The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

Hosted by Neely Quinn, The TrainingBeta Podcast is a regular conversation about training for climbing with rock climbing's best and brightest. Pro rock climbers, climbing trainers, and other insightful members of the climbing community offer their experiences with training for climbing, the best diet for climbing, and their personal stories about climbing. Whether you're a beginner climber or a seasoned pro, you'll learn something new from these conversations.

TBP 235 :: How to Get Better at Climbing by Watching World Cups 07/19/2023

TBP 234: Thomas Cunningham on Biohacking for Climbing Performance 07/13/2023

TBP 234: Thomas Cunningham on Biohacking for Climbing Performance Back in April, I published an episode with Thomas Cunningham all about how he trains efficiently as a busy dad and ER physician to be able to send up to 5.14c projects in only 10-15 days outside climbing per year. You can listen to that episode in the link below: In that episode, we started talking about how he uses the Whoop (a wearable bio tracking device), continuous glucose meters, and some other biohacking type stuff, but the interview would’ve been reallllly long if we’d gone into all of it in details. So I asked him to come back for a second interview to talk about all of that. We’ll be doing another one soon on using bloodwork to optimize supplementation, etc. for climbing performance soon. So who is Thomas? Thomas is a 36-year-old emergency medicine physician and father of 3 children from Louisville, KY who’s been climbing for around 20 years. After talking to him for a while, I realized he is SUPER scientific about everything he does in climbing. This is no surprise because he’s quite an overachiever in his academic/professional life as well. He’s published a bunch of academic papers, he was chief resident at the University of Louisville Department of Emergency Medicine a while back, and WHILE he was doing that, he started a medical device company, Inscope Medical, and was VP of Innovations. He also completed an IronMan while he was an intern resident. if you’re interested. He’s an ambitious person, to say the least, and that means he has less time than some of us for climbing and training. Only getting outside climbing around 10-15 days per year, and focusing all of that time on very hard projects, he has learned that his training and all of his days outside have to be hyperfocused and specific. He also has to optimize his body for all the training he does and to be in peak performance mode when he’s trying to send. He’s used a continouse glucose meter (CGM) on himself in the past and he asked Sam Elias and Jonathan Horst to start wearing one in order to help them optimize their fueling for climbing. He came into this interview with data on both of them (and himself), including what they were eating before using the CGM, the changes they made to their diets after and while using it, and the effects it had on their climbing. The CGM basically takes a reading of your blood glucose every 5 minutes so you can see in real time how each food/meal affects you. We also talk a little more about the Whoop in this episode, which I’ve now gotten 6 of my friends and family using. It’s really interesting looking at the data each day about your sleep quality/quantity, how recovered you are, your HRV, and all kinds of stuff I’ve never paid attention to before. Thomas goes into how exactly he uses the whoop and how I’ve been using it myself. This episode was really fun for me because this stuff as a nutritionist is extremely interesting. I hope you love it too! Oh, and if you want to work with Thomas, you can do that by clicking on the link below: /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/27459738

TBP 232: A Roadmap and a Checklist for Sending Route Projects Faster 05/24/2023

TBP 231: Common Sense Energy Systems Training with Alex and Matt 05/10/2023

TBP 231: Common Sense Energy Systems Training with Alex and Matt In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how they go about training their clients in the different energy systems. The “energy systems” we’re talking about are power endurance, endurance, strength, and power. Basically, they both feel like these things are extremely confusing to climbers, and they wanted to simplify what those systems require, what it takes to train them well and efficiently, and what workouts they prescribe for each of them. The thing is that it’s not super clear-cut because in climbing, we’re constantly switching from energy system to energy system. We’re not usually climbing at an easy steady state for very long, and we’re also not usually climbing super powerfully for very long. We go in and out of trying hard, resting, climbing easier stuff, etc. So they do their best to explain what is categorized as which energy system and exactly what to do, and when, in order to get better at one or all of them. As always, they did an amazing job of preparing for this interview, and both of them have so much experience at this point with training people that their advice is truly simple and easy to follow. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. Show Links Bouldering Training Program 35% Off If you’re tired of going into the gym without a plan and you want a clearly laid-out program made by an experienced coach, our Bouldering Training Program is just that. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as working one-on-one with a coach. Matt Pincus created this online subscription bouldering program based off of what has been super successful with his clients over the years. There are 3 levels of training available to you, depending on how much experience you have with climbing training. You’ll go through non-linear cycles (learn more about what that means in the link below) of training power, strength, skill drills, and throughout it all you’ll be gaining all-day capacity. Hundreds of people have felt an increase in their bouldering ability within weeks of being on this program, and you can too. It’s 35% off right now, and you get a 7-day free trial to see if it works for you. Go to the gym with a plan in your hand, trust the process, and see results. /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/26806134

