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Abstract
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Centuries ago, climbing pioneers began exploring mountains and high peaks. With the introduction of indoor climbing centers, climbing as an activity has evolved into a sport. The 2024 Olympics in Paris will feature individual climbing competitions in bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing (1). New climbing gyms are opening every year in every major city. With growing popularity and increasing performance levels, a need for evidence-based knowledge on injury prevention, testing, and training has emerged (2, 3). In particular, climbing research is in its infancy, but the literature is expanding rapidly (4-7). However, there remains a need to improve knowledge about injury prevention strategies, injury epidemiology, and sports medicine, including systematic training approaches for returning to climbing post-injury. Therefore, the Research Topic "Injuries, Injury Prevention, and Training in Climbing" aims to advance scientific understanding in these areas.
Sixty-four authors from Europe and the Americas contributed to the 12 papers published in this Research Topic. Notably, half of the papers include authors from multiple countries, highlighting the importance of collaboration in filling knowledge gaps. The manuscripts vary in methodology: three studies utilized surveys, three conducted training or rehabilitation interventions, two were systematic reviews, and four used a cross-sectional design. Of note, four studies involved competitive or elite climbers, a group almost entirely absent from the scientific literature and whose inclusion has been called for. The interdisciplinary evidence of this Research Topic has multiple applications: (a) chronic injury prevalence rates, low back pain, (b) eating disorders, amenorrhea, and nutritional knowledge among competitive climbers, (c) the development of new training methods to potentially reduce injury rates, (d) finger diagnostics, (e) the testing and measurement of climbing performance, and (f) recovery and fatigue states after climbing.
Injury prevention is a part of all sports. Chronic injuries are often the result of high intensity over an extended period of time without adequate rest or recovery strategies. Carraro et al. examined the prevalence of low back pain in 180 competitive climbers aged 13-19 years. Over the previous 12 months, 74% had reported low back complaints, most of which were classified as low-intensity to low-disability (63%). Concerns over non-traumatic, overuse injuries in climbing have been previously addressed but not in a systematic review that examines potential risk factors and injury prevention strategies. Quarmby et al. included 34 studies in their review and identified higher climbing intensity, bouldering, reduced finger strength, use of the crimp grip, and previous injuries as risk factors for overuse injuries. However, findings related to gender, climbing experience, and training volume were inconsistent, while body weight/BMI, stretching, and warm-up/cool-down routines were not associated with an increased risk of injury. Concerning the potential for an exaggerated focus on body weight in climbing, injuries, amenorrhea, and eating disorders were assessed among 114 elite female competitive climbers (Grønhaug et al.). More than 53% reported injuries in the previous 12 months, with shoulders (38%) and fingers (34%) being the most common injury locations. BMI did not show an increased odds ratio for injury, but those with an eating disorder had twice the odds of being injured. In a study of 50 competitive boulderers in the UK, nutritional knowledge scores were average, with considerable individual variation (Gibson-Smith et al.). Moreover, 38% of female athletes and 46% of male athletes reported intentional weight loss, with 76% engaging in concerning practices. It is, therefore, crucial that trainers and professionals remain vigilant in identifying athletes at risk for problematic behaviors early, addressing the issue, and establishing appropriate specialist services. ...
Language: en |