#96: Training for Gains in 2024 (and my venture into Kilter Boarding!)
Eric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Release Date: 02/01/2024
Eric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Learn five powerful lessons for achieving big, difficult goals that I took away from watching -- the new film that chronicles Emily Harrington’s incredible, multi-year journey to free-climb El Capitan’s Golden Gate route in under 24 hours. For me, this isn’t just a film about climbing—it’s about resilience, will power, and the triumph of human spirit, Furthermore, it serves as a bold reminder of what it takes to stay committed to a dream in the face of fear, doubt, setbacks, and even failure. As Emily’s journey shows, greatness isn’t built on talent alone. It comes from...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
After nine years as an NFL offensive lineman for the Falcons, Commanders, and Jets, Wes Schweitzer has traded 330-pound trench battles for crimps, slopers, and steep boulders! In this inspiring conversation, Wes shares how climbing started as elbow rehab modality, turned into a passion, and even improved his football performance. We dive into the parallels between elite football and high-level climbing, his challenges with a variety of football-related injuries, and his bold goal: to become the heaviest climber ever to send V10. Along the way, Wes reflects on career highlights—Super Bowl...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Nothing is more elemental to climbing than fear. The fear of falling, getting hurt, failing, looking foolish, or simply facing the unknown can feel torturous—and even paralyzing. To climb efficiently and confidently—and to pursue your peak performance—you must learn to assess and manage fear effectively. In this 90-minute episode, Coach Hörst delivers a tour de force of 18 fear management techniques designed to help you unlock a new level of mental mastery. These practical strategies will empower you to perform at your best on boulders, at the crag, and in everyday life. (Because...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Coach Hörst shares 15 game-changing tips to elevate your climbing this season. Performance gains aren’t made solely in the gym. As Coach Hörst explains, there’s a lot you can do in-season—technically, tactically, and nutritionally—to level up your outdoor climbing. Apply just a few of these strategies today, and you might send your project sooner than expected. Put most or all into practice over the coming weeks, and you could unlock a whole new level of performance this season! RUNDOWN 0:30 – Introduction: Why these 15 tips matter for your in-season performance. 2:20 – Tip #1:...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
What does it take to break through to the next climbing grade? With each new milestone, the challenge grows harder—but potentially more rewarding. In this special collaboration with The Struggle Podcast, I coach Ryan Devlin as he works to push past his current limit of 5.13a and lay the foundation for his next breakthrough in sport climbing. No matter your level, the tips and strategies we share in this episode can help guide your own climbing progression. A key focus of our conversation is the concept of building a solid "grade pyramid"—a proven approach for long-term advancement. This...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
The podcast is a classic Eric Hörst tour de force of climbing wisdom! No matter your ability level, training background, or goals, listening to this episode will challenge your current approach and inspire you to reinvent your training for better results. In this hour-long lecture, Coach Hörst breaks down 10 common training mistakes. Chances are, one, two, or maybe even several of these missteps will hit close to home. But don’t get discouraged—get psyched! Identifying these flaws empowers you to train smarter day in and day out, and to course-correct your long-term plan. That’s the...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
In this episode, I reveal a powerful — and often overlooked — strategy for developing the mental, technical, and tactical skills needed to level up your climbing. If you're an intermediate climber passionate about improving — or an advanced climber who's hit a plateau — then this is a must-listen episode. Even veteran climbers and professionals can use this strategy to refine their skills and “sharpen the saw” each season. America’s top sport climber, Jonathan Siegrist, has shared with me that he enjoys and benefits from this approach to route climbing. So, what is this...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Welcome to the first episode in a special series of performance-focused conversations with my friend, Dr. Thomas Cunningham. In this fast-paced discussion, we dive into a wide range of topics, including tips for optimizing climbing training, injury prevention, key dietary interventions, performance hacks, and the role of self-discipline and sacrifice. We also explore best practices tailored for hard-training climbers over 35. No matter your age, this episode is packed with actionable insights you can start applying today! RUNDOWN 0:15 - Coach Eric Hörst's welcome statement. 0:30 -...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
Dear Listener, How about -- together -- we all try to SEND 2025? In other words, let's try to upgrade our thoughts and actions in all we do to make 2025 our best year yet! Towards this end, in this episode I will serve up tips for improving your training, elevating your climbing, and advancing in other important life areas! RUNDOWN 0:15 - Eric's greetings... 0:45 - Introductory comments on striving to live your dream life...in climbing and beyond. 3:38 - Upgrade #1: Improve your time management to maximize time spent engaged in important activities. 10:33 - Upgrade #2: Level-up your...
