In 1993, a study performed by Watts and colleagues suggested that amoungst elite climbers there may be number of intrinsic physical attritbutes which substantiate their abilities. These included measurements such as the ape index; which is a ratio of a persons arm span relative to their height, arm and hand volumes, experience, age, height to weight ratio and a host of others. Whilst commonalities were found between the climbers, these climbers were already elite athletes and as a result, statistical inference pertaining to the prediction of their abilities was confounded...
Since then, a greater body of research has been developed. From this research has come three simple, yet highly trainable physical attributes as proponents of climbing ability:
- One: Maximal Grip Strength (3)
- Two: Low body fat percentage (3)
- Three: Climbing time to exhaustion (1) + re-oxygenation during rest phases (2)
So what does this mean?
