Purpose. Sport climbing requires high intensity finger flexor contractions, along with a substantial whole-body systemic oxygen uptake (V ̇O2) contribution. Although fatigue is often localised to the finger flexors, the role of systemic V ̇O2 and local aerobic mechanisms in climbing performance remains unclear. As such, the primary purpose of this study was to determine systemic and local muscle oxygen responses during both isolated finger flexion and incremental exhaustive whole-body climbing tests. The secondary aim was to determine the relationship of isolated and whole-body climbing endurance tests to climbing ability.Methods. Twenty-two male sport climbers completed a series of isometric sustained and intermittent forearm flexor contractions, and an exhaustive climbing test with progressive steepening of the wall angle on a motorized climbing ergometer. Systemic V ̇O2 and flexor digitorum profundus oxygen saturation (StO2) were recorded using portable metabolic analyser and near-infra red spectroscopy, respectively.Results. Muscle oxygenation breakpoint (MOB) was identifiable during an incremental exhaustive climbing test with progressive increases in angle (82±8% and 88±8% V ̇O2 and heart rate climbing peak). The peak angle from whole-body treadwall test and impulse from isolated hangboard endurance tests were interrelated (R 2 = 0.58-0.64).Peak climbing angle together with mean V ̇O2 and StO2 from submaximal climbing explained 83 % of variance in self-reported climbing ability.Conclusions. Both systemic and muscle oxygen kinetics determine climbing specific endurance. Exhaustive climbing and isolated finger flexion endurance tests are interrelated and suitable to assess climbing specific endurance. An exhaustive climbing test with progressive wall angle allows determination of the MOB.

Baláš, J, Kodejška, J, Krupková, D, Hannsmann, J, and Fryer, S. Reliability of near-infrared spectroscopy for measuring intermittent handgrip contractions in sport climbers. J Strength Cond Res 32(2): 494-501, 2018-The use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate muscle oxygenation changes during physical tasks such as rock climbing has rapidly increased within recent years; yet, there is no known measure of reliability. The current study aimed to determine intersession reliability and minimal detectable change (MDC) of continuous wave NIRS parameters during intermittent handgrip contractions in rock climbers. Thirty-two sport climbers were tested for exhaustive intermittent handgrip exercise (8-second contraction-2-second relief) at 60% of maximal voluntary contraction on 3 separate days. During each visit, continuous wave NIRS was used to determine tissue saturation index (TSI) as the measure of tissue oxygenation in the flexor digitorum profundus. To assess the intersession reliability, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), SEM, coefficient of variation (CV), and MDC were used. Mean deoxygenation during the contractions provided reliable results ([INCREMENT] TSI; first trial -8.9 ± 2.9%, second trial -8.8 ± 2.7%, and third trial -8.4 ± 2.6%; ICC = 0.692; SEM = 1.5%; CV = 17.2%; MDC = 4.2%). Mean muscle reoxygenation during the relief periods was similarly reliable ([INCREMENT] TSI; first trial 9.0 ± 3.1%, second trial 8.8 ± 2.9%, and third trial 8.5 ± 2.7%; ICC = 0.672; SEM = 1.7%; CV = 19.0%, MDC = 4.7%). As such, continuous wave NIRS provides a reliable measure of deoxygenation and reoxygenation during intermittent contractions to failure in the forearm flexors of rock climbers. Differences exceeding ∼4.5% for [INCREMENT] TSI during contraction and relief periods should be considered meaningful.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of different water immersion temperatures on handgrip performance and haemodynamic changes in the forearm flexors of males and females. Twenty-nine rock-climbers performed three repeated intermittent handgrip contractions to failure with 20 min recovery on three separate laboratory visits. For each visit, a randomly assigned recovery strategy was applied: cold water immersion (CWI) at 8 °C (CW8), 15 °C (CW15) or passive recovery (PAS). While handgrip performance significantly decreased in the subsequent trials for the PAS (p < 0.05), there was a significant increase in time to failure for the second and third trial for CW15 and in the second trial for CW8; males having greater performance improvement (44%) after CW15 than females (26%). The results indicate that CW15 was a more tolerable and effective recovery strategy than CW8 and the same CWI protocol may lead to different recovery in males and females.

The purpose of the study was to compare the psychophysiological response of climbers of a range of abilities (lower grade to advanced) when ascending identical climbing routes on a climbing wall and a rotating treadwall. Twenty-two female climbers (31.2 ± 9.4 years; 60.5 ± 6.5 kg; 168.6 ± 5.7 cm) completed two identical 18 m climbing trials (graded 4 on the French Sport scale) separated by 1 week, one on the treadwall (climbing low to the ground) and the other on the indoor wall (climbing in height). Indirect calorimetry, venous blood samples and video-analysis were used to assess energy cost, hormonal response and time-load characteristics. Energy costs were higher during indoor wall climbing comparing to those on the treadwall by 16% (P < 0.001, $$\upmu _{{\text{p}}}^{2}$$ μ p 2  = 0.48). No interaction of climbing ability and climbing condition were found. However, there was an interaction for climbing ability and post-climbing catecholamine concentration (P < 0.01, $$\upmu _{{\text{p}}}^{2}$$ μ p 2  = 0.28). Advanced climbers’ catecholamine response increased by 238% and 166% with respect to pre-climb values on the treadwall and indoor wall, respectively; while lower grade climbers pre-climb concentrations were elevated by 281% and 376% on the treadwall and indoor wall, respectively. The video analysis showed no differences in any time-motion variables between treadwall and indoor wall climbing. The study demonstrated a greater metabolic response for indoor wall climbing, however, the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood.

Purpose: Although sport climbing is a self-paced whole-body activity, speed varies with climbing style, and the effect of this on systemic and localized oxygen responses is not well understood. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine muscle and pulmonary oxygen responses during submaximal climbing at differing speeds of ascent. Methods: Thirty-two intermediate and advanced sport climbers completed three 4-minute-long ascents of the same route at 4, 6, and 9 m·min−1 on a motorized climbing ergometer (treadwall) on separate laboratory visits. Gas analysis and near-infrared spectroscopy were used to determine systemic oxygen uptake () and muscle oxygen saturation (StO2) of the flexor digitorum profundus. Results: Increases in ascent speed of 1 m·min−1 led to increases of by 2.4 mL·kg−1·min−1 (95% CI, 2.1 to 2.8 mL·kg−1·min−1) and decreases in StO2 by −1.3% (95% CI, 1.9% to −0.7%). There was a significant interaction of climbing ability and speed for StO2 (P < .001, ). The results revealed that the decrease of StO2 was present for intermediate but not advanced climbers. Conclusions: In this study, the results suggest that demand during climbing was largely determined by climbing speed; however, the ability level of the climber appeared to mitigate StO2 at a cellular level. Coaches and instructors may prescribe climbing ascents with elevated speed to improve generalized cardiorespiratory fitness. To stimulate localized aerobic capacity, however, climbers should perhaps increase the intensity of training ascents through the manipulation of wall angle or reduction of hold size.