The fully instrumented climbing wall: Performance analysis, route grading and vector diagrams - a preliminary study

This study investigates .the fluctuations of oxygen uptake in synchrony with repetitively climbing a circular boulder on an instrumented climbing wall. Oxygen consumption (V02, liters' min-I) was measured with a portable battery powered Cosmed K4b2 metabolicjsysterns via open circuit indirect calorimetry., and the movement sequence with time was *entified from the force signals at the different holds. The results show that the fluctuations of V0zCliters . min-I) are synchronized with climbing and depend on the route conditions, which in turn require different climbing techniques. The cyclic behaviour of respiration provoked by a circular boulder route suggests that the oxygen uptake is influenced by the climbing route, even after the steady-state is reached.