Fingerboard in Competitive Bouldering

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FINGERBOARD IN COMPETITIVE BOULDERING: TRAINING EFFECTS ON GRIP STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE

JERRY P.J. MEDERNACH,1 HEINZ KLEINO ̈ DER,2 AND HELMUT H.H. LO ̈ TZERICH3

1Institute of Outdoor Sports and Environmental Science, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany; 2Institute of Training Science and Sport Informatics, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany; and 3Institute of Outdoor Sports and Environmental Science, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

ABSTRACT

Medernach, JPJ, Kleino ̈ der, H, Lo ̈ tzerich, HHH. Fingerboard in competitive bouldering: Training effects on grip strength and endurance. J Strength Cond Res 29(8): 2286–2295, 2015—Bouldering (BL) is an independent discipline of sport climbing, with grip strength and endurance as key factors. Although the sport has grown increasingly popular and com- petitive, limited research has been conducted on commonly used training methods to maximize BL performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the training effects of 4 weeks of fingerboarding (FB) on grip strength and endurance in competitive BL. Twenty-three highly advanced male boulderers (25.6 6 4.4 y; 1.78 6 0.05 m; 70.1 6 5.4 kg; 6.2 6 2.8 y climbing; 7b+ Fb mean ability) were ran- domly allocated to a 4-week FB (n = 11) or BL (n = 12) training regimen. Pretests and posttests (50-min duration) involved (a) handheld dynamometry (GS) to assess grip strength, (b) dead hangs (DH), and (c) intermittent finger hangs (IFH) to assess grip endurance. After the 4-week reg- imen, GS increased significantly in the FB group (2.5 6 1.4 kg, p , 0.001) but not in the BL group (1.4 6 2.8 kg, p = 0.109). The mean increase in DH ranged from 5.4 to 6.7 seconds in the FB group and was significantly (p # 0.05) higher than that in the BL group (3.0–3.9 seconds). Finally, significantly higher IFH gains were observed in the FB group (p = 0.004), with a mean gain of 26 seconds, but not in the BL group (p = 0.168). These results suggest that FB is highly effective in increasing grip strength and endurance in competitive BL.

KEY WORDS hangboard, dead hangs, finger hangs

Address correspondence to Jerry P.J. Medernach, j.medernach@ dshs-koeln.de.

29(8)/2286–2295 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

INTRODUCTION

Bouldering (BL) is an independent discipline of sport climbing undertaken without ropes on approximately 4-m-high artificial walls with land- ing mats to ensure safety (5,7,11,24). The ongoing

popularization and professionalization of BL (5,9,17) have raised questions regarding how to maximize individual per- formance during competition (11,13). The use of steep over- hanging artificial BL walls requiring an average of 4 to 8 strenuous climbing movements suggests that maximum grip strength is a key factor in competitive BL (5,7,9,11,13,24). Pieber et al. investigated injuries and overuse syndromes in the Austrian climbing society (n = 193) and observed that 71.1% of the 374 recorded injuries affected the upper extrem- ities and that 30.7% were strains or ruptures of the annular ligaments or tendons of the fingers. Moreover, the authors concluded that the incidence of climbing-related overuse syndromes is dependent on gender, age, and exposure to climbing stress but is not specific to the climbing and BL disciplines.

In addition to grip strength, competitors generally require multiple attempts to climb a boulder (11,24), with attempts lasting up to 40 seconds (11,24), and the rotation system in competitive BL imposes limited recovery time between 2 boulders (7,24). White and Olsen found that successful as- cents in elite competitive BL lasted an average of 39.5 6 4.1 seconds and that athletes attempted a boulder 2.8 6 1.7 times. In conclusion, high-intensity forearm muscle contrac- tions, repeated over a relatively long period and separated by short rest periods, suggest that grip endurance can be con- sidered an additional key factor and that rapid recovery after attempt is of particular importance in competitive BL (8,11,14,24).

Despite the increasing popularity and competitiveness of competitive BL, limited research has been conducted on this sport, and less is known regarding the effectiveness of commonly used training methods to increase grip strength and endurance (8,13,14,24). A similar level of knowledge can be observed over more than 2 decades in sport and rock climbing literature, in which scientific investigations of

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! 2015 National Strength and Conditioning Association the

TM 2286 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

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physical training and conditioning regimens still remain sparse (3,4,6,16,21,22). Results from sport climbing investi- gations, however, suggest that the trainable variables grip strength and grip endurance are of greater importance in increasing climbing ability compared with anthropometric or flexibility requirements (16,21). From this perspective, sci- entific research on applied grip strength and endurance ex- ercises that maximize individual performance is essential for the future development of competitive BL.

A popular and widespread training device to increase grip strength and endurance in climbing and BL is the finger- board (FB) (8,14,15). Fingerboards are equipped with a vary- ing number of grips and are designed to be grasped without feet contacting the ground to ensure a high-intensity training stimulus that increases specific grip strength and endurance (8,14,15,23). As a training device for intermediate to world- class athletes (8,14), the main advantages of FB are the fol- lowing: (a) low purchase prices, (b) low space requirements, (c) high access, (d) the possibility of isolated training pro- grams with a wide variety of grip positions, and (e) the ability to design high-intensity programs at individual ability levels (8,14,15). Because of these characteristics, FB has become a conditio sine qua non for many competitive boul- derers to increase grip strength and endurance (8,14).