Taylor Clement, Southern Utah University
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent a climber’s body mass or added mass impacts the energy expenditure during sport climbing on an indoor treadwall climbing trainer. METHODS: For this study we recruited 8 participants (n=5 men, 3 women) with at least one year of rock climbing experience. Each climber participated in four separate sessions. In session 1, we measured and recorded their baseline weight, height, and body composition. The final three sessions consisted of steady state climbing for four minutes on a treadwall climbing trainer, set at a 6-degree angle under three different loading conditions. Each climber had different loading conditions, set in a random order, consisting of: body weight (BW) ,BW+5-pound weighted vest, and BW+10-pound weighted vest. We measured energy expenditure using a small, portable indirect calorimetry gas analyzer system that was placed in a small backpack (CosMed K4b2, about 1 kg). Subjects also wore a Polar HR monitor during each climbing session to determine relative intensity. Before and after each climbing session we measured their blood lactate levels and handgrip strength using a blood lactate analyzer and a Jamar handgrip dynamometer. We ensured that each climber had at least 24-48 hours of rest in between sessions. The three climbing conditions were compared using ANOVA with a significance set at p=0.05. RESULTS: Among the 8 subjects that participated, the average caloric expenditure and HR were 40.34±7.3 Kcals and 154.4±21.4 bpm. When calories per meter of climbing were evaluated, the differences among loading conditions was not significant (p=0.74: BW 1.53±.27, BW+5: 1.65±.42, BW+10: 1.1.59±.28 Kcals•m-1). There were no significant differences among loading conditions for hand-grip strength or lactate pre to post. CONCLUSIONS: Climbers are innately aware of exertion and energy expenditure and tend to compensate for added loads by modifying the speed of climbing. This innate modification of effort would suggest that climbers would have similar caloric expenditure for a given climb duration regardless of mass.