TBP 230 :: Alex Stiger on How to Approach the Different Angles of Climbing 04/26/2023

TBP 230 :: Alex Stiger on How to Approach the Different Angles of Climbing Steep Climbing Workshop May 2nd, 2023 Coach Alex Stiger is hosting a 2-hour presentation + Q&A on how to train for steep climbing on the wall and off the wall. She’ll be using a series of videos and other resources to describe some climbing drills, strength training tactics, and mindset shifts to help you feel less intimidated and more confident on steeper angles of climbing. Alex will show you all the drills, all the strength exercises, and all the mindset practice you need to unlock steep climbing for yourself. You’ll find out exactly what to incorporate into your training plan and climbing sessions in this 2-hour workshop. What: Live presentation with Q&A throughout and afterward When: May 2nd at 6-8:15pm MDT Where: Zoom (you’ll receive details after purchase) Recorded: Everything will be recorded in case you can’t make it live Online Course: 3 months access to videos, drills, etc, from the presentation Cost: $39 If you sign up by this Friday, April 28th, you’ll be entered in a raffle to win Alex’s recent 5.12 Breakthrough Series (all the recordings), which is about 7 hours of video/audio content and worth $147. How to Approach the Different Angles of Climbing In this episode, I talk with TrainingBeta Coach, Alex Stiger, about the differences between the different angles of rock climbs: slab vertical slightly steep (less than 30 degrees) standard steep (30-45 degrees) We go over our own experience and mindset around each angle of climbing, what skills are involved with each, how to strength train for each, and mindset issues that come up around all of them. This is a lovely little exploration into the nuances of all of these different angles of climbing, and once again, Alex came prepared with a detailed outline of information that’s usable right away and interesting to listen to. She truly is such a keen observer of our sport. Show Links Enroll in Alex’s Have questions? Email or Photo Credit Daila Ojeda enjoys the views of Monaco while climbing at La Turbie, France. Photo by Colette McInerney /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/26664141

TBP 229: Thomas Cunningham Climbs 14c as an ER Doc and Father of 3 04/19/2023

TBP 229: Thomas Cunningham Climbs 14c as an ER Doc and Father of 3 A couple weeks ago, Sam Elias texted me and said, "Hey. This ER doctor here in Louisville just sent his first 14c... He's SUPER intelligent and really researched about training, nutrition, and personal optimization. I think y'all should have him on the podcast. He has a lot to offer." Turns out this was his second--not first--14c, which I found out in my interview with him, but everything else Sam said about Thomas was spot on, and I was psyched to reach out to him for an interview. Thomas is a 36-year-old emergency medicine physician and father of 3 children from Louisville, KY who's been climbing for around 20 years. After talking to him for a while, I realized he is SUPER scientific about everything he does in climbing. This is no surprise because he's quite an overachiever in his academic/professional life as well. He's published a bunch of academic papers, he was chief resident at the University of Louisville Department of Emergency Medicine a while back, and WHILE he was doing that, he started a medical device company, Inscope Medical, and was VP of Innovations. He also completed an IronMan while he was an intern resident. So he's an ambitious person, to say the least, and that means he has less time than some of us for climbing and training. Only getting outside climbing around 10-15 days per year, and focusing all of that time on very hard projects, he has learned that his training and all of his days outside have to be hyperfocused and specific. He takes us through his training program, including how he trains aerobic capacity, power, power endurance, and strength. He also talks about his research (he's also a researcher!) on the use of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to figure out what food fuels him best, and at what times of day. He's currently doing some experimentation with Sam Elias with a CGM, and Thomas and I talked about having a part 2 to this discussion to go more in-depth about that and how he uses other monitors like the Whoop in his every day life and training. More to come on that, though. This interview and our talk afterward actually inspired me to get a Whoop myself (no affiliation, but check it out if you're interested in biodata). Oh, and we also talked about how he rehabbed not one but two pulley ruptures and came back stronger afterward. I loved this talk - it was super inspirational on all levels - and I hope we hear a LOT more from Thomas in the coming years. He will be an asset to the climbing community to take us to the next level in training scientifically, like so many other mainstream sports have already done. /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/26592591

