Dynos/Dyno Training

[alexandra]

Hi all,

I was wondering if you can give me some advice on what it takes to improve at dynos? I know coordination is key, but how to train it?
Also, does it make sense to train some sort of jumping drills (e.g. box jumps) and  do squats/leg exercises help? I am pretty bad at dynos but I really enjoy doing them and would like to improve. On another note, would dynos fall into the category of "power"? or are there in a category all on their own?
thanks!

[iclimb2improve]

Dynos definitely fall into the power category (contact strength). I know that campusing is supposed to be 'footless' dynos trying to do as big of moves as possible and I know that it has helped me improve my ability to do realistic dead point moves in the past. However I struggle doing with huge dynos off of big feet to jugs because it requires some element of leg strength and a good amount of dyno specific technique (both I lack).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSDcgBf7QM4
Unfortunately the video isn't the greatest (and I imagine my description won't be either), but if you notice the gentleman in the video's center of gravity kind of moves in a U shape to generate momentum.

I've never done any training for those kinds of dynos, but I have heard that doing box jumps and pistol squats do help in that situation. Also building contact strength, which acquired through campusing and limit bouldering, helps on holding that hold that you would be jumping to.

I hope this helps!

[jessebruni]

I wouldn't train dyno's with pistol squats or box jumps until you are EXTREMELY familiar with the mechanics of a good dyno, and the only thing holding you back is raw power. For the vast majority of climbers, it's not lack of raw power that holds them back. More often it's unfamiliarity with the mechanics of what's going on, which results in poor timing, and poor muscular coordination. Head game also comes into play here as dynos generally require a massive amount of commitment in the sense that if you don't fully commit, you'll probably fall, and if you do fully commit you'll fall if you miss your target. A dyno is an all or nothing sort of scenario, and a lot of people aren't comfortable with feeling out of control like that.

Anyway, you're bad at dyno's right now because they are highly skill oriented and you're a relatively new climber. The more you do them, the more you will improve them. My suggestion would be to start throwing unnecessary dynos into your warmups and your sub-maximal bouldering, just to get you more comfortable with the movement, and get you comfortable with being in that headspace. Once you start getting comfortable with dynoing, start thinking about how to maximize the power you already have. Try to "explode" upwards with both your arms and legs generating that explosive power. Remember that power is speed X strength, so to get a really powerful dyno you need to be fast.

Another thing that really helps with coordination is practicing double-clutch movements. These are pretty un-common in ROCK climbing, but you see them in plastic climbing often enough. A double-clutch is basically when you dyno to one hold, and use that momentum to pull you to another hold. Doing a lot of these will help with momentum as you have to hit 2 targets accurately instead of one.

Anyway, practice practice practice, look up Louis Parkinson on YouTube to get some ideas of the way your body should be moving to properly execute a good dyno (or triple dyno) or a good double clutch.

[alexandra]

Thanks!
I was wondering at how much box jumps and pistols help indeed, since I am pretty good at both of those moves (and do them quite often for crossfit) but not so good at dynos ;p
I would be happy to practice more dynos in my warmups etc, the question is how to pick them in order to actually improve? I don't feel commitment is my issue cause I do throw for things as hard as I can, just often do not manage to complete the dyno. For example, a few times I have tried to dyno to a hold and failed and then if I changed the dyno to a hold a little closer I succeeded. In this example, I felt that the dyno to the far away hold was impossible and even though I would try for days, I still had no clue how to do it, and the dyno to the closer hold was easy and didn't teach me much...Would choosing the right dyno be somewhat like limit bouldering? e.g. choose something that you can perhaps touch and work towards it for a whole power phase? or should it have a higher success rate?
thanks!

[jessebruni]

There is always the possibility that the hold is just too far away for your height, but it's easy to figure out if that's the case or not. Figure out the distance between the feet you're jumping off of, and the target hold (X), then figure out how much further that distance is than your body at full extension (distance from your toes when tiptoeing to the tips of your fingers with your arms raised above your head) (Y), and that's the how high you have to be jumping to reach the hold (Z). X = Y + Z. The bottom line is that if Z is greater than your max jump when standing on the ground, the dyno is too big, and you'll have to actually increase your vertical jump height (training box jumps, etc.) to reach it. More often than not, this isn't the case. In fact more often than not Z = 0 and X < Y, meaning a lot of times the distance of a dyno is such that you can hold onto the target hold and keep your feet on the holds you should have jumped off of.

