ArticleBiology of sport2023
Effects of climbing- and resistance-training on climbing-specific performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Biology of sport, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Task Specificity of Dynamic Resistance Training and Its Transferability to Non-trained Isometric Muscle Strength: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Blood flow restriction exacerbates muscle deoxygenation and fatigue during sport climbing specific finger flexors resistance training.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Assessing the Impact of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation-Based Fingerboard Training versus Conventional Fingerboard Training on Finger Flexor Endurance in Intermediate to Advanced Sports Climbers: A Randomized Controlled Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Comparison of finger flexor resistance training, with and without blood flow restriction, on perceptional and physiological responses in advanced climbers.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Comparison of low load blood flow restriction and high load resistance training of the finger flexors in advanced level climbers: a pilot study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- The VISA-C Questionnaire: A Self-Administered Assessment to Measure Finger/Hand/Wrist Pain in Climbers.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- Sex-Specific Muscle Size in Climbers: A Novel Cross-Sectional Study of an Ultrasonographic Analysis of Abdominal Wall Muscles.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Psychophysiological Response Differences Between Advanced and Beginner Climbers and Fatigue Management.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Climbing the gap: a review on sex differences in high-level rock climbing.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
- Article
- The Connection Between Resistance Training, Climbing Performance, and Injury Prevention.Sports medicine - open · 2024Review
- Five weeks of dynamic finger flexor strength training on bouldering performance and climbing-specific strength tests. A randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
- Development of Specific Motor Skills through System Wall Bouldering Training: A Pilot Study.Translational sports medicine · 2024Article
- Painfully ignorant? Impact of gender and aim of training on injuries in climbing.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
- Risk factors and injury prevention strategies for overuse injuries in adult climbers: a systematic review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2023Review
- Editorial: Training and testing in climbing.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effects of climbing and climbing-and-resistance-training on climbing performance, and strength and endurance tests. We systematically searched three databases (SPORTDiscus, SCOPUS, and PubMed) for records published until January 2021. The search was limited to randomized-controlled trials using active climbers and measuring climbing performance or performance in climbing-specific tests. Data from the meta-analysis are presented as standardized difference in mean (SDM) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Eleven studies are included in the systematic review and five studies compared training to a control group and could be meta-analyzed. The overall meta-analysis displayed an improvement in climbing-related test performance following climbing-specific resistance training compared to only climbing (SDM = 0.57, 95%CI = 0.24-0.91). Further analyses revealed that finger strength (SDM = 0.41, 95%CI 0.03-0.80), rate of force development (SDM = 0.91, 95%CI = 0.21-1.61), and forearm endurance (SDM = 1.23, 95%CI = 0.69-1.77) were improved by resistance-training of the finger flexors compared to climbing training. The systematic review showed that climbing performance may be improved by specific resistance-training or interval-style bouldering. However, resistance-training of the finger flexors showed no improvements in strength or endurance in climbing-specific tests. The available evidence suggests that resistance-training may be more effective than just climbing-training for improving performance outcomes. Importantly, interventional studies including climbers is limited and more research is needed to confirm these findings.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.