TBP 228 :: Majka Burhardt on Being a Pro Climber while Raising Twins 03/30/2023

TBP 227: How to Stay Motivated (Almost) All the Time with Alex Stiger 03/15/2023

TBP 227: How to Stay Motivated (Almost) All the Time with Alex Stiger Climbing Fitness Breakthrough Series Before we get started, Coach Alex Stiger is hosting a 4-part series all about how to increase your overall climbing fitness. She will do 4 weekly 90-minute zoom calls starting March 21st all about how to use efficient, quick sessions in the gym to reliably make you feel stronger and have more endurance. The cost is $147 (2-payment option available), and you’ll get all of the recordings of the zoom calls, a group Slack channel where you can ask Alex questions for the month, plus a bonus recorded coaching session with one of the participants. How to Stay Motivated in Your Climbing In this episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about the ways she stays so motivated in her climbing almost all the time. It’s actually really amazing to me that she’s so psyched so often… Alex is a firm believer that if we are enjoying what we’re doing, we will make the most progress in whatever we’re doing. AND we’ll have an amazing happiness-building activity for the long haul. These are some of the questions we pondered in this episode Should training be torture?? Why is that concept so romanticized Why do we treat climbing and training like two separate things? How did old school mentalities shape how we are approaching our sport today? How can we stop believing that doing things we don’t want to do will make us better? How did our childhood sports and gym class shape the way we think about climbing and training? One of Alex’s superpowers is staying psyched 80+ % of the time, and she thinks that partly comes down to her being homeschooled and always being able to choose what she was doing with her time. We talk about how her habits and her great success with horsemanship in her younger years really shaped how she thinks about climbing now. She doesn’t do what she doesn’t want to do. She gives herself freedom to choose between structures and that works really well for her. She knows exactly what is on her “love to do” and “don’t love to do list” and she checks in regularly because it changes. She recognizes that what might affect her climbing and training psych the most is life factors and she takes that really seriously. Her desire to enjoy her sport is a driving force to de-stress, optimize, create space, and in general increase her well being. Stress is a big enemy of motivation! The Tools She Uses to Help Keep Motivation High We talk about all of these tools in detail in the interview. Other people Routine Timers Measuring progress Setting mini goals Having a hard session time stop Regular “want” weeks Fueling for my sessions Strategic planning to avoid feeling late or rushed Mental check ins (green, yellow, orange, red) Acknowledging “druthers” out loud Gratitude practice You’ll find a lot of common sense tactics to make our sport sustainable, but also some surprising little hacks that Alex has come up with to make it fun for herself almost all the time. I loved this talk with Alex 🙂 Show Links Enroll in Alex’s Have questions? Email or /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/26241864

TBP 226: How Bridget Roell Went from 13a to 14a with Coach Matt Pincus 03/08/2023

TBP 225 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Unlevel Grips for Finger Injuries and Training 02/22/2023

TBP 225 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Unlevel Grips for Finger Injuries and Training In this episode, Dr. Tyler Nelson talks about a small but very effective change to make in your finger training protocol to help you get stronger and avoid injuries. Last year, Tyler saw over 600 patients with finger injuries, and he believes that using unlevel edges that are bigger than what we’ve been told to use could have, in part, prevented those injuries while still making the climber stronger. This interview was really fascinating to me. I didn’t even know what an unlevel edge could possibly look like, but Tension Climbing has created a board with them and it’s called the Whetstone Board. Here’s part of the description of it from : The top jug on the Whetstone is something new. The edge profile was designed to promote a more “active” grip and reduce “over-wrapping” the wrist. A series of “ergo-bumps” was included to both improve the comfort of the grip and also to act as an edge that can be draped in an open-handed grip to more evenly distribute force between each finger as an aid for rehabilitating some finger tweaks. This is not meant to be a Whetstone advertisement and I have zero affiliation with them, just fyi. But what Tyler is talking about in the episode are those “ergo-bumps” you see in the photo above. As always, I learned a lot from this episode and now I kinda want to get a Whetstone board… About Tyler Tyler owns and operates , a chiropractic sports medicine clinic and strength & conditioning business in Salt Lake City. While earning his doctoral degree, he completed a dual program Master’s degree in exercise science at the University Of Missouri. While in graduate school he worked with the University of Missouri athletics department and currently is employed through two colleges in Utah. He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and spends any extra time in his life with his wife and 4 kids or trad climbing or bouldering. You can find Tyler in Salt Lake City at his clinic or online, where he tests athletes, creates training programs, and treats all kinds of athletes for injuries. Other Episodes with Tyler Episode Links Personal website: Take an online class with Tyler: Instagram: Facebook: /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/26014344

