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Published on: June 4, 2020
Importance of shoulder girdle and finger flexor muscle endurance in advanced male climbers
Paweł Draga1, Robert Rokowski2, Alexander Sutor1
1Institute of Measurement and Sensor Technology, UMIT-Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology GmbH, Hall in Tirol, Austria.
Aim:
This study aimed to: (a) assess the relationships between climbing performance and finger and shoulder girdle muscle endurance; and (b) provide evidence on the validity of the specialized exercise tests used for the purpose.
Materials And Methods:
28 male sport climbers (climbing ability 23 ± 2.43 IRCRA scale) performed four tests muscle failure, including two-finger hang tests (using 2.5 and 4 cm holds) and two variants of pull-up exercises (classical pull-ups and a combination of dynamic and isometric actions - the so-called Edlinger). Climbing performance and test results were subjected to correlation, taxonomic and regression analysis.
Results:
The correlations between the results from all tests and climbing performance were notably strong ( between 0.54 and 0.61) and statistically significant ( ). The taxonomic analysis indicated that the two variants of each test type reflect two different latent variables 2.5 cm and 4 cm finger hang durations were highly correlated ( ). A similar correlation was found between the results from the pull-up tests ( ). Thus, the finger hang and pull-up test results were determined to a high extent (43% and 49%, respectively) by factors that cannot be assessed when only one test of each type is used. The regression model of the two-finger tests allowed individual endurance profiles to be assessed.
Conclusions:
The muscular endurance of the elbow flexors and shoulder girdle muscles predicts climbing performance within the specific sport level studied to a comparable degree as finger flexor endurance.The use of two variants of a test intended to assess one physical ability provided important details on a climber's fitness.
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