摘要：Athletes are constantly searching for something that will give them a competitive edge. Performance jewelry is one of the latest products on the market designed to improve athletic performance. The most common claims are that wearing this performance jewelry will improve flexibility, balance, and strength. There is considerable marketing of these products, including testimonial evidence by high profile athletes, in support of the purported benefits. In demonstrations designed to validate the performance enhancing benefits of these products, however, companies typically conduct the testing in the following sequence: The first trial is done without the bracelet on and the second trial is performed with the bracelet on. Invariably, subjects perform better on the second trial. This brings into questions whether the improvement on the second trial is due to 1) a benefit of the bracelet, 2) the fact the subjects were warmed-up (Maud et al., 2006a; 2006b), 3) subjects being habituated to the task (Benson and Friedman, 1996; Wright et al., 2009), or 4) a placebo effect (Beedie and Foad, 2009).
