Sports: Cycling
So, you are thinking, "Well, these improvements might apply to beginning cyclists, but not to me as I have been cycling for 20 years and am pretty good". If this is what you are thinking, read on.
Joaquin Rodriquez Jadraque lives in Madrid and has been cycling since he was 14, started competing at the age of 18, and is currently 39. He regularly tests himself by climbing a CAT 1 mountain outside of Madrid (La Morcuera, 9 km long with about an 8% avg gradient) once a year, setting his personal best at the age of 24 with a time of 29:37. Joaquin became interested in PowerCranks in 2006 after he read an article about Lance Armstrong continuing to increase power by increasing efficiency as his 7 year domination of the Tour de France continued. (see: Coyle, EF. Improved muscular efficiency displayed as 'Tour de France' champion matures. Journal of Applied Physiology. 98: 2191-2196, 2005). He heard PowerCranks improved efficiency and thought he would give them a try. He purchased them in March 2006.
Interestingly for us, in February 2006, he thought he would test our claims so he got himself tested before he started training with them. Here are those results.
VO2 Max 4962 ml/min
VO2 Max rel 71,19 ml/min/kg
Max Power 405 Watts at 178 bpm
FTP (1 hour): 284 Watts at 169 bpm at 79% of VO2 Max
long term sustainable power - 223 watts are 155 bpm
In addition, in 2005 his best time for climbing La Morcuera was 30'14", less than a minute off his personal best. Not bad for a 38 yo father who is only training half as much time-wise as when he was seriously racing.
He then gets PowerCranks. He says the first thing he did was read the directions, which said to use them exclusively in training and only use regular cranks for racing. He follows the directions, even though it is the beginning of the season and his mileage suffers for awhile. In the beginning like everyone, only able to ride 20 minutes. But, he perseveres, and like most, improves his endurance rapidly.
In September 2006 he comes to do his "climbing test". He does the climb in 27'46"!!! this is almost two minutes off his personal best set 10 years earlier when he was 4 kg lighter. So, he decides to get tested again.
Testing results for October 2006:
VO2 Max 5609 ml/min
VO2 Max rel 82,7 ml/min/kg
Max Power 425 Watts at 181 bpm
FTP (1 hour): 358 Watts at 170 bpm at 89% of VO2 Max
long term sustainable power - 262 watts are 150 bpm
This represents a 13% increase in VO2 max, a 16% increase in VO2 max/kg and a 26% increase in is FTP (1 hour) power. These changes were so large that his doctor didn't believe them at first so repeated the test.
In April 2007 he gets tested again after a full year on the PowerCranks. Here are the results.
VO2 Max. 5794 ml/min
VO2 Max rel. 85,46 ml/min/kg
Max Power 451 Watts at 181 bpm
FTP (1 hour): 394 Watts at 169 bpm at 87% of VO2 Max
long term sustainable power - 275 watts are 146 bpm
He is now at a 17% increase in VO2 max, a 20% increase in VO2 max/kg, a whopping 39% increase in is FTP (1 hour) power and a 23% increase in long term sustainable power. Here is his story as reported on Pezcyclingnews.
You can see this too. Put in the time and hard work with them and PowerCranks will make you better, a lot better.
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