Abstract
Purpose
Blood flow to skeletal muscles and removal of metabolic by-products during a sport climb are essential to optimise performance and recovery. New Zealand blackcurrant (NZBC) extract has enhanced blood flow and performance in other exercise modalities. We examined the effect of NZBC extract on sport climbing performance and recovery.
Methods
The study employed a double-blind, randomised, crossover design. Male sport climbers (n = 18, age 24 ± 6 years, height 179 ± 6 cm, mass 71.4 ± 7.8 kg, French grade 6a-8b) undertook 7 days supplementation of NZBC extract (600 mg day−1 CurraNZ™ containing 210 mg anthocyanins) or a placebo (PL). Climbing ability was assessed through hang time (HT), pull-ups and total climbing time (TCT) in 3 intermittent climbing bouts on a Treadwall M6 rotating climbing wall to exhaustion with 20 min recovery between climbs. Heart rate (HR), blood lactate (BL), forearm girth (FG) and hand grip strength (HGS) were recorded.
Results
NZBC extract had no effect on pull-ups but provided a trend for higher HT and significantly improved TCT (+23%) compared to PL (-11%) over three climbs. HR, BL, FG and HGS all indicated that 20 min was insufficient for physiological recovery between the three climbing bouts indicating accumulative fatigue regardless of supplement condition.
Conclusion
Despite indices of progressive fatigue across three bouts of climbing, NZBC extract facilitated not only a maintenance of TCT but an improved climbing endurance as compared with the PL condition. Blackcurrant anthocyanin-derived metabolites seem to affect physiological responses that facilitate sport climbing performance.
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Change history
27 November 2019
The authors would like to correct the following errors in the online publication of the article. Incorrect values for % changes for climb duration were provided in the abstract, results and discussion session. The % changes in climb duration was 15% with intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract and -15% for the placebo condition. This correction does not change the conclusions derived from the study.
Abbreviations
- BL:
-
Blood lactate
- FG:
-
Forearm girth
- HGS:
-
Hand grip strength
- HR:
-
Heart rate
- HT:
-
Hang time
- NZBC:
-
New Zealand blackcurrant
- RPE:
-
Rating of perceived exertion
- TCT:
-
Total climbing time
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Health Currancy Ltd (United Kingdom) for providing New Zealand blackcurrant extract and placebo capsules for use in this study. The authors also wish to thank Becky Warke for assistance with data collection and the climbers who agreed to participate in the study.
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Potter, J.A., Hodgson, C.I., Broadhurst, M. et al. Effects of New Zealand blackcurrant extract on sport climbing performance. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 67–75 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04226-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-019-04226-2