The Physical Determinants of Climbing Performance

More and more, climbing is increasing in popularity, and with it, the research that is conducted specifically in the pursuit of betterment in climbing. From this research, spanning years, a picture is emerging of the physical, mental, and technical determinants of climbing performance.

But how do researchers determine what is important? The common approaches used are with comparative studies. They compare how climbers' physical attributes stack up against people in the general population, and they also look at which characteristics are more pronounced with climbers at an elite level, compared to recreational climbers. From there we can draw conclusions about the characteristics that are going to be useful for climbing.

So what are the physical determinants to climbing performance? Ape index? Finger Strength? Wearing trousers? Read on

Attribute 1: Finger + Pulling Strength

This should not be surprising to anyone. A systematic review of the literature performed in 2019 confirmed what we all intuitively know; higher finger flexion and pulling strength is highly correlated with climbing grade. Expanding on this, it is most important to consider your maximum force production when it is scaled to your body weight, your so called strength to weight ratio (S:W).

Because of the complexity and diversity of climbing styles and individuals, there will never be a number to point at to say "This S:W means you can climb this grade". Climbing is just far too nuanced. The major thing to consider here is that stronger fingers open the door for climbing higher grades. If you want to do harder climbs, you have to train your fingers. Period.

Attribute 2: Whole Body Strength

Eric Cressey

Our finger strength is the cannon in this analogy, and any limitation in our elbows, shoulder girdle, core or hip musculature makes us a canoe (instead of a war galley). Without a stable base to project our finger force from, we are trying to shoot a cannon from a canoe, and the capacity in our fingers is wasted.

At any given moment during a climb, we perform a combination of elbow flexion, shoulder extension/abduction and hip/knee/ankle extension. All of these movements need to be trained in order to maximise performance, and minimise injury risk. To continue the analogy above, we need to go to the boat shed (gym) and use the tools there (barbells etc) to turn the unstable canoe into stable galley that can fire some cannons.

Movements should include:

• Pressing - bench press

• Vertical Pulling - chin ups

• Horizontal Pulling - seated row

• Hip Extension - deadlift

• Plantar Flexion - calf raises

Attribute 3: Resistance to fatigue

Climbing is a fairly unique sport in that as much as 1/3 of the time spent climbing is in an isometric contraction (isometric contractions are when you contract your muscles without your limbs moving). The review paper mentioned above indicates that resistance to fatigue in isometric contractions is an integral part of climbing performance.

In order to continue to contract your muscles, they need to be provided with oxygen from your blood. In an isometric contraction >50% of your maximum, your muscle fibres literally squeeze your vasculature to the point that no blood can pass into or out of the muscle cells. This leads to the inevitable relaxation of the muscle (and you falling off the crux).

Training to improve the re-oxygenation rate of your muscles an be trained by gradually reducing the rest period between sets, over a period of time (weeks). You can also train to increase the amount of oxygen that can be used in your muscles, by increasing the number of muscle fibres in a given muscle, which is best done through strength training.

So we're talking about endurance here. In the case of a route climber, they performed sustained isometric contractions at a lower % of their maximum force in each position for a larger number of positions (i.e. hand moves). Boulderers, on the other hand, use a greater % of their maximum force for fewer moves. Both require repeated efforts (i.e. a capacity to endure), just at different intensities and durations.

But route climbers have better endurance right? Another 2019 paper compared the strength and endurance between route climbers and boulderers, and found that boulderers were stronger with faster Rate of Force Development (RFD), and that there was no significant difference when given an endurance task (7:3 repeater @60% max force to failure).

Takeaway? By training strength, you get endurance gains.

Attribute 4: Flexibility

This little gem of performance was found when comparing female and male climbers of the same grade. In all of the strength related attributes (fingers, shoulders, hips etc), female climbers rated lower than their male counterparts, despite being able to perform at the same level.

So what was the difference? Hip flexibility. Female climbers consistently show greater flexibility in their hips when looking at flexion (knee to chest) and abduction (side splits).

There is a debate that has been ongoing about which is better between stretching passively and active stretching techniques. I think the evidence and benefits of active techniques is pretty clear; strength training will increase your potential ROM while at the same time improving your strength at that new range.

It's a no brainer; flexibility is important for performance, and you should use strength training to improve it.

Attributes that are less important

BMI - Trying to make gains while simultaneously trying to reduce weight (i.e. a calorie deficit diet) is a recipe for injury. A BMI below the healthy weight range is a recipe for injury. Being light is useful obviously, though the target should be no lower than the bottom of the healthy range.

Body shape/size- Unfortunately for the short people out there, height is actually a boon in almost all ways. For the same climbing grade, a taller person requires less strength in all areas except core strength. Why did I mention it in "less important variables" - because you can't change it! Let's all make an effort to focus on the things we can change, and accept the things we cant (This maxim holds true for the other variables people think about, such as ape index/reach).

So there's a very brief rundown on what seems to be important physically for climbing; Strong fingers that are resistant to fatigue, strength through the entire body (shoulder girdle, core musculature, hips, ankles), and flexibility at the hip. All of which are trainable characteristics, and all which respond especially well to strength training. We should all broaden our training focus in order to maximise gains in performance, while building life long resilience to injury.