The effect of regular sport climbing on upper extremity strength

The presence of upper extremity strength can positively affect athletes physically, psychologically and mentally in sports climbing. In general, these effects might have negative or positive effects on the athlete's performance. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of regular sports climbing on upper extremity strength such as hand grip, finger and arm. Our thesis is designed as an experimental study involving a control group. Within this scope, the control group consisted of 12 sedentary people, while the study group consisted of 12 sports climbers with medium level sports climbing skills and at least 2-3 years of experience. Age, height and weight measurements of the study and control groups were made before the research. Upper extract of the study and control group measurements were taken before the starting point of the study and at the end of eight weeks. The study group regularly climbed 3 times a week for 2-4 hours for eight weeks. Athletes practiced on the 17 m high climbing wall which has negative slopes, too. During the climbs, the researchers were present at the application area for control. Jamar brand hydraulic finger dynamometer was used for finger strength measurement, Takei Grip-D brand digital hand dynamometer was used for hand grip strength and twisted arm hanging test was performed for arm strength. SPSS 22.0 package program was used for data analysis and descriptive information. In our thesis study, there were increases in right and left hand grip strength, right and left finger strength and arm strength, and statistically significant differences were found. There were also significant differences between the pre-test and post-test dissimilarities between the study group and the control group. As a result, it was concluded that regular sport climbing had a positive effect on hand grip strength, finger strength and arm strength.