Paul Gutierrez has taken the demands of college life and finances a step further — running a business and manufacturing a highly praised exercise product consumes his time away from school.

“I always have customers on hand asking about the product,” said Gutierrez, sophomore in industrial technology. “Whenever I have time away from school, I build the product.”

Gutierrez’s product is called the Russian Box, a training product designed for strengthening the lower body and developing stronger lateral movements. The motion of the workout mimics the side-to-side movement used in skating by jumping back-and-forth between two platforms.

“[The product] has been quoted by NHL players and coaches, and physiologists have [named it] the No. 1 skating-specific tool for dry-land training,” Gutierrez said.

As hockey players rave about the product, other sports have noticed the potential benefits of the workout.

“It’s kind of a hockey secret right now,” Gutierrez said. “But football and tennis players are getting into it for developing explosive leg power.”

Gutierrez said he receives 10 calls per day from people wanting information on the product.

“I’m always answering calls and writing e-mails about it,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t keep up with the demand. I never watch television or anything like that.”

Gutierrez builds the product at his Sigma Chi fraternity house during the school year, keeping the necessary supplies in the basement. Members of the fraternity use it to work out.

“He makes good money for a college student, but he works harder than any college student I know,” said Malik Karadsheh, sophomore in pre-business and member of Sigma Chi. “Owning a business at his age and taking initiative is cool; more people should do things like this.”

Jack Blatherwick, a former U.S. Olympic hockey trainer (1980-1994), gave the idea for the product to Gutierrez when he helped train Gutierrez’s hockey team in Long Lake, Minn.

Blatherwick visited Russia, where a similar product was being used for training. He thought of a redesigned version that reduced the problem people had with knee joint injuries from the workout, Gutierrez said.

“Jack gave me the idea and said, ‘Go ahead with it,'” Gutierrez said. “He said, ‘You have the ambition to do it,’ because he knew I liked it so much. I was the only hockey player that wanted to keep doing it all day.”

Each year, his sales increase by 50 units, which increases revenue by $6,000 annually, Gutierrez said. Each unit sells for $699.

Gutierrez credits much of his sales growth to the Internet.

“It’s amazing what the Internet can do for a business,” he said.

This correction was printed on April 26, 2004:

Due to a reporting error, a photo cutline accompanying the April 23 article “ISU student is entrepreneur in field of workout equipment” incorrectly states the Russian Box—a creation of Paul Gutierrez, sophomore in industrial technology—has been used by the ISU football team and ISU men’s ice hockey team. Neither organization uses Gutierrez’s products. The Daily regrets the error.