Product Review: EFX and Power Balance holographic band

So has anyone else seen these holographic bands popping up on all sorts of athletes? Late at night they have irenew bands on tv. Now the bands are starting to pop up everywhere. The first one I ever saw was when I was at no gi nationals in 2010. Marcelo Perdomo, Black belt and owner of BTT Long Beach had this little rubber and hologram bracelet on. Some MMA fighters have started to pop up wearing these bracelets including Vitor Beltfort, and Court McGee. The theory behind them is that there is a little hologram embedded in the bracelet, necklace, whatever you buy and this hologram somehow acts like a tuning fork for your body and re aligns the electronic waves in your body. It sounds interesting to say the least, right? I got a hold of two companies, EFX, and Power Balance to product review both wrist bands.
A warning to everyone, I have no idea where to find any form of testing or information that substantiates their claims. I checked on both websites and although EFX does have a little more information on theirs, there is really very little written. I let different people try both bracelets, and ran the tests without them knowing what was going on. It’s definitely something new to try. The bands seemed to work, whether it’s a placebo effect or not I don’t know. So instead of dwelling on which one works better, etc I’m going to go straight to how they stacked up against each other.
EFX sent me two bracelets, one medium sized, and once large sized bracelet. The medium bracelet had one hologram and actually fit me pretty well. The large bracelet had two holograms and was a little too big for me, so I had one of my teammates try it out to see if it worked for him. The bracelets are black and red, pretty simple. I’ve been wearing it about a month now and it has gone through everything, jiu jitsu practice, bjj tournaments, and even lifeguard instructor training. It hasn’t lost it’s color, it’s flexibility, nothing. On the EFX website  they have a huge variety of products, from bracelets, to sweat bands, necklaces, and even holograms you can just sew into your uniform. EFX even has two specialty bracelets. There is a pink breast cancer awareness that “EFX designates 15% of net sales from these bands to research through 26.2 with Donna National Marathon, as well as the San Diego and Orange County chapters of Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.” They also have partnered with Save the Sea to make a blue Save the Sea bracelet.  Again “15 percent of all sales from these bands will be directly donated to the organization to further their movement.” Here is a video of one of the females at my school trying out the EFX balance test.

The Power Balance bracelet came a little later. It is light blue and white. They sent me a medium, but there was a definite size difference compared to the EFX bracelet. I will admit I had a Power Balance bracelet before, they fitted me to the wrong size ands within 3 weeks it had torn. the silicone is slightly thinne r than the EFX bracelet. Power Balance like EFX has a variety of different products to choose from. It’s more about what do you think not only will work best for you, but what style you like. Power Balance works with the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. They have a limited edition band that comes in either green or white. $15 is donated for every bracelet bought.
The bracelets are interesting. I seem to have more balance, which isn’t saying much I’ve been terribly clumsy for most of my life. As for the strength aspect, I don’t get as sore after lifting weights as I used to. The flexibility tests don’t really work on me, I’m extremely flexible so it’s hard to read any of it on me. Most of the people I had try it out did seem to have better strength/ flexibility when trying the bracelets. Some like my teammates Tyy and Mike, didn’t see any difference at all. For people who are into the holistic side of things, it may be something to look into. At the very least the placebo affect it has may be well worth it.