ECSS Conference in Paris 2023

From July 4th to the 7th 2023, the largest European sports science congress of the year took place in Paris. The event bolstered an attendance of 3039 participants from 74 countries. Dr. Juliana Exel presented her work on biomechanics and motor control in climbing, with the title: “POSTURAL ADJUSTMENTS OF A FATIGUING FINGER HANGING TASK IN CLIMBERS: JOINT COORDINATION AND MUSCLE SYNERGIES”, co-authored by Paul Kaufmann, Olivia Froschauer, Arnold Baca und Hans Kainz. In this work, we could describe that postural adjustments of climbers while sustaining open crimp hangs demand changes in coordinative patterns of the upper body joint kinematics and muscle synergies in a proximal-to-distal fashion. This allows for a balanced body position and efficient gripping, thus compensating for the neuromechanical impairments caused by fatigue.