What makes a good climber?

Rock climbing is a complex sport and there are clearly many factors that impact our performance. Which are the most important, and what can we train to improve our sport climbing or bouldering grade?

Small climbers will complain that it is height, heavy climbers, weight. Others point to flawless technique and mental strength. But which are really the most important? There have been many studies done on the subject, some scientific, some less so.

The best that I have found is one by Magiera et al(1) who proposed that climbing ability is governed by three factors; physical, mental and technical, in roughly equal proportions. In a study of Polish rock climbers who climbed 7a to 8c, forty three attributes were considered to see which had the most significant correlation with the climbers’ redpoint and on-sight ability. A full list of the factors considered can be found below.

 

Climbing, or rather falling, at Orpierre

The most significant were, in order of importance:

1) Maximum finger strength as a proportion of body weight

To understand the importance of this, I analysed 5 studies that relate finger strength to climbing ability (1,2,3,4,5), the result is this chart (click to enlarge). It shows the high degree of correrelation between finger strength and climbing ability. If you want to climb 7a, you need to comfortably hang in excess of your body weight on a 20mm edge, for 8a add an additional 50%, and to get to the very hardest routes, you probably need to be able to hang double your body weight.

Climbing potential vs Hangboard results

2) Mental endurance

This was measured through a personality traits questionnaire. Basically mental endurance is the ability to stick at a task no matter what distractions/obstacles are presented.

3) Climbing Technique.

Clearly good technique will get you up harder routes, and we should be constantly asking how we can change our body position and use our feet better to conserve strength. Be careful though; is success a result of good technique, or good technique a result of our strength and endurance? Why does our technique get worse as we tire? As Wolfgang Güllich once said, good technique is no substitute for raw power!

4) Isometric endurance

Basically our finger and forearm endurance as opposed to pure finger strength. This was measured with repeats of finger hangs 10s on /10s off at 70% of max finger strength.

5) Reaction Time

This is an interesting one, there was a good correlation between the results of a complex reaction time test, and the ability of the climbers. Perhaps the ability to make quick decisions before strength runs out?

6) Ape index.

The difference between height and arm span. Yeah, well, we are stuck with that one. The bigger your ape index, the better you climb. Interesting that this was the only morphology factor to yield a strong correlation, although clearly weight plays a part in attribute 1. Size doesnt always matter.

7) Oxygen uptake during arm work at anaerobic threshold.

It is not clear from the study what exactly this is, or how it was measured, but I assume it is your upper body strength / endurance as opposed to finger strength / endurance.

Summary

These 7 factors explained 77% of the variance in the climbers’ performance capacity. Some of these are difficult to influence - we are stuck with our ape index and to a lesser extent our temperament. However the other 5 can be trained. Climbing is for sure the best training, but a focus on improving finger strength, endurance and technique will go a long way to moving you through the grades.

Factors considered

  1. Body mass

  2. Height

  3. Arm span

  4. Ape index arm span/height

  5. % of fat tissue

  6. % of muscle tissue

  7. Body Mass Index

  8. Body Cell Mass Index

  9. Range of motion of hip flexion

  10. Range of motion of hip abduction

  11. Flexibility of hips in “froggies”

  12. Complex reaction time – number of errors

  13. Stereometry

  14. State of balance – instability

  15. State of balance – locus of control

  16. Motor adaptation – error

  17. Motor adaptation – adaptation rate

  18. Differentiation

  19. Maximal finger strength

  20. Finger endurance 10/10s 70%Fmax

  21. Arm strength

  22. Arm endurance

  23. Total work of the upper body - W30s

  24. Maximal power of the upper body - W30s

  25. Fatigue index - W30s

  26. Time of maximum power attainment - W30s

  27. Time of maximum power maintenance - W30s

  28. Maximal oxygen uptake –arm work

  29. Oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold – arm work

  30. Spatial intelligence

  31. Locus of control

  32. Neuroticism – raw values

  33. Extroversion – raw values

  34. Psychotism – raw values

  35. Lying – raw values

  36. Briskness – raw values

  37. Perseverance – raw values

  38. Sensory sensitivity – raw values

  39. Emotional reactivity – raw values

  40. Mental endurance – raw values

  41. Activity – raw values

  42. Climbing tactics

  43. Climbing technique

References

(1) Magiera A et al. The Structure of Performance of a Sport Rock Climber. Journal of Human Kinetics volume 36/2013, 107-117

(2) Magnus Mitdbo et al. The 9c Test. Various You Tube videos, plus the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOBB4wkTdxQ

(3) Lattice Training. Boulder Grade vs Finger Strength. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9zNGplJMyG/

(4) Reddit climbing survey. Climbharder Survey Results. https://www.reddit.com/r/climbharder/comments/6693ua/climbharder_survey_results/

(5) Strength Training. Climbing Finger Strength Analyzer. https://strengthclimbing.com/finger-strength-analyzer/