Physiological Determinants of Climbing-Specific Finger Endurance and Sport Rock Performance - Annotated Bibliography Example

Physiology 2008 Summary Macleod et al. “Physiological determinants of climbing-specific finger endurance and sport rock performance”. Journal of Sports Sciences 25.12 (2007): 1433-1443. Rock climbing has become a regular sporting activity. This study was conducted by the authors to evaluate the various physiological responses to a definite task involved in climbing and through that find out the adaptations that occur in trained climbers and identify the determinants of endurance performance. For this purpose the study found twenty volunteers consisting of eleven intermediate rock climbers and nine non-climbers. The finger strength and endurance of the two groups were compared for the purposes of the study. The study design for the collecting data for the comparative study consisted of two isometric endurance tests performed at forty percent maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) till volitional exhaustion, subsequent to ascertaining MVC through trials. The apparatus used in the study was the one designed by the University of Glasgow for simulating the mechanical conditions, as experienced by rock climbers, to measure finger strength and endurance. Body mass ascertained with the help of scales from Avery Beam Balance, Birmingham, UK, while stature was measured using a stadiometer from Holtain Ltd., Crymych, UK. For the purpose of predicting body fat four skin fold measurements taken with a Holtan skin fold limiting calliper were taken and the Dumin and Wormesly 1974 method was used. Measurements of blood pressure were obtained with the help of an electronic blood pressure cuff. Employing near infra-red spectroscopy the alterations in muscle blood oxygenation and muscle blood volume were collected as data for the study. Analysis of the collated data was done using statistical methods. Variances between the two groups were obtained using two-sample t-tests after setting the statistical significance P Read More