Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess and compare the maximal force and rate of force development (RFD) between intermediate, advanced and elite climbers using several different methods for calculating RFD. Fifty-seven male climbers (17 intermediate, 25 advanced, and 15 elite) performed isometric pull-ups on a climbing-specific hold while the RFD was calculated using several absolute (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 ms from onset of force) and relative time periods (25, 50, 75, 95, and 100% of time to peak force). The maximal force was higher among elite climbers compared to advanced (ES = 1.78, p < 0.001) and intermediate climbers (ES = 1.77, p < 0.001), while no difference was observed between intermediate and advanced climbers (P = 0.898). The elite group also showed higher RFD than the other two groups at all relative time periods (ES = 1.02–1.58, p < 0.001–0.002), whereas the absolute time periods only revealed differences between the elite vs. the other groups at 50, 100 and 150 ms from the onset of force (ES = 0.72–0.84, p = 0.032–0.040). No differences in RFD were observed between the intermediate and advanced groups at any time period (p = 0.942–1.000). Maximal force and RFD, especially calculated using the longer periods of the force curve, may be used to distinguish elite climbers from advanced and intermediate climbers. The authors suggest using relative rather than absolute time periods when analyzing the RFD of climbers.
Highlights
Sport climbing will be introduced for the first time as an Olympic sport in 2021 and has received increased attention from researchers and athletes [1]
The intra-class correlations (ICC) and CV between the three attempts using the relative and absolute time periods are presented in Table 2A and 2B, respectively
The higher rate of force development (RFD) produced by the elite climbers was accompanied by a notably higher peak force output than the other groups, while the time to reach peak force was only lower than the advanced climbers
Summary
Sport climbing will be introduced for the first time as an Olympic sport in 2021 and has received increased attention from researchers and athletes [1]. Researchers attempting to determine which factors influence sport climbing- and bouldering-performance have identified a combination of technical [2,3], neuromuscular [4,5,6,7,8], anthropometric [9,10,11], psychological [12], and physiological factors [13]. Higher performing athletes are stronger than intermediate climbers, especially when climbing-specific tests and hold types are implemented [8,10,14,15]. In previous studies examining climbers, the strength and rate of force development (RFD) of the finger flexors has discriminated between climbing performance levels [8] and disciplines [16].
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