Authors' contributions: Somatic and functional profile of sport rock climbers

Summary Study aim: To evaluate the physical fitness of rock climbers. Material and methods: A group of 21 male and 9 female climbers, mean age 30.5 ± 8.8 years, training on indoor climbing walls and on outdoor rocks participated in the study. Cardio-respiratory fitness was evaluated using the Polar OwnIndex, highly correlated with the ‡O2max. Neuromuscular fitness was evaluated by maximum repetition and maximum endurance tests for upper extremities, simulating the holding conditions specifically met by climbers. Results: Male climbers were far stronger than the female ones as evidenced by the average numbers of pull-ups (13.8 and 3.2, respectively; p<0.001) and had higher cardiorespiratory fitness (p<0.05). Moreover, women rated their climbing skills markedly lower than men (4.8 ± 0.9 and 6.3 ± 1.2, respectively). Conclusion: Cardio-respiratory fitness and dynamic strength of upper extremities seem to be the key factors in sport climbing. Rock climbing – Cardio-respiratory fitness – Neuromuscular fitness