TBP 224 :: Dr. Jen Dragonette's Psychological Tools for Climbers 02/01/2023

TBP 224 :: Dr. Jen Dragonette's Psychological Tools for Climbers This episode is one of the most meaningful episodes I’ve ever done, and I’ll tell you why in a sec. In it, I talked with psychologist Dr. Jennifer Dragonette about DBT, which stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy, for a whopping hour and a half! DBT is a set of psychological tools developed by Marsha Linehan to help people truly process and deal with emotion dysregulation, interpersonal conflict, and the everyday issues of daily life. DBT is very important in my own life because it’s what lifted me out of my most recent major depressive episode in 2017 and has helped me have way lower levels of anxiety and depression than I ever have before. It helped save my life, to be honest. So when Dr. Jen contacted me to be on the show to talk about how DBT can help climbers, it was a full-body yes from me. I’ve incorporated DBT into my own climbing, and I’ve seen the incredible results it can produce in every part of life. Dr. Jen does an excellent job of explaining some of her favorite DBT tools and how they can be used in climbing for things like: fear of falling knowing how you want to proceed when you’re having a bad day climbing managing the urge to grab a draw, say take, give up, or not take enough rest communicating effectively with your partners or spotters about what you want from them how to allow our emotions to flow through us and out of us so we can move on I also go into some very personal details about how some OCD tendencies played out in my life to contribute to severe anxiety and how DBT helped me stop the OCD behaviors. As well as how I’ve been using DBT tools to help overcome body image issues. As a climber and a psychologist, Dr. Jen has such a deep understanding of how these tools apply to climbing that you’ll hopefully feel confident using them in your very next climbing session. She’s clearly very adept at teaching DBT, and I enjoyed every moment of this conversation 🙂 Show Links Dr. Jen’s website: Some basics about DBT and workseets: The program I did in Boulder, CO was the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Outpatient Program at BCH /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/25800675

TBP 223 :: How to Be a Stronger, Better Boulderer 01/19/2023

TBP 223 :: How to Be a Stronger, Better Boulderer In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how they go about training their clients to be better boulderers. They’re both pretty psyched on bouldering themselves, so we also talk about how they train for bouldering in their own lives. When we started talking, I was assuming they were going to tell me all the ways they have boulderers get stronger in the weight room and on the fingerboard, but we really only talked about that for a little while. What they did focus on were the things they find to be way more important for that in real life… things like how to get yourself to try harder, how to change your sessions to be more structured and less “just bouldering,” and how important mobility training is to boulderers. There’s a lot of tactical talk in this episode about what it takes to be a good boulderer overall. More Details How to get yourself to try harder and how to quantify it Structured flash practice drill Hardest boulder circuit drill How to approach a boulder strategically instead of just throwing yourself at it Thinking in terms of style instead of grade, and how that helps you work your weaknesses Some talk about how to fall appropriately, and when not to fall Finger training, what weight training to do, and why it’s all even more important to do for bouldering When to shelve training and just go bouldering, and for how long that’s sustainable Show Links 35% Off Bouldering Training Program If you’re tired of going into the gym without a plan and you want a clearly laid-out program made by an experienced coach, our Bouldering Training Program is just that. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as working one-on-one with a coach. Matt Pincus created this online subscription bouldering program based off of what has been super successful with his clients over the years. There are 3 levels of training available to you, depending on how much experience you have with climbing training. You’ll go through non-linear cycles (learn more about what that means in the link below) of training power, strength, skill drills, and throughout it all you’ll be gaining all-day capacity. Hundreds of people have felt an increase in their bouldering ability within weeks of being on this program, and you can too. It’s 35% off right now, and you get a 7-day free trial to see if it works for you. Go to the gym with a plan in your hand, trust the process, and see results. /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/25652148

