Don Petersen | Special to The Roanoke Times

Johnny Goldberg (left) works Saturday with Roanoke Athletic Club member Judge Philip Trompeter on the new Krankcycle exercise machines.

RAC instructor Sherry Schaaf tries out one of the new Krankcycles on Saturday. It operates like a meat grinder.

Exercise instructor Jim Karanas, who is also the chief executive of the Kranking College of Knowledge, leads a kranking class Saturday at the Roanoke Athletic Club.

Almost 20 years ago, Johnny Goldberg developed spinning, the group exercise program on stationary bicycles that launched thousands of gym careers and turned its inventor into a world-famous exercise guru.

Now, with spinning a staple of health clubs worldwide, Goldberg, who goes by Johnny G, is back with what he hopes will become the next exercise craze.

In the new workout, called kranking, participants sit at a reconfigured stationary bicycle on which the foot pedals have been replaced by hand cranks. They can either sit at the machine or stand in front of it and turn the cranks with one hand or both.

On Saturday, Goldberg was at the Roanoke Athletic Club in Southwest Roanoke County to introduce a prototype of his new invention, which he said was five years in the making. Besides bringing his machines, called Krankcycles, to major gyms in cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, Goldberg said he wanted to make stops in smaller markets such as Roanoke as well.

"Upper-body rotational exercise will be the next revolution in fitness," he predicted, noting that most cardiovascular exercise only works the legs and neglects the upper body.

One of the benefits of kranking will be to make exercise available to people who, for whatever reason, are not comfortable on treadmills or stationary bicycles, he said.

"Some people say that my programs have a spiritual approach, but really they have a philosophical approach" because they help people boost their confidence and believe in their own abilities, Goldberg said.

Exercisers at the RAC mounted 10 gleaming Krankcycles lined up in a row. They were led in a workout by San Francisco-based instructor Jim Karanas, who travels with Goldberg (Karanas' full title: chief executive officer of the Kranking College of Knowledge). The machines will be divided between the Roanoke Athletic Club and the Botetourt Athletic Club. Goldberg said each machine costs $1,695.

"Use your whole body. Good, good turn, good. Now change sides," Karanas instructed through a microphone on a headset.

The participants furiously worked the cranks, looking as though they were operating huge, manual meat grinders. Some participants said they felt they had been put through a meat grinder as well.

"It's hard, but it's fun," said Teabra Dixon, leaning against a wall after her workout. "It's not like any workout I've done before."

Another early convert to kranking is Philip Trompeter, judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court for Roanoke County and Salem.

"This is nice because you can just use your upper body and give your joints a rest," he said. "It was way more intense than I had anticipated."

Originally an endurance athlete from South Africa, Goldberg moved to the United States in 1979. He was held up at gunpoint in Los Angeles soon after arriving, he recalled, an incident that strengthened his resolve to make it in this country.

"I wanted to see what else American had to offer," said Goldberg, who still lives in California. "I've been living the American dream ever since. I've helped a lot of people."