Muscle fatigue, muscle recovery and how this knowledge applies to rock climbers
Shannon McCallum
Abstract
Rock climbers are limited by their metabolic waste products and not by the amount of ATP in the muscle cells. Rock climbing was once a mountaineering sport but is becoming increasingly popular because of competitions and climbing gyms. As the sport becomes more accessible to the public, enthusiasts should learn how to recover their forearms and hands effectively after a difficult climb. Muscle fatigue can be defined as a reversible loss of muscle force. Historically, lactic acid build up was the primary hypothesis for muscle fatigue, but now scientists are looking for other explanations such as inorganic phosphate concentration [Pi], calcium concentration [Ca2+], hydrogen ion concentration [H+], and glucose concentration [Glc]. Fatigue is not correlated with ATP; ATP levels do not show a drop when moderate to intense exercise begins. Active recovery methods are more effective at recovering fatigued muscles than passive recovery methods. Focus 1 of this literature review will discuss metabolic byproducts that show correlations with muscle fatigue; focus 2 of this review will compare active versus passive recovery methods.
