^lol

But well said quigontcb.  I think a good test would be to get 4 people who haven't seen/heard about this trick and get them to do the hand thing and try to lift up a 5th person.  Basically if they don't know that it's supposed to make it so the person can be picked up then it'd help rule out the "all in the head" theory if the person is still able to be picked up.  If not, then I think there's a huge mental aspect to it. 

I tried this with a bunch of guys in the army. It worked brilliantly, and nobody could believe it. Much pointing of fingers and accusations of faking it before ensued. =P

I'd say that's rather odd...

Meh, nothing more than a poor adaptation of a "magic" trick.

Ever attempt to lift something, yet not realize how heavy it is? Only to exert yourself further the second time around, more or less over compensating?

If you want a more in depth answer ask the Amazing Randi. He loves to debunk anything that isn't "science." Watch out though, he himself is a con if you know enough about him. (Specifically, regarding his million dollar test. )

I know how this trick works but I'm not sure if I should spoil it. Sometimes knowing the secret spoils the fun in it. A hint though is that the thing they do with their hands after their first attempt has nothing to do with why they can more easily lift him the second time, in different versions of this trick people will recite a poem or do something else in between lifting the person.

I think it is more like, your arms know exactly what to expect while lifting the second time. Sure its a 180 lb guy, but split 4 ways, thats only 45 pounds that each person is lifting...

And using 2 fingers? Pretty much the same as using your whole hand, at that 45 pounds. So each person uses 4 fingers, so thats ~12 pounds on each finger. Of course people would expect the person to be alot heavier than that, so it would seem easier...

Interesting. The guy we did it on was every bit of 250 pounds. None of us are exceptionally strong either. I don't think James Randi(think that's his name) would waste his time on this, as I don't see it as being "mystical" or anything. Just something to do with the mind.

The whole secret to the trick is the state of the person's body being lifted.

The first time they try to lift the person, the person's body is in a relaxed state so their weight will be shifting around when being lifted (arms bending/moving, legs bending/moving, persons chest moving, body twisting, etc, even if it appears the person isn't moving much when people are trying to lift them their body's weight will indeed be shifting around). This causes the efforts of the people that are trying to lift him to work against each other and themselves as they all are constantly trying to adjust for a constantly shifting weight.

The second time they try to lift the person, the person's body is in a rigid state (on purpose by someone who knows how the trick works, or from a reflex reaction from an attempt at trying to lift their body a few seconds/minutes earlier, or from a chant or prayer that instructs the person to remain rigid).  Because of the rigid state their body it's weight doesn't shift around so the four people can very quickly adjust their efforts so they're working in unison and can lift the body easily (At first the people lifting will instinctively use their full strength because of their failed first attempt and they'll be startled at how quickly/easily the person lifts up and how they seem lighter because they're reducing the effort from full strength to something a lot less since they're all sharing the load almost equally)

P.S. That is why variations of this like "Light as a feather, stiff as a board" require the person to keep their body rigid/stiff, otherwise it won't work.

@Legend11,

That is a load of crap, have you even tried it?

All this mind shit is bullshit, it has to be something else, how come it works perfectly every single time, no matter what your ready for or expecting.

It's a phenomenon.

I would take any bet that Legend is right.