Minh and I have beed duped! Actually.. correction.. Minh has been duped and I was just a victim of his duping. It goes all the way back to my very first triathlon.. …
Minh and I headed up to LA back in October 2009 for the LA Triathlon. At the pre-race expo/athlete check-in, we were introduced to one of the new discoveries to enhance athlete performance… tiny discs (like mini CDs) which have special frequencies embedded in them which mirror your body’s natural frequencies to promote good health, increase stability and balance, and enhance performance. I’m not going to name any companies or brands since Minh was joking around about how I’ll get sued for libel.. but you know what I’m talking about. It’s those plastic/rubber bracelets with those things on them.
The representative at the Expo did the whole demonstration with us.. TWICE.. once with Minh and once with me. I thought it was pretty cool, but the price was pretty steep for something that seemed too good to be true. We told the guy we’d think about it and continued our way around the Expo. Minh couldn’t stop talking about it, saying how it doesn’t hurt to try it and if it works then it’s a BONUS.. and if it doesn’t.. well.. oh well. So… with Minh’s convincing argument, we went back and bought two (they were having a deal – 2 for $50). I have to note that it also helped that there seemed to be lots of professional athletes endorsing this product (or this type of product) by wearing them during competitions/games and interviews.
I used mine a handful of times during training and mountain bike rides, but didn’t really think it was helping. It was yet another thing I had to wear on my wrist to give me a tanline and seemed unnecessary (unlike the Garmin and the Road ID), so I stopped wearing it. Minh wore his for most of the year, but eventually stopped wearing his, too. It didn’t seem like it was “enhancing” our performance, but it wasn’t hurting us either. It was just a bracelet.
Fast forward a year, and Minh stumbled upon this video….
After watching this video.. I realized that we (i.e. Minh) were total suckers and fell for the “fake science”. What I don’t really understand is how this type of product made it’s way from the “healing holistic paranormal” realm of conventions and expos to the sports arena. I’m hoping we don’t get duped again, but who knows what new-fangled “discoveries” will be available at the next race expo? In the meantime, I’ve got a pretty useless plastic/rubber bracelet for sale.. and takers?
Have you been duped too?
Think Tran 