Fig. 4

Sport climbing improves IMU-derived gait parameters during the three-meter Timed Up and Go test. Box plots for each test point (before the intervention = baseline, and after the intervention = after 12 weeks) show the respective median, minimum, maximum and the first and third quartiles of the IMU-derived gait parameters during the 3m-TUG in seconds in 22 Parkinson’s Disease participants (H&Y 2–3) after a 12-week sport climbing intervention (SC) compared to a control group of 24 PD participants (H&Y 2–3) who performed unsupervised physical activity (UT). The SC showed a significant increase in Step Time (baseline: 1 s, 12 weeks: 0.8 s, p = 0.011), Double Limb Support (baseline: 0.7 s, 12 weeks: 0.6 s, p = 0.019) (A), Stride Time (baseline: 1.9 s, 12 weeks: 1.5 s, p = 0.008), Stance Time (baseline: 1.6 s, 12 weeks: 1.3 s, p = 0.013) (B), and Swing Time (baseline: 0.3 s, 12 weeks: 0.2 s, p = 0.017) (C). The UT did not show any increase in Step Time (baseline: 1 s, 12 weeks: 1 s), Double Limb Support (baseline: 0.7 s, 12 weeks: 0.8 s), Stride Time (baseline: 2 s, 12 weeks: 2 s), Stance Time (baseline: 1.7 s, 12 weeks: 1.8 s), Swing Time (baseline: 0.3 s, 12 weeks: 0.3 s). 3 m-TUG, three-meter Timed Up and Go test; SC, sport climbing group; UT, unsupervised control group; **p ≤ 0.01. *p ≤ 0.05; n.s., not significant