TBP 222 :: Breaking into 5.12 Climbing with Coach Alex Stiger 01/04/2023

TBP 222 :: Breaking into 5.12 Climbing with Coach Alex Stiger In this episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about the most common mistakes amde by climbers who are trying to break into 5.12 climbing. Sending 5.12 is the most common goal among her clients, so she has quite a bit of experience with the minutiae of what it takes to do that. She will share her personal experience of her first 5.12’s and what she learned from her trials and tribulations. She’ll then go into the mindset shifts that are required to jump into the coveted 5.12 territory, and how she helps people do that. While you might predict that strength training is one of the main tools Alex uses with her clients in this situation, it is not, as she says it is very rare to find a person who is climbing 5.11 who can not climb 5.12 with the strength they already have. So while we spend a few minutes talking about strength training, you’ll find compelling evidence in this episode that that may not be your issue. Here are some of the other topics we discuss: Why technique and staying calm are so important Honing the skill of resting How to decrease intimidation of the grade How to learn from your falling experiences How to have more of a competition mindset What to climb on in the gym if you’re trying to send 5.12 A better alternative to having a perfect pyramid before entering into 5.12 territory Why repeating climbs that are sort of hard for you is an important strategy We talk about a lot in this episode, and I highly recommend it if you’re at the 5.10 or 5.11 level, or if you’re just not consistently climbing 5.12’s and you’d like to. Even if you are climbing 5.12’s consistently, I think a lot of her tactics will help you! 5.12 Breakthrough Series Coach Alex Stiger is hosting a 4-part series all about how to break into 5.12 climbing. She will do 4 90-minute zoom calls starting January 17th all about what holds people back from sending 5.12 consistently and exactly what you can do to break your 5.11 plateau. The cost is $147 (2-payment option available), and you’ll get all of the recordings of the zoom calls plus a bonus recorded coaching session with one of the participants. Show Links Enroll in Alex’s Work on your Have questions? Email or /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/25508667

TBP 221: Good Crag Etiquette for Great Climbing Days 12/14/2022

TBP 220 :: Tactics for Sending Long Pumpy Routes with Coach Alex Stiger 12/08/2022

TBP 219 :: How David Farkas Changed His Nutrition to Improve His Climbing 11/16/2022

TBP 218: Intermittent Fasting and The Keto Diet for Climbers 11/02/2022

TBP 217 :: Kevin Roet on Climbing Psychology for Optimal Performance 10/26/2022

TBP 216 :: Hazel Findlay on Overcoming the Most Common Fears in Climbing 10/19/2022

TBP 215: How We’ve Grown as Coaches Over the Years (Matt, Alex, Neely) 10/13/2022

TBP 214: Matt Pincus’s 4 Most Common Pieces of Advice to Climbers 09/29/2022

What to Eat at the Crag for Optimal Climbing Performance 09/15/2022

TBP 212 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson’s New Insights on the Limits of Fingerboard Training 08/31/2022

TBP 212 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson’s New Insights on the Limits of Fingerboard Training In this episode, Dr. Tyler Nelson talks about his new insights about the longstanding use of the fingerboard to train finger strength in climbing. Once again, Tyler pored over the research and wants us all to know that there are limitations to how fingerboard training translates to actual rock climbing. He talks about the physiology of hangboarding and two potentially better ways to train finger strength. Tyler also wrote an article about this topic, which you can find . About Tyler Tyler owns and operates , a chiropractic sports medicine clinic and strength & conditioning business in Salt Lake City. While earning his doctoral degree, he completed a dual program Master’s degree in exercise science at the University Of Missouri. While in graduate school he worked with the University of Missouri athletics department and currently is employed through two colleges in Utah. He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and spends any extra time in his life with his wife and 4 kids or trad climbing or bouldering. You can find Tyler in Salt Lake City at his clinic, where he tests athletes, creates training programs, and treats all kinds of athletes for injuries. Other Episodes with Tyler Episode Links Personal website: Take an online class with Tyler: Instagram: Facebook: Learn More from Tyler: If you want to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson on an individual basis for injuries or strength training, he offers to people all over the world. He also teaches on strength training and injuries. Training Programs for You Do you want a well-laid-out, easy-to-follow training program that will get you stronger quickly? Here’s what we have to offer on TrainingBeta. Something for everyone… At-Home Training Program: Personal Training Online: For Boulderers: for boulderers of all abilities For Route Climbers: for route climbers of all abilities Finger Strength : All of our training programs: /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/24231243

