Assessing climbers’ pull-up capabilities by differentiating the parameters involved in power production

Abstract

This study explored the capabilities of sport climbers to pull up with arms. The methodology aimed at assessing (i) concentric capabilities of arm muscles, (ii) body coordination skills (iii) characteristics of energy storage and (iv) capabilities to resist fatigue. Twenty-eight climbers were tested and the force exerted was recorded during three pull-up exercises: jump tests (with or without coordination, or preceded by an eccentric phase), incrementally weighted pull-ups and maximum number of pull-ups. Force, velocity, muscle power and muscle work were analysed using ANOVA with post-hoc tests and principal component analysis. Correlations with climbing level were also studied. Overall, jump test results showed that body coordination and stretch-shortening cycle phenomena contributed significantly to performance but only the body coordination was related to the climber’s grade level. Muscle work and maximum number of pull-ups are correlated with climbing level which showed that the capacity to resist fatigue is another crucial capability of climbers arms. The development of force capacities appeared crucial for performing whereas the velocity capabilities seemed to originate from the climber’s own characteristics/style without correlating with climbing performance. Our study provides the basis for evaluating these parameters in order to help trainers in the diagnosis process and training follow-up.