Physical Intensity of Movement along Horizontal, Vertical, and Lateral Climbing Planes

The purpose of this study was to determine the physical intensity levels and differences between the horizontal, vertical, and lateral planes of movement during indoor climbing for high school students. Subjects were 27 adolescents (male=22, female=5) aged 14-18. Participants wore an ActiGraph GT3X accelerometer during two different 5-minute climbing sessions that took place on a vertical/horizontal climbing wall. The intensity of their climbing was determined using the ActiLife 6 software, as well as the Freedson (2005) cut-points. The data revealed that the subjects performed moderate to very vigorous exercise 56% of the time during climbing, and that there were statistically significant intensity differences between the three planes examined. Subjects of this study worked harder during lateral movement than during vertical or horizontal movements. The lateral plane refers to the climber’s movements towards and away from the wall, typically for stabilization. These results suggest that a large portion of intensity while climbing did not come from how fast or how far subjects climbed, but rather by simply staying on the wall.