The Physiology of Climbing
As a sports scientist, I love getting to take concepts from research and applying them in practice to see what the outcome is for an individual. If I'm trying to solve a specific problem, I'll sift through research for solutions, then put them to the test and observe the results. Often clear trends emerge during this process, and the fruits of labor triple down into the programs I write for athletes I coach. Other times the responses are so variable between individuals that it’s difficult to parse out why something did/didn’t lead to the desired outcome. Recently i’ve been interested in understanding the physiological predictors of climbing performance. My hope is that this leads to better KPIs for physiologists, more targeted needs analysis for coaches, and more surgical training protocols for athletes.
What makes climbing so unique from a physiological standpoint is that it’s essentially a sport of sustained and intermittent isometric muscle contractions. This creates a unique deman…
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