Okay, so, bearing all that in mind, lets say that the problem is Z. If that's the case then doing box jumps and pistol squats can help, but you have to consider whether the time spent trying to improve dyno's like that is really worth it? Maybe so, maybe not, that's a personal question. On the other hand, if the Z distance is well within your wheelhouse, then the issue is coordination and timing, in other words, you're not getting your body to full extension AND getting some height out of the jump. You might be getting two feet out of the jump but losing a foot in the full extension, netting you only a 1 foot gain on your full extension.

There are a few internal cues you can work on to increase the height of your dynos. One of them is to try and overshoot the hold, instead of aiming for the top of the hold, aim for a spot 6 inches above that and see what happens. Also, make sure that you're really throwing your bodyweight up over your hips and onto your toes with your arms. A good dyno is a mix of pulling with your arms and pushing with your feet. Often when I need to get another few inches out of a dyno it comes down to me throwing my arms down harder, rather than pushing harder with my legs. Another thing is film yourself on a dyno and watch it in slow motion, look at the arc as your body moves up and see if you're actually releasing and jumping at the optimal time. It can be hard to tell if you're launching a split-second too late or too early, but it's easier to see on video. Another thing is to focus on that explosion when you do your jump. Get aggressive, launch yourself off the footholds, imagine you're shooting out of a cannon, whatever you can do to ensure you're really producing the maximum power your body is capable of. This is where practicing comes in, since this is all about muscular coordination, the more you practice it (whether it's on dynos you can get, or dynos you can't) the better you'll get at it. To that point, it doesn't matter too much what dyno's you're doing so long as you're practicing the movement properly. I would imagine the best kind of dynos to practice would be dynos that you CAN do, but not first try.

Hope that helps.

[erick]

Jesse, is on point! For really hard dynos I will rarely try to "latch" the hold until can comfortable overshoot it. If you feel getting to the hold is not the problem and its just a matter of latching, then campusing is the tool you want. One way to use a campus board more effectly to train dynos (since you rarely campus on the wall) is to reach one hand as high on the board you can reach from the ground, and put your other hand as low on the board as possible while keeping your feet on the ground. Then jump using legs/arms to get your low hand as high as possible. This can help train coordination, whereas max ladders train pure power.

[MarkAnderson]

I agree that leg strength is very unlikely to be the culprit, especially in the case of a well-trained crossfitter such as yourself.

Dynos are incredibly complicated movements, so there are many factors that can prevent you from succeeding (or a combination of factors). When I'm struggling on a dyno, I like to break it down into steps. The first step is to get above the target hold and inspect it closely--find out what you're aiming for (fresh tick marks often appear around this point). Once I have some ideas, I start launching for the target hold and trying to touch it (making no attempt to latch). I may do this many times. This lets you figure out if the dyno is feasible, if you have enough hops to reach the hold, the best way(s) to generate momentum, practice your aim, and practice the fall (and landing, for you and your belayer/spotters) so that you don't have to worry about it when you're really trying to stick it.

Once I'm confident I can reach the hold, then I focus more on my aim, trying to touch the hold in the perfect spot. This is a good point to stop and apply tape. Most hard dynos will risk skin damage once you are really trying hard to latch it. Then I will actually start trying to stick the target hold. Even at this point it may take awhile, initially focusing on latching the target hold correctly. As I improve at that end, I start to focus more on what my lagging hand is doing, and then my feet. A really hard dyno will require perfect execution of both hands and feet, and you can't focus perfectly on all four limbs on your first try.

This whole process could take two tries or it could take 20, depending on the difficulty. Think about how you are failing on the dyno and consider if there is a part of the above process that you could do better:

-If you can't see the target, or aren't sure what you're aiming for, do more investigating/ticking
-If you can't reach the hold, practice your launch and/or try different launch options.
-If you can reach it but keep missing it, practice your aim
-If you can latch it initially, but then swing off, focus on your lagging hand and feet (and maybe there is a core issue)

[Sander]

Another thing that helps me a lot when I get stuck on dynos (happens quite often, I'm not a natural jumper...) is focussing on the movement of the hips. Every dyno is different, but for most you want your hips (and center of gravity) to describe and inward arch. Focussing on that part of the move (rather than on your hands, the top hold or pushing really hard) helps me in staying close to the wall, getting my weight above my feet and pushing my body in the right direction.