info_outlineEric Hörst's Training For Climbing Podcast
In this brief episode, I invite you to join my "Send 2025" New Year's Challenge! I designed this free 6-week challenge to help motivate and inspire a fresh, focused, and optimistic start to the new year...and hopefully help you set off on your best year ever! The challenge is action-oriented -- so we'll ask you to set some achievable short-term goals to reach for during the 6-weeks of the challenge. These action items can relate to your training and nutrition goals for the new year, but also target bad habits you’d like to change…or other behaviors that are holding you back from reaching...
info_outlineLean in dear listener...and enjoy the most transparent Training For Climbing podcast ever!
In this engaging episode, Coach Eric Hörst shares an in-depth analysis of his climbing weaknesses...and he reveals the specifics of his program to train for gains in 2024. Eric presents 4 primary action items of his winter training program, and he provides an assessment of his progress as of the end of January.
One of Eric's primary off-season training interventions is twice weekly Kilter Boarding. Eric details exactly how he uses this incredible training tool. He also outlines the importance of consistent aerobic energy system training, especially for route climbers, and he provides details on important changes he's made to both his daily diet and sleep habits.
RUNDOWN
0:15 - Intro to the most transparent TFC podcast ever!
3:10 - The need to perform an end-of-season "gap analysis". What needs to be done to reach big goals in 2024?
7:37 - The importance of willpower! And one of my favorite quotes: "The will to prepare for success is more important than the will of success."
10:18 - Eric details his personal gap analysis -- a very transparent examination of the things he feels are holding him back.
15:42 - Breakdown of the 4 Action Items in Eric's winter training program.
21:20 - Intro to Eric's winter training plan
22:17 - Action Item #1: Train to become a stronger, more powerful climber on bouldery sequences. Eric provides rich detail on how he's employed twice weekly Kilter Board training to achieve this goal.
29:20 - Eric takes you through his typical Kilter Board workout....from warm up to cool down.
40:00 - Eric shares some of his Kilterboard videos on Instagram: @Kilter_ehorst -- Follow Eric's FA boulders on the Kilter Board app via his username: ehorst
40:45 - Action Item #2: Maintain climbing-specific and generalized aerobic fitness through the winter training season. Lots of important details here for route climbers.
46:05 - Pro climber Amity Warme's incredible 2023 climbing season, finger injury, and rehab protocol and comeback story. Read a full article with details here >>
Read the latest research summaries of daily collagen use >>
51:30 - Action Item #3: Drop a few pounds of body fat...and get back to my "fighting weight" of previous years. Listen to Eric's major dietary changes.
1:08:35 - Action Item #4: Improve my sleep habits...to optimize recovery, health, and wellness. Learn about Eric's interventions and data gathering in this important area.
1:16:06 - Closing comments: Learn one of the key traits of top pro climbers that Eric works with or knows.
1:18:00 - Dear listener, PLEASE write a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts and SHARE this podcast with a friend!
Support the TFC podcast sponsor, PhysiVantage Nutrition. Get 15% off full-priced nutrition with checkout code: PODCAST15 (North America only). In Europe and elsewhere visit EPIC-TV Shop or BananaFingers.com to get your PhysiVantage!
Music by Misty Murphy
SAVE on La Sportiva shoes here >>
Thank you! La Sportiva, Maxim Ropes, DMM Climbing, Friction Labs
Follow Eric on Twitter @Train4Climbing
Check out Eric’s YouTube channel.
And on Instagram at: Training4Climbing
Copyright 2024 Eric Hörst | Horst Training, LLC.