Sports: Baseball

The New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Cincinnati Reds all have used PowerCranks™ to get ready for the rigors of professional baseball and to help injured players return to active duty faster. Why would these teams use a training device popular with triathletes and bicycle racers? What advantage would a weird looking bicycle part give them? Here is why:

Picture these following game situations:

1. A batter finishes his swing, and then accelerates to top speed towards first base
2. A shortstop runs to his left, and dives after a ground ball just inches from his grasp
3. A third basemen reacts to a surprise bunt, and charges towards the ball rolling along the grass
4. An outfielder sprints at full speed all the way to the wall in pursuit of a long fly ball.

What do these situations all have in common?

1. These athletes are using a combination of leg power, legspeed, and pure acceleration to make the play
2. Success at beating the throw to first, stopping that ground ball, reaching the bunt in time to make a throw, or making the catch at the wall is often a matter of inches, and those inches can make or break a whole game
3. Baseball players repeatedly face situations where their pure acceleration and top running speed make a significant difference in the outcome of a play, and sometimes the game.
4. Baseball players face these maximal acceleration & speed moments after long rests, increasing their chances for injury.

To be competitive, teams need every possible advantage. Since there is no game clock in baseball, every out and base runner can be a turning point. Although PowerCranks™ originated in triathlons and bicycle racing, and do not seem an obvious match for baseball, upon closer examination, they should be an essential tool in every teams training preparation for a new season.

What do PowerCranks™ do for baseball players?

• There is an old saying that you build a player from the legs up, PowerCranks™ is a revolutionary device for training the legs.

• What do PowerCranks™ actually do for the legs? They train the hamstrings, hip flexors, and the many stabilizer muscles that control the legs and help drive them forward immediately after the foot leaves the ground during running.

• If you increase the athletes acceleration driving the legs forward, you increase running speed, increasing speed increases the chance of beating that throw to first, of reaching that ground ball before it gets through the infield, of fielding that bunt in time to make a throw, of running down that long fly ball.

• Nothing can train these specific muscles like PowerCranks™ do.

• Baseball players frequently suffer from hamstring injuries, this is from the nature of the extreme bursts of activity followed by long rests that typifies a baseball game. PowerCranks™ dramatically improve hamstring strength and injury resistance, as they can balance the typical quadriceps/hamstring strength imbalance almost every athlete has. Imbalances lead to injury, anything a coach/trainer can do to make their athletes more resistant to injury has an important place in their training.

• Top track and field sprinters have found PowerCranks™ give them an advantage in their competitions. If it helps them go fast, wouldn't it also help your players go faster on the base paths? In the outfield? Sprinter Aaron Thigpen took 0.2 seconds off the American age group record for the 100 meter dash after 4 months on the PowerCranks™. Read coach Thigpen's online review of PowerCranks™ here. and see our in-depth video interview of Aaron talking about his 3 years of experience training athletes for top speed running & rehab with PowerCranks™. smaller file (5mb) / High quality (15mb!) If PowerCranks™ can help already blazingly fast 100m sprinters go faster, what could they do for your athletes on the base paths?

1. Ride in a more open position in the very beginning then move to riding with the hands on the handlebars
   At first, most users will find it very difficult to consistently raise the legs over top dead center of the pedaling arc, especially while in the fully crouched position. Riding more upright makes it easier to learn the basic coordination and develop some basic endurance. But, baseball running is always brief bursts of speed, and this involves running bent over. Therefore, once you have the basic coordination all other riding should be done slightly bent over as this better reproduces your position when accelerating on the field. This is explained better by Aaron Thigpen in his video mentioned above.
   
   
2. Work on endurance first
   It is usually most effective to learn a new motion practicing it repeatedly at slower velocities before attempting to try it at maximum speed. Pedaling on PowerCranks™ is no exception. Baseball players are not marathoners so there is no need for 2 hour endurance. But, one needs to develop some aerobic capacity to facilitate quicker recovery after anaerobic efforts. Develop the ability to ride constantly for 15-20 minutes before working on other drills below.
   
   
3. Work on leg turnover rate.
   Since this sport involves burst activity, i.e., short periods of maximum effort with long periods of recovery (the only exception being catchers & pitchers, who need physical endurance) once baseball players have adapted to the new motion, they should work on riding at the highest cadence possible for short periods then recovering at low cadence and repeat. PowerCranks™ are an excellent cross training tool. The increased strength and endurance that occurs in the hip flexor muscles allows for increased forward acceleration of the leg, without going anaerobic, with resulting increased leg turnover rate and/or stride length. Increased running speed and leg control is the natural end result. Baseball is a burst activity sport, involving short but frequent bursts of activity with varying periods of reduced activity allowing recovery. Therefore, training requirements for top speed running are most like those of a track and field sprinter. While not confirmed, we anticipate burst activity athletes can benefit greatly from only riding PowerCranks™ for about 30 - 45 minutes 3 or 4 days a week.
   
   
4. Be Determined!
   PowerCranks™ are a whole new way of using your legs, unlike a bicycle racer or triathlete who has spent years building up cycling specific strength, this motion might be new and frustrating to some athletes, especially ones who have been used to excelling at everything they do. The first few weeks on PowerCranks™ can be a challenge, as even elite cyclists have been humbled by PowerCranks™, and take some time before they are riding normally. How long does it take for a pitcher to learn a new pitch with enough control, power, and placement to rely on it in a game situation? The legs need to learn this new motion too. Be determined and patient, and you or your players will be faster, quicker, suffer fewer injuries, and those moments where the game hangs on an outfielder running full speed with an outstretched glove to that fly ball, with inches to spare, will more often be determined in your favor.