My name is Erich Schultze. I am a junior sculler from Narragansett Boat Club. I am currently 6’2 and 157 lbs. My result highlights for 2007 were 1^st New England Interscholastic Rowing Championships, and 2^nd at U16 Junior National Championships. This was my process of getting used to them.

             My dad is a very strong Masters level road cyclist, and he introduced me to cycling as part of my workout regimen. I start my warmup for every race on a trainer, and do a large portion of my base work on the bike as well. I learned about PowerCranks from my dad and my coach, cyclist Mark McCormack. Mark helped me to recognize that I had developed an imbalance in my leg strength from my time in the boat. My left leg is noticeably stronger than my right and PowerCranks seemed the perfect solution for becoming more balanced. I received my Powercranks in the mail a few weeks ago, and the process of getting comfortable has been tough. My first attempt at Powercranks was a 20-minute session on the trainer after a steady state ergometer workout. It was an effort just to keep my legs going around- my heart rate soared to 176 (85% of my max) and I struggled to get through the 20 minutes. It was a strange sensation, my calves felt like they were almost “tingling”, and my body just wasn’t familiar with the effort. I felt my legs were definitely more engaged during the entire pedal stroke.

             I worked up to thirty minutes on the trainer the next day, and then an hour steady the next. I am in a period of my training with a relatively unstructured schedule in the months leading up to the start of the spring season. I am using that time to get better acquainted with the PowerCranks. During my first hour-long session, I had to get off the trainer half- way to stretch my legs. The fatigue and intensity is remarkably more than a similar amount of time on normal cranks. I was surprised to see very high heart rate numbers at what seemed to be a steady intensity level over the course of the hour- a 168 avg. with a 183 max. 

             Last Saturday was my first exclusively PowerCranks workout. Surprisingly, I was able to get through a two-hour PowerCrank extravaganza- stopping at the hour mark to stretch my legs and get a Clif Bar and water. I think I was able to get used to the PowerCranks more quickly than most people because I am relatively new to cycling and I have had less time to develop bad habits in my pedal stroke. I was able to keep a 175 avg. HR over the first hour, and a 168 over the second hour. As challenging as the PoweCranks were the first two times I used them, I think a lot of the adjustment period is neurological. I was just not used to using the muscles and having them fire the way the PowerCranks force them to. Ultimately, since I have gotten more comfortable on the PowerCranks, I am really happy with the intensity and efficiency of the workout.