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Isolated finger flexor vs. exhaustive whole-body climbing tests? How to assess endurance in sport climbers?

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European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Sport climbing requires high-intensity finger flexor contractions, along with a substantial whole-body systemic oxygen uptake (\(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)O2) contribution. Although fatigue is often localised to the finger flexors, the role of systemic ̇\(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)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 motorised climbing ergometer. Systemic \(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)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% \(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)O2 and heart rate climbing peak). The peak angle from whole-body treadwall test and impulse from isolated hangboard endurance tests were interrelated (R2 = 0.58–0.64). Peak climbing angle together with mean \(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)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.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

ATP:

Adenosine triphosphate

CI:

Confidence interval

GET:

Gas exchange threshold

FDP:

Flexor digitorum profundus

f H :

Heart rate

f R :

Respiratory frequency

H+ :

Hydrogen cation

MOB:

Muscle tissue oxygenation breakpoint

MVC:

Maximal voluntary contraction

P :

Statistical significance

R :

Pearson correlation coefficient

R 2 :

Coefficient of determination

\(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)CO2 :

Carbon dioxide production

\(\mathop V\limits^{.}\) E :

Expired minute ventilation

\(\mathop V\limits^{.}\)O2 :

Oxygen uptake

VT :

Tidal volume

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Funding

This study was supported by Charles University programme GAUK, Adventure activities and movement deficiency in youth.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University, José Martího 31, 16252, Prague 6, Czech Republic

    Jiří Baláš, Jan Gajdošík, Dominika Krupková & Tomáš Brtník

  2. Lattice Training Limited, Chesterfield, UK

    David Giles

  3. School of Sport and Exercise, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, UK

    Simon Fryer

  4. Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Andri Feldmann

Authors
  1. Jiří Baláš
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  2. Jan Gajdošík
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  6. Tomáš Brtník
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Contributions

JB and JG conceived and designed the research; JB, JG, DK, TB conducted experiments; JB and JG analysed and evaluated data; JB, AF, DG and SF prepared the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiří Baláš.

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Conflict of interest

It should be noted that one of the authors (DG) is employed by Lattice Training Ltd. who provide climbing coaching and assessment services. The remaining authors have no competing interests to declare and assert that the results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Communicated by William J. Kraemer.

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Baláš, J., Gajdošík, J., Giles, D. et al. Isolated finger flexor vs. exhaustive whole-body climbing tests? How to assess endurance in sport climbers?. Eur J Appl Physiol 121, 1337–1348 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-021-04595-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-021-04595-7

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