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As sport climbing prepares to make its debut at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, athletes will be hoping to rise to the challenge of scaling huge heights using just their hands and feet. Strength, power and agility are also essential for this testing physical feat, as climbers race up vertical walls using various hand and foot holds.

No one better understands the demands of this increasingly popular sport than 55-year-old Ulrich Butschbacher. He has been involved in competitive climbing since 1980, and has always trained or competed up to three times a week. But at almost 1,78 m, and weighing just over 76 kg he was, by his own admission, pretty heavy for a climber.

“This meant my finger joints, tendons and ligaments were exposed to really high loads,” he explains. “For several years I had to contend with pain and stiffness in my finger joints which affected both my strength and mobility.” Ulrich says he suffered from knee pain, too, and when climbing with a heavy backpack, would use elasticated knee supports.

Due to this, he almost decided to stop to perform his sport! Such problems are not uncommon in sport, with athletes of all abilities susceptible to soft tissue injuries of the muscles, tendons and ligaments.

As an avid reader of our blog, you must know by now that our specific collagen peptides in TENDOFORTE^® act as a nutritional intervention for tendon and ligament problems in overuse injuries, helping athletes to get back to their former performance levels quicker and more safely. That’s why Ulrich decided to give it a try!

“I began supplementation with TENDOFORTE^®in March 2020 and after just a few weeks, was extremely satisfied with the results,” he says. “Previously, I would have described the strength and mobility in my fingers as 7 on a scale of 0-10, but within six weeks, this went up to 8. And by August, that figure was as high as 8-9 after training, and on highest level after a rest day.

“In terms of pain level in my fingers, prior to taking TENDOFORTE^®, I would have rated it at 3-4 out of 10, with 0 being no pain at all. But after six weeks of supplementation, my finger pain on rest days was 0, and 2 after training. By August, these pain completely disappeared. My knee pain was also significantly reduced.”

Six months after he first started taking a daily dose of TENDOFORTE^®, Ulrich says confidence in the resilience of his fingers had been fully restored. “This was of particular importance for me. I was able to fully grip again on small holds, and climb the rock without bandages,” he explains. “The feeling in my fingers is great and I can take my full weight when climbing without fear of pain.”

What’s more, having reached an extremely difficult level of climbing (XI) in his younger days, Ulrich says he’s now even able to climb at that same level at the age of 55!

“I am thrilled,” he says. “TENDOFORTE^® has been far more effective than my previous regime of enzymes, omega-3, MSM, chondroitin and glucosamine, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to my sports friends.”

Looking to develop a sports nutrition product that targets tendon and ligament health? Contact us today to find out how we can help.