dynaflex powerball gyro exerciser success/failure stories?

A few week back Hans Florine gave a talk at our gym (New Paltz Climbing Coop) and mentioned really liking the Powerball
dynaflexpro.com/store/power…
for warming up and for a "workout" he could do in his car. Now obviously this is a guy that gets more climbing done in 2 1/2 hours than I do in a year so clearly something he's doing is working, but I was just curious to see if other people have used one of these gadgets and found that it helped their climbing. If you found it useful, how did you use it?

I have one, really like it for keeping my grip strength up when I'm only climbing on weekends or go 2 was without climbing. It is also useable in the car, and while you want to work out but do something else too, like read or study.

The downside? Had the sucker for 9 mos before I figured out how to start it, keep it going, and get a good workout from it. Just kept getting mad at it not working and would put it away for awhile. So expect a steep learning curve and don't give up when you get one. 10/10 would recommend again.

Edit: I usually grip with the tips of my hands rather than Palm it and just go for endurance; there's really only a few ways to hold it and all of them work pretty much the all the finger flexor muscles at once, you'll be a crimp master in no time!

They rule. Great for tennis elbow. True they are hard to start. Don't lose the starter cord. I would recommend the battery powered starter too. Be cautious of getting them dirty. Friends that couldn't get mine started began pushing mine across their leg or the floor to initate it. Eventually mine got clogged with lint and other crap and became next to impossible to keep gyrating. The bearings could have been going south too. All told 10 out of 10 to recommend. Great for tennis, golf, and even motocross.

Been using one commuting since they first came out in the Nordic track stores in the eighties. Been asked if I were a brick mason after shaking hands, I'd have to say they work. You can start it by snapping your thumb over the opening, when it orbits on its own it will start right up...

Couldn't get mine started until I watched the instructional video online. If you lose the string, you can order 3 for $2-3. You can also order a longer string to make it a little easier to start. Holding it overhead and out to the side is a good shoulder exercise.

Thanks folks...

Does anyone have a specific routine that you do with it? For example, the video suggests that a "rep" is spinning the gyro up as fast as can be and then letting it spin down (didn't really seem to say how far to let it go).

Or do you do what I've been doing which is just to work one hand until it gets really tired, then switch sides, etc, until both sides are too tired and then stop?

BTW +1 for sure for the power starter, really makes it much more efficient to start learning how to use the thing and get some workouts in, the exasperation folks were describing above appears to be pretty universal from talking to folks and reading online...

Craig Childre wrote:Great for tennis, golf, and even motocross.

For climbing, not so much.

I use the cycling technique. Fast for 10-30 seconds, then slow for a similar period. Repeat until failure. Longer speed cycles shorten the number of reps necessary to achieve failure. After failure, switch hands. 3 sets. For a harder circut. Lengthen the cycles, such that you achieve failure on the first set after 8-10 reps. 2nd set should fail around 5-8. 3rd set 3-6. Such should maximize your efforts.

Thanks Craig.

You don't need the string to start it. Just run your plam over the ball part or run it down your thigh. Then "work it" up to speed. I've never used the string. I do like mine when I use it but I am puttin a new one on the Christmas list mine is over 10 years old and compared to new ones you can tell its wore out.

Capt. Impatient wrote:You don't need the string to start it. Just run your plam over the ball part or run it down your thigh. Then "work it" up to speed. I've never used the string. I do like mine when I use it but I am puttin a new one on the Christmas list mine is over 10 years old and compared to new ones you can tell its wore out.

Ha! Maybe YOU don't need the string, but I sure do, in fact I have trouble even then! I think you may be a prodigy of some kind.

Optimistic wrote: Ha! Maybe YOU don't need the string, but I sure do, in fact I have trouble even then! I think you may be a prodigy of some kind.

I use a powerball, not that I think it helps me climb harder, but mostly to exercise the muscles in my forearm to prevent injuries (I had tennis elbow when I used to pull too hard with my arms).

Learning to get the thing started was a very frustrating experience. When I first got mine, I spent several days running it across carpet, down the front of my thigh, palming it, thumbing it, watching youtube videos, nothing helped. In all the instructions and videos they just say something like "rotate your wrist really fast", but they don't tell you that just rotate your wrist at a random speed doesn't work. Eventually I figured it out: you need to feel the pull of the gyro and work with it, sync up your wrist rotation with the pull of the gyro to maintain speed, rotate your wrist slightly faster than the pull of the gyro to increase speed. If the gyro is going slow but you try to rotate your wrist too fast, you'll just get out of sync and loose the spin. The best way I can describe it is like trying to swirl a glass of water around without spilling it. Once you get that, you can start up the powerball without the string.

aikibujin wrote: I use a powerball, not that I think it helps me climb harder, but mostly to exercise the muscles in my forearm to prevent injuries (I had tennis elbow when I used to pull too hard with my arms). Learning to get the thing started was a very frustrating experience. When I first got mine, I spent several days running it across carpet, down the front of my thigh, palming it, thumbing it, watching youtube videos, nothing helped. In all the instructions and videos they just say something like "rotate your wrist really fast", but they don't tell you that just rotate your wrist at a random speed doesn't work. Eventually I figured it out: you need to feel the pull of the gyro and work with it, sync up your wrist rotation with the pull of the gyro to maintain speed, rotate your wrist slightly faster than the pull of the gyro to increase speed. If the gyro is going slow but you try to rotate your wrist too fast, you'll just get out of sync and loose the spin. The best way I can describe it is like trying to swirl a glass of water around without spilling it. Once you get that, you can start up the powerball without the string.

Your "glass of water" idea turned out to be really helpful...I actually am occasionally (not always!) able to start it with just a couple of flicks of the thumb now. The key for me (in addition to your analogy) was the Powerstarter, which allowed me to get a feel for how to speed the thing up, let it slow way down, and then speed it up again.

From the few climbing sessions I've had since I started using it, I think it might be building strength a little. Nice to be able to do a little something in the car for the forearms and fingers on long workdays when a visit to the gym just isn't going to happen. No question it's helping with range of motion in my left wrist which was a little tight for whatever reason, and the random cracks and pops in my elbows seem to have disappeared as well.

Another cool thing I notice is that when I do the exercise with one hand I end up totally overgripping with the opposite hand for no reason at all, so I'm working on breaking that habit, because overgripping is definitely a bad habit for me on the rock as well.

Lastly, it's just kind of fun and relaxing to do...

Anyway, thanks again to folks who wrote in.

This helps with strength some.... I think it helps with endurance, especially to fight arm pump. Ultimately, it greatest benefit IMHO is fighting the dreaded tennis elbow.