Breaking Beta | The Science of Climbing

Oct 23 2023 28 ep. 42 mins 171
Breaking Beta | The Science of Climbing Podcast artwork

Kris Hampton and Paul Corsaro from Power Company Climbing and Crux Conditioning discuss the research and studies that may or may not be applicable to the climbing world.

  Sports  Science
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INTRODUCING | Written in Stone: Climbing’s Most Important Ascents

Oct 23 2023 8 mins  
Written in Stone tells the (mostly) true stories of the most groundbreaking ascents in rock climbing history. Hosted by Kris Hampton, you’ll hear the narrated, sound designed stories about what led to new levels in climbing, alternated with conversations with today’s top climbers about what inspired them about what went down way back then. Season One is focused on the 1990’s,

Can Beta-Alanine Supplementation Help You Send Your Sport Climbing Project?

Sep 14 2022 31 mins  
In the final episode of Season 2, Kris and Paul discuss beta-alanine, a nutritional supplement, and its impact on climbing performance as investigated in: Beta-Alanine Supplementation and Sport Climbing Performance Authored by Krzysztof Sas-Nowosielski, Judyta Wyciślik, and Piotr Kaczka; published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in May, 2

Are We Doing the Right Things When Warming Up for Climbing?

Sep 07 2022 52 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss the difference between systematic and critical reviews, while examining what science says about warming up for sport in three reviews: Current Approaches on Warming up for Sports Performance: A Critical Review Authored by Maria Helena Gil MD, Henrique P. Neiva PhD, António C. Sousa MD, Mário C. Marques PhD, and Daniel A. Marinho PhD; publi

Are Chalking Up and Shaking Out Actually Helpful or Persistent Myths?

Aug 31 2022 50 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss the dangers of reading only the abstracts of research papers, by taking a look at what science says about chalking up and shaking out. They’ll reference multiple papers including: Use of ‘chalk’ in rock climbing: sine qua non or myth? Authored by François-Xavier Li, S. Margetts and I. Fowler; published in the Journal of Sports Sciences

What are the Anthropometric and Performance Characteristics of Modern Female Climbers?

Aug 24 2022 52 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul chat with data analyst and fellow Power Company coach, Dale Wilson, to examine a study that attempts to collect and compare data from female climbers: Anthropometry and performance characteristics of recreational advanced to elite female rock climbers Authored by David Giles, Kimberly Barnes, Nicola Taylor, Corinna Chidley, Joel Chidley, James Mitchel

Did You Punt Because Your Focus is On the Wrong Thing?

Aug 17 2022 56 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss a paper that explores how our attention - and where we focus it - can impact our performance: Links between Attention, Performance Pressure, and Movement in Skilled Motor Action Authored by Rob Gray; published in Current Directions in Psychological Science in June, 2011. They’ll discuss the difference between focusing attention internally or

Do Our Abilities Alter How We Perceive Hold or Move Size?

Aug 10 2022 52 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss a paper that looks at the relationship between an athlete’s skill level and how they perceive their environment: Embodied perception in sport Authored by Rob Gray; published in the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology in December, 2013. They’ll explain the idea of embodied perception in sport - the theory that how we see

Can We Measure How Different Energy Systems Contribute to Climbing?

Aug 03 2022 53 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss a paper that investigates how different energy systems contribute to climbing performance: Climbing-Specific Exercise Tests: Energy System Contributions and Relationships With Sport Performance Authored by Marcin Maciejczyk, Michail Lubomirov Michailov, Magdalena Więcek, Jadwiga Szymura, Robert Rokowski, Zbigniew Szygula, and Ralph Beneke; pu

Can We Accurately Assess the Movement Skills of Sport Climbers?

Jul 27 2022 44 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul dig into a paper that presents and then tests a method for measuring movement skills in climbing: Climbing performance analysis: A novel tool for the assessment of rock climber's movement performance Authored by Nicola Taylor, Dave Giles, Michaela Panáčková, James Mitchell, Joel B. Chidley, and Nick Draper; published in the International Journal of

Does Strength Training Help Prevent Shoulder Injuries in Climbers?

Jul 20 2022 38 mins  
In this episode, Kris and Paul take a look at three papers dealing with the shoulder health of climbers: Application of closed kinematic chain exercises with eccentric and strength exercises for the shoulder injuries prevention in student rock climbers: a randomized controlled trial Authored by Serhii Kozin, Marian Cretu, Zhanneta Kozina, Andrii Chernozub, Olena Ryepko, Tetiana She