did little to assuage my concerns. While statements on the front of the box claimed that the product used “performance technology”, the fine print on the back of the box read, “results vary”.
Power Balance said the bands are developed in the US and embedded with a “Mylar hologram” (a type of polyester film), which allegedly mimics “Eastern philosophies” and optimises the wearer’s “natural energy field”.