Evaluation Of Finger Flexor Strength And Resilience In Lead Sport Climbers

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate finger flexor maximal voluntary contraction (fMVC) and resilience in different levels of climbers, and to analyze relationships between the strength parameters with selected variables. METHODS: Thirty seven male lead sport climbers, self reported rating of 5.9-5.13c on the Yosemite decimal scale, were divided into 3 groups; low (LL; level 5.9, n = 12, 31.2 ± 11 yrs, 173.3 ± 4.1 cm, 68.9 ± 6.6 kg, and left 26.1, right 26.2 cm forearm girth), middle (ML: level 5.11a, n = 15, 33.1 ± 11.0 yrs, 174.8 ± 4.8 cm, 67.1 ± 5.6 kg, and left 26.9, right 27.1 cm), and high (HL: level 5.12d, n = 10, 45.6 ± 11.9 yrs, 169.7 ± 3.9 cm, 65.4 ± 6.2 kg, and left 27.1, right 26.7 cm). They performed both right (R) and left (L) fMVC 3 times against the crimp grip (CG) and open grip (OG). For this test, they sat upright besides a strength measurement device with positioning their upper arm perpendicular and lower arm horizontal. After the fMVC measurements, they had a 10 min break followed by undergoing fatigue protocol, consisted of; 1) 80% of CG fMVC in dominant hand until exhaustion, 2) a testing of fMVC, and 3) a static resting for 1 min, for three times. Then, their resilient fMVC for CG was measured at 5, 10, and 15 min of recovery. RESULTS: As climber’s level was higher, fMVC was also higher (p < 0.001). fMVC for CG in LL was 344.9 ± 95.9 N in L and 357.8 ± 74.6 in R while that in ML and HL was 473.9 ± 58.5 in L and 509.2 ± 47.7 in R, and 566.5 ± 95.2 in L and 596.0 ± 97.1 in R, respectively. fMVC for OG in LL was 300.2 ± 55.2 N in L and 306.3 ± 56.4 in R, while that in ML and HL was 413.3 ± 62.8 in L and 433.0 ± 50.2 in R, and 501.8 ± 61.5 in L and 518.1 ± 59.6 in R, respectively. The climber’s level was highly correlated with fMVC (p < 0.001). No relationship was noticed between preferred grip and fMVC (p > 0.05). The relationship (R2) between climber’s level and forearm girth was 0.704 in L and 0.784 in R of CG, and 0.782 in L and 0.805 in R of OG. The fMVC compared to the base at 5 min of recovery was 80% in ML and HL while that was 72% in LL (p < 0.001). At 15 min of recovery, ML and HL recovered 90%, but 80% in LL (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The climber’s level against the forearm circumference, fMVC of the dominant arm, and the recovery was positively related. It is thought that fMVC and the resilience are good predictors for climber’s level, and can be a simple indicator to determine a climber’s level.