I am of the opinion that Power Cranks do help your (my) running significantly, FWIW.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Whoa, whoa, WHOA there!

Tom D uses Powercranks?! How did I not know that?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

It helps improve running too?! Thank you Frank! my pruchase is looking better all the time. I'll be leaving Tibbs in my fatman dust in no time.

[reply]How did I not know that?[/reply]

I was talking to a customer today who is starting his second year on PC's. He reported in this last year he improved from cat 3 to cat 2 and in 10 cat 2 races finished in the top 10 every time, better than he ever finished as a cat 3 before PC's. He said, he doesn't like to tell his competitors much about them. When people see him riding them and ask him he says "oh, they are ok but the verdict is still out" or some such thing. I noticed the PC's didn't make the "5 things that really work" list. Proof my claims are all hype I guess.

Anyhow, another reason here at this forum specifically is because Tom and others may not like the flak that invariably arises from the naysayers whenever PC's come up.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Running improvement for me was obvious, and began within 2 weeks of first use. Don't know all the reasons why, don't really care. I just really am glad they allow me to run faster with fewer running training miles, because I believe fewer miles in run training will allow me to do this crazy sport for more years :)

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

Hasn't anyone looked at this thing and have any comments? Aaron gives some mechanisms to explain the improvement and maybe you could, upon reflection, say, "YES, I saw that, now that you mention it". Or, those who don't have them could say, "it still doesn't make sense to me". Or, whatever.

Other than the fact the interviewer is not a professional, I think it is pretty good, albeit a little lengthy, at explaining the benefits to runners and other athletes who run. But, it would be nice to get some feedback so I can strive to improve it, at least from a content perspective.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Frank. Here is my view on PCs and running. They absolutely help. But here are some basic guidelines that I suffered through and found to be helpful.

PC's improve your running by working your hip flexors and hamstrings more than regular biking. Unlike real running, they don't pound your legs, so there is a nice benefit.

Here is the drawback. Since they work your hip flexors and hamstrings more than normal, you really need to lay off PC's before big tris or marathons to give these muscles a good rest. If not, you'll likely find that although you feel faster and more efficient, you'll tire out quickly, not because these muscles aren't better aerobic machines, but just because they are less rested than if you had not used PC's.

Dev,

Your sense of a need to "lay off" the PC's before a big race is probably only because the new muscles have a lesser base. Once they are up to speed, basewise, I suspect a "normal" taper will do. Have you viewed the video? Does what he say make sense to you, a runner?

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Frank,

You start to ask a question about how to incorporate these into a teams training program, but then switch the question to one about agility etc. If i was a track coach, football coach, i would really want some suggestions on how to incorporate these into my teams training program. The cost of one lemond revmaster is pretty steep, especially for some of the low budget sports. How can you get 20 or 30 athletes incorporating one bike into their program? The sprint coach at my high school runs a speed and agility camp for athletes from around the state, applying all the principles Aaron talks about. But, in a practical sense, how do you train a team on one or two machines? Where do you start? 1-2x per week, 5x? Longer spins, shorter spins?

Mike Perlberg

Thanks for the input. I certainly have thoughts on your questions but thought they were "too advanced" for this video. Rather i was trying to focus on what advantages PC's offer over "ordinary" training techniques. I did put in a little plug for Aaron to act as a consultant to those who would want to integrate them into their program, as he does have three years experience with them with athletes of multiple sports.

I personally would think the typical sports program (say football team) would want each athlete to spend 20-30 minutes on the cranks 2-3 times a week, minimum. Depending upon how many athletes there are and how much time one has with them would depend upon how many bikes they would need. Most of these programs have plenty of money for this type of purchase, if they understand the benefits. I thought his demonstration of how they prevent the athlete from letting the toes go back and the knee down after push off particularly effective in demonstrating what the cranks to for the runner.

Anyhow, thanks for the input. I will look at the agility part again. It isn't as smooth as I would like as it wasn't done with a script as I wasn't sure what Aaron would say.

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

About a month ago I did my 8th NYC marathon,after training on Power Cranks for about 7 weeks. In 1998 I ran a 3:33 which was a PR for me. The next 5 NYC marathons I couldnt break 3:45. This year I ran a 3:28,and my legs didnt feel as trashed as in previous marathons.I also felt like I could have pushed the pace a little harder. Now I did tweak my training program a bit(more long runs,and intervals),but I do have to give Frank,and his Power Cranks some of the credit. Joe