Key result
A 2-week sport rock climbing camp significantly altered physiological markers, notably increasing cortisol and decreasing the testosterone/cortisol ratio and sleep duration.
Why the study?
The study aimed to determine changes in climbers' hormonal, cardiovascular, neuromuscular, sleep, and fatigue status, and their relationship with performance and workloads during a sport rock climbing camp.
Observational (n=6)
No
Monitoring morning changes in cortisol, T/C ratio, and heart rate differences can serve as relevant indicators of overreaching and fatigue in sport climbers during intensive training camps.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May signal overreaching in climbers; hypothesis-generating for hormonal monitoring and requires prospective validation before practice use.
The aim of this study was to determine changes in climbers' hormonal, cardiovascular, neuromuscular, sleep and fatigue status, and their relationship with performance and workloads during a sport rock climbing camp. Mean difficulty of individual leading climbing routes (mean Difficulty) was calculated for six male, intermediate level sport rock climbers participating in a 2-week camp in Orpierre. Additionally, each morning climbers were tested for: cortisol (d-Cortisol) and testosterone (d-Testosterone) concentrations, testosterone/cortisol ratio (T/C), heart rate and heart rate variability in supine (d-L-HR, d-L-SD1, d-L-SD2) and standing positions (d-S-HR, d-S-SD1, d-S-SD2), difference in S-HR and L-HR (HR-S-L), maximal voluntary hand grip strength (MVC), sleep duration (Sleep) and the self-perception of fatigue (M-Fatigue). Only M-Fatigue and d-Testosterone did not change significantly during the camp. Changes in other variables were large and significant, especially in the second week of the camp when the mean Difficulty was > 70%. The greatest changes were noted on the last day, when T/C, HR-S-L, and Sleep decreased and d-Cortisol, d-L-HR, and d-SD1 increased. The monitoring of the uncoupling of neuromuscular, hormonal, and cardiovascular markers can be instrumental in determining the level of athletes' morning fatigue and readiness during a climbing camp. An increase in d-Cortisol and a decrease in T/C and HR-S-L are relevant indicators of overreaching in sport climbers.
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Magiera et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Healthy athletes (sport rock climbers) (n=6). Sport rock climbing camp vs. Baseline/over time was evaluated on Changes in hormonal, cardiovascular, neuromuscular, sleep and fatigue status. A 2-week sport rock climbing camp significantly altered physiological markers, notably increasing cortisol and decreasing the testosterone/cortisol ratio and sleep duration.
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