# Power Bands and Cubing



## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

*Help!
Recently I heard of these power bands which are supposed to promote balance, strength, and flexibility. Immediately I wondered if it would affect my cubing abilities. A friend of mine from school had one of these bands and did the usual balance and flexibility tests on me. I was impressed and shocked with the results! I asked to borrow the band to do a few solves. I had to borrow a very bad cube to do some solves too. My times were consistantly 3 seconds faster when I had the band on (17 seconds compared to 14 seconds). I then returned the band and didn't do anymore solves for the rest of the day. 
The next day I did some casual solving at home without the band and kept on getting 11-12 second solves. Normally I average 9-10. I thought that I just needed some warming up but my times didn't end up getting any faster! It's been three days since then and it takes me at least 15 tries to get a sub 11 second average! What should I do??? I know it's all in my head but I can't seem to get my solves back up to speed. Have you had an experiences with power bands and cubing?*
Anyone reach?


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## aronpm (Sep 13, 2011)

Power bands don't work.


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## cubernya (Sep 13, 2011)

I've seen commercials for these...although from what you say it appears to actually work? Supposedly it's just a magnetic thing that goes on your wrist (literally looks like a bracelet)


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## aronpm (Sep 13, 2011)

theZcuber said:


> I've seen commercials for these...although from what you say it appears to actually work? Supposedly it's just a magnetic thing that goes on your wrist (literally looks like a bracelet)


 
They 'work' in lots of ways: magnets, holograms, ****ing magic, etc.

But they don't actually work. I could do the same balance tests, using a stick, and get the same results.


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## cubernya (Sep 13, 2011)

Yeah I saw it on TV I was like "Yeah right that is so rigged"


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## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

aronpm said:


> Power bands don't work.


 
I guess you've never tried one


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## Escher (Sep 13, 2011)

Playing Yu-Gi-Oh TCG also helps with both balance and power and wiseness, ask fortepiano.


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## That70sShowDude (Sep 13, 2011)

aronpm said:


> Power bands don't work.


 
lol op, shut down


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## aronpm (Sep 13, 2011)

Thompson said:


> I guess you've never tried one


 I don't need to try one when I understand the scam.


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## Muesli (Sep 13, 2011)

I solve faster when I drink water from my downstairs tap as opposed to my upstairs one.


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## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

I know that it's all in my head but why can't it show in my times!!


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## Muesli (Sep 13, 2011)

Thompson said:


> I know that it's all in my head but why can't it show in my times!!


 
Because your head is involved in your solving. You're only as fast as you believe you can be. /matrix


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## choza244 (Sep 13, 2011)

you should get a power band.


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## Andrew Ricci (Sep 13, 2011)

Anyone who's even thinking about replying (and I'm sure some of you are), GTFO. Thompson is just epic failtrolling.


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## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

choza244 said:


> you should get a power band.


 
Maybe I should but I dont want to be depending on it to get fast times. Plus they cost $30!


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## Kirjava (Sep 13, 2011)

Heh, you're getting better at this.


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## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

theanonymouscuber said:


> Anyone who's even thinking about replying (and I'm sure some of you are), GTFO. Thompson is just epic failtrolling.


 
Rude.
Buddy you're all sketch


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## musicninja17 (Sep 13, 2011)

The fact that this company is making money is just proving that there are as many stupid people out that as I think there are.


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## RyanReese09 (Sep 13, 2011)

Fail. You couldn't do better?


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## purduerocksadt (Sep 13, 2011)

i solve faster upside down


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## gundamslicer (Sep 13, 2011)

They make ur times worst cuz it bugs my wrist... Just wear it for the design tho


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## Cool Frog (Sep 13, 2011)

A sticker lulz.


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## Thompson (Sep 13, 2011)

Guys Im actually not trolling I swear. My times have been slower ever since I took that band off.


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## RyanReese09 (Sep 13, 2011)

Ever hear of the boy who cried troll?


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## buelercuber (Sep 13, 2011)

aronpm said:


> Power bands don't work.


 
this.


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## Edward (Sep 13, 2011)

Ah placebo and chance 

Kind of like saying I solve better when my hard drive is organized (no really! It helps my brain!)


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## ElectricDoodie (Sep 13, 2011)

There are weak-minded people who still fall for the Power Balance scam?
Wow.


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## ImJustANubCuber (Sep 13, 2011)

Power Bands were proven scams. Any demonstration you may see is simply playing with physics.

watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpLt0oUWfOk


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## Zubon (Sep 13, 2011)

If you think that your times are faster, there is an easy way to test. Get a friend to make a "fake power band" covered in duct tape and have a "real" one also covered in tape so there is no way you can distinguish between them.
Get him to put them on you randomly and then solve cubes. After doing this enough times to give you statistically significant results, you can see if they actually make a difference.
These tests have been done time and time again and they consistently show that if people don't know if they have one on or not, their performance does not match tests done when they know they have one on.


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## cubersmith (Sep 13, 2011)

aronpm said:


> They 'work' in lots of ways: magnets, holograms, ****ing magic, etc.
> 
> But they don't actually work. I could do the same balance tests, using a stick, and get the same results.


 
I'm not saying it's likely to work, but had you actually tried it before you decided it didn't work?


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## chrissyD (Sep 13, 2011)

i solve better with socks on


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## AshBali (Sep 13, 2011)

meh they look cool so just buy one of the cheaper and fake ones lol


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## Bapao (Sep 13, 2011)

Zubon said:


> If you think that your times are faster, there is an easy way to test. Get a friend to make a "fake power band" covered in duct tape and have a "real" one also covered in tape so there is no way you can distinguish between them.
> Get him to put them on you randomly and then solve cubes. After doing this enough times to give you statistically significant results, you can see if they actually make a difference.
> These tests have been done time and time again and they consistently show that if people don't know if they have one on or not, their performance does not match tests done when they know they have one on.


