Annie Anderson (Pranaclimb Director, Founder)
Non-Invasive Tracking of Critical Power (CP) and W′bal-ODE in Rock Climbing Using Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), Breathing Rate (BR), and Heart Rate Recovery (HRR60)
Your breath is the fastest, most reliable guide to effort, recovery, and focus on the wall.
The Pranaclimb RBA is a field-based system that uses Breathing Rate (BR), Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), and Heart Rate Recovery (HRR)—with optional markers like SpO₂, CO₂ tolerance, and PEFR—to give climbers clear, actionable insights into performance and recovery.
This protocol blends cutting-edge physiology with practical breathwork coaching, helping you:
Recognize thresholds (CP & RCP) through breathing patterns
Train smarter, recover faster, and climb with greater efficiency
Build resilience and focus through targeted breathwork tools
Breathe strong. Love, Breathe, Climb.
Remote Breathing Assessment
• Breathing Rate (BR)
• RPE (CR-10)
• Expressive breathing (holds, grunts, screams)
• HRR₆₀ (60 s recovery)
• Optional deep dive: CO₂ tolerance, PEFR, SpO₂, rib mobility
⬇️ What’s measured in the real world
Physiological Mapping
• ⛰️ CP ≈ 45 BPM / RPE 8
• 🔥 RCP > 55 BPM / RPE 9–10
• ⚡ W′bal depletion & recharge
• 🫁 Effective BR (raw + expression cost)
• ❤️ Recovery speed (HRR₆₀ + BR return)
⬇️ What it means
Where Performance Breaks Down
• Early BR spike
• Excessive breath holds / Valsalva
• High expressive cost (bouldering)
• Slow HRR₆₀
• Poor CO₂ tolerance
• Rib stiffness / thoracic restriction
• High stress → chaotic breathing
⬇️ Why effort feels harder than it should
Pranaclimb Coaching Protocol
🧭 Zone-based breathing cues
• ≤ CP → efficiency & calm
• CP / Grey Zone → rhythm & control
• > RCP → power without chaos
💨 Expressive efficiency
• Use power exhales
• Reduce stacked holds & wasted screams
🌬 Recovery optimisation
• Sigh resets
• Nasal downshifting
• HRR₆₀ breathing protocols
⬇️ What to do differently
Training & Behaviour Change
• Breath-aware pacing
• Better crux timing (RP Sync)
• Faster recovery between burns
• Improved composure under stress
• Reduced injury risk (ribs, diaphragm, over-bracing)
⬇️ Change becomes automatic
Respiratory Intelligence in Action
• Hold CP longer
• Push RCP with control
• Recover faster
• Stay calm under pressure
• Climb with precision at your limit
✨ Love. Breathe. Climb.
The strong correlation between BR and RPE may reflect deeper tissue-level prioritization of oxygen delivery. Cardiac and respiratory muscles possess inherently higher CP relative to their maximal output, owing to shorter diffusion distances and consistent aerobic demand (Walsh, 2000). In contrast, skeletal muscles—especially in the forearms and trunk—have lower CP and are more susceptible to fatigue and inefficiencies. This differential supports the use of BR and HRR as sensitive systemic indicators of whole-body energetic strain, especially when peripheral muscles approach anaerobic limits.
Although CP and RCP are often treated synonymously (Keir et al., 2018), the Pranaclimb methodology treats RCP as a slightly trailing ventilatory threshold—one that captures delayed respiratory response due to lactate buffering, climbing posture, or breathing inefficiency. This nuanced distinction becomes important during steep, intermittent efforts where breathing lag and hypercapnia may impact perceived exertion and recovery planning.
Oxygen uptake kinetics are influenced by muscle fibre type. Type I (slow-twitch) fibres exhibit faster VO₂ on-kinetics and more efficient energy use due to higher capillarization and mitochondrial density. In contrast, a greater proportion of Type II (fast-twitch) fibres slows VO₂ response and increases oxygen cost under load (Pringle et al., 2003). This physiology helps explain why Pranaclimb emphasizes BR and HRR as real-time metabolic strain indicators—they reflect systemic oxygen kinetics shaped by fibre-type predominance and technical economy.
The strong correlation between breathing rate (fR) and RPE, as validated by Nicolò et al. (2016, 2017), reinforces BR’s utility in field-based models. Notably, fR demonstrated stronger associations with exertion than HR, VO₂, or ventilation (VE), making it a reliable perceptual anchor in non-lab environments.
