Power Balance bands, do they work? Short-term effects on postural stability, flexibility, and grip strength

Power Balance ‘technology’ has received considerableattention over the last two years with themanufacturer, as well as many sportsmen and womenclaiming that the technology can improve performanceand/or skill related fitness parameters. Todate, only two scientific studies have been publishedin this area looking at the effect of this ‘technology’on balance, flexibility, strength, and power. Thepurpose of this study was to determine the effect ofthe Power Balance® Band (PBB) on postural stability,flexibility, and hand grip strength. Seventy individuals(age: 22.2 ± 7.4y; weight: 89.2 ± 16.7kg;height: 1.87 ± 0.7m) volunteered to participate in thispartially blind cross-over design study. Two PowerBalance® Bands were used for this study, one wasleft unaltered and still contained the two silver holographicdiscs (PBB), while the other had both silverholographic discs removed (Placebo). Both bandswere covered in such a way that the placebo bandappeared identical to the original band. The participantswere randomly assigned to one of two groups:Protocol 1 (Baseline-PBB-Placebo) and Protocol 2(Baseline-Placebo-PBB). All testing was completedon the same day, with sufficient rest between tests.Parameters tested were postural stability (BiodexBalance System), flexibility (sit-and-reach), andhand grip strength (dynamometer). A repeated measuresANOVA together with a Tukey post hoc testwas computed to determine if significant differencesexisted between the three bouts, significance wasaccepted as p < 0.05. There were no significant differences(p < 0.05) between the baseline test, PBB test,or placebo test for the postural stability, and handgrip strength test. A significant difference (p = 0.028)was observed between the baseline test and both thePBB and placebo for the sit-and-reach flexibility test,however no difference was evident between the PBBand placebo. The findings of this study indicate thatbalance, strength and flexibility are not enhanced inindividuals wearing the Power Balance Band.