 
They don't work if you cover them in tape...*guffaw*


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## HelpCube (Sep 13, 2011)

placebo...


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## Bapao (Sep 13, 2011)

HelpCube said:


> placebo...


 
Yay! If you insist;


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## benmeister (Sep 13, 2011)

enjoy your free tutorial http://revision3.com/scamschool/placebobands


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## Bapao (Sep 13, 2011)

Fun OT read:

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=747107


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## AshBali (Sep 13, 2011)

Lol the placebo effect is unlikely to work


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## Stefan (Sep 13, 2011)

AshBali said:


> Lol the placebo effect is unlikely to work


 
Uh... do you understand why it's called "effect"?


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## Sillas (Sep 13, 2011)

> Uh... do you understand why it's called "effect"?



Of course not.. xD


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## Bapao (Sep 13, 2011)

AshBali said:


> Lol the placebo effect is unlikely to work


 
Guess so...was worth a yrt hguoht...


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## aronpm (Sep 13, 2011)

cubersmith said:


> I'm not saying it's likely to work, but had you actually tried it before you decided it didn't work?


 
"Humans can't fly" 
"Have you even tried?"


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## Dene (Sep 14, 2011)

AshBali said:


> meh they look cool so just buy one of the cheaper and *fake* ones lol


 
Lol you're silly. I think you're the only person in this thread that actually believe power bands work.


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## Keroma12 (Sep 14, 2011)

aronpm said:


> "Humans can't fly"
> "Have you even tried?"


 
You've never tried to fly?


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## RNewms27 (Sep 14, 2011)

Even though it's just a mental thing, your abilities can improve if you still believe it works with magnets. That's just about all it can do.


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## JLarsen (Sep 14, 2011)

Well if one band is a 3 second improvement, then surely 2 is 6, and 3 is 9, and so forth. Just imagine. It could be non-linear though. You should buy at least 50 to be safe.


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## cubersmith (Sep 14, 2011)

aronpm said:


> "Humans can't fly"
> "Have you even tried?"


 
No but thats TOTALLY different.



Keroma12 said:


> You've never tried to fly?


 
LOL'd


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## luke1984 (Sep 14, 2011)

cubersmith said:


> *No but thats TOTALLY different.*
> 
> 
> 
> LOL'd


 
No, it's not. Magnets do not give people magical powers, everyone who understands people can't fly should be able to understand that.


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## Stefan (Sep 14, 2011)

luke1984 said:


> Magnets do not give people magical powers, everyone who understands people can't fly should be able to understand that.


 
Whether or not a person flies is quite obvious and everybody observes many people not flying all the time every day. Whether magnets affect powers isn't that kind of clear in any way at all.


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## luke1984 (Sep 14, 2011)

Stefan said:


> Whether or not a person flies is quite obvious and everybody observes many people not flying all the time every day. Whether magnets affect powers isn't that kind of clear in any way at all.



Agreed. But when people don't know anything about electromagnetism, why would they assume it will make you run faster, or be a better speedcuber, rather than assume it doesn't have any effect on our bodies at all(at least not when it's a small, hand-held magnet). People come in contact with electromagnetic fields all the time, a small magnet on your wrist won't suddenly make you superhuman, and most people are intelligent enough to figure this out themselves. It's just that they want it to be true, they want life to be that easy.


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## timelonade (Sep 14, 2011)

Perhaps if you bought 2 powerbands and a large magnet you could fly by magnetic repulsion. 


POWERBANDS WORK AND HUMANS CAN FLY


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## Stefan (Sep 14, 2011)

luke1984 said:


> why would they assume it will make you run faster, or ...



Because they're told so. Sometimes by people they trust, like Shaq or Oprah (The Secret).



luke1984 said:


> People come in contact with electromagnetic fields all the time



And how are they supposed to know that? It's not something you can easily see, unlike (non-)flying people.



luke1984 said:


> a small magnet on your wrist



Small? Well, my screws etc never move at all from those electromagnetic fields I come in contact with all the time. But with a "small" magnet I can easily make them move. In quotes because compared to those electromagnetic fields I come in contact with all the time it's apparently huge.


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## aronpm (Sep 14, 2011)

Stefan said:


> Whether or not a person flies is quite obvious and everybody observes many people not flying all the time every day. Whether magnets affect powers isn't that kind of clear in any way at all.


 
My point wasn't that the mechanism clearly doesn't work, but that the idea has been tested enough times that it's pointless to even bother checking for yourself.


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## luke1984 (Sep 15, 2011)

Stefan said:


> Because they're told so. Sometimes by people they trust, like Shaq or Oprah (The Secret).
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You are right, I was wrong to compare the "small" magnets to everyday magnetic fields. But people learn about magnetic fields in school, or at least I did.
I guess my point was just that people believe almost everything they're told by some authority figure.
Recent research has actually shown people shut down their own thought processes when an authority figure tells them something.


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## Stefan (Sep 15, 2011)

aronpm said:


> My point wasn't that the mechanism clearly doesn't work, but that the idea has been tested enough times that it's pointless to even bother checking for yourself.


 
Yah, I didn't have a problem with your post (hence I didn't reply to it and now even had to look up what you had said . For you with what you know, I agree the two things are rather equivalent, I just disagreed with luke1984's assertion that it should be equivalent for everyone.


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