Abstract
Purpose: Sport climbing is a technical, self-paced sport, and the workload is highly variable and mainly localized to the forearm flexors. It has not proved effective to control intensity using measures typical of other sports, such as gas exchange thresholds, heart rate, or blood lactate. Therefore, the purposes of the study were to (1) determine the possibility of applying the mathematical model of critical power to the estimation of a critical angle (CA) as a measure of maximal metabolic steady state in climbing and (2) to compare this intensity with the muscle oxygenation breakpoint (MOB) determined during an exhaustive climbing task.Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven sport climbers undertook three to five exhaustive ascents on a motorized treadwall at differing angles to estimate CA, and one exhaustive climbing test with a progressive increase in angle to determine MOB, assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).Results: Model fit for estimated CA was very high (R2 = 0.99; SEE = 1.1°). The mean peak angle during incremental test was −17 ± 5°, and CA from exhaustive trials was found at −2.5 ± 3.8°. Nine climbers performing the ascent 2° under CA were able to sustain the task for 20 min with perceived exertion at 12.1 ± 1.9 (RPE). However, climbing 2° above CA led to task failure after 15.9 ± 3.0 min with RPE = 16.4 ± 1.9. When MOB was plotted against estimated CA, good agreement was stated (ICC = 0.80, SEM = 1.5°).Conclusion: Climbers, coaches, and researchers may use a predefined route with three to five different wall angles to estimate CA as an analog of critical power to determine a maximal metabolic steady state in climbing. Moreover, a climbing test with progressive increases in wall angle using MOB also appears to provide a valid estimate of CA.
Highlights
Sport climbing is a technical, self-paced sport, and the workload is highly variable and mainly localized to the forearm flexors
When time to exhaustion (TTE) was plotted against wall angle, the typical hyperbolic function as for power–duration relationship was found (Figure 2A)
The linear transformation showed high model fit (R2 = 0.99; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.96–1.00) and low standard error of critical angle” (CA) estimate (SE = 1.10◦; 95% CI 0.83◦–1.35◦)
Summary
Sport climbing is a technical, self-paced sport, and the workload is highly variable and mainly localized to the forearm flexors. Both maximal finger flexor strength and endurance have been found to be strong predictors of climbing ability (Fryer et al, 2018; Michailov et al, 2018), with lead climbers demonstrating greater endurance and boulderers maximal strength and power. Endurance training in climbing requires systemic and localized adaptations (Thompson et al, 2014; Fryer et al, 2018), and ensuring appropriate intensity of exercise, for the finger flexors, is challenging. It has been shown that intensity control during climbing using measures typical from other sports, such as gas exchange thresholds, heart rate, and blood lactate, are not effective (Schöffl et al, 2006; Limonta et al, 2018; Baláš et al, 2021)
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