TBP 211: Matt Pincus Talks Endurance Training for Climbing 08/24/2022

TBP 210 :: Crag Dog Training with Jenna Teti 08/03/2022

TBP 210 :: Crag Dog Training with Jenna Teti This episode is a LITTLE bit different than all my others in that we’re going to be talking about training, but for a different species: dogs! So many climbers have dogs, and because climbing has gotten so popular in the past couple decades, there are more and more dogs at crags and boulders. Sometimes this is an amazing thing and sometimes dogs can be a little out of control. So I asked my dog trainer, Jenna Teti, to come on the show to shed a little light on some things we can do to get our dogs to behave better at the crag and boulders (and all the time). Jenna is the owner and Head Trainer & Behavior Consultant at out of Longmont, Colorado, where I live. She has a LOT of certifications in dog behavior, and here is her description of what she does from her : As a behavior consultant, my goal is to go beyond teaching you and your dog skills. I work with the human client to help them better understand their dog and their behavior in a way that is informative and fun! With this deeper understanding of not just the individual dog but dogs as a whole, we can address behavior and approach it from a place of compassion and understanding that builds a stronger relationship with your canine companion as you work through the behavior modification process. Jenna has helped me a ton with our young heeler mix, Willa, by changing the way we approach training. We talk about that in this episode, along with crag behaviors such as being able to just chill while we’re climbing, not being reactive to people and dogs, coming when called, and more. I hope this helps you have a better experience outside climbing with your dog! Here’s my dog, Willa, trying to be a good girl at the crag 🙂 More Details How she works compared to other famous dog trainers Difference between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punitive training styles How to get your dog to chill at the crag and at home How to get your dog to relax without overexercising them Why she thinks it's fascinating that so many climbers have herding dogs How to improve the all-important recall ("come") with your dog How to train "leave it" for when your dog gets into something it shouldn't What to do instead of punishing a dog How much time to spend training each day Setting up an environment at the crag for success Her thoughts on e-collars Show Links Reach Program: Reach Program Discount: Code “Reach” for $50 off the program Email Jenna at Instagram /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/23949084

TBP 209: Calories for Climbing Performance and Body Composition 07/29/2022

TBP 209: Calories for Climbing Performance and Body Composition New Nutrition and Training Program: Reach Coach Alex Stiger and Neely Quinn are hosting an integrated climbing training and nutrition program starting on August 8th, 2022 for 4 weeks! If you want to up your game in nutrition and in climbing training (and learn more about what Alex talks about in this article), you can check it out in the link below. In the program, you’ll get a 4-week training program from Alex, a comprehensive nutrition course + one-on-one time with Neely, plus weekly live meetings with Alex and Neely and a lot more. As a podcast listener, you get $50 off the program using the code “Reach” at checkout. Calories for Climbing Performance and Body Composition In this episode, I talk all about how to figure out how many calories–how much food–you should be eating in your meals, snacks, and throughout each day in order to feel energized, climb well, and have the body composition that’s right for you. We’ll talk about how to objectively and mathematically determine what is a good calorie amount for YOUR body to help you be your best all day every day. As for the body composition portion of this episode, yes, I’m going there. This is a difficult subject because there’s so much anti-diet rhetoric out there that it’s almost sinful to talk about weight or fat loss at all. But MOST of my clients come to me wanting to lose weight, and they’ve been taught their whole lives how to do it all wrong. So my goal is to give people the same advice I give my clients: measured, sustainable methods for changing your body composition at a reasonable rate. I get pretty real in this episode and it’s not something I’ve really talked about much on this podcast before. I hope this real talk is helpful for you! This is a recording taken from a 5-day nutrition challenge I did in 2020 in front of a live zoom audience and I added some bits to the beginning and end about the topic. A Little about Me After completing my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Zoology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, I did a 4-year nutrition certificate program at Seven Bowls School of Nutrition, Nourishment, and Healing. I graduated in 2007 as a Certified Integrative Clinical Nutrition Therapist. I’ve worked exclusively with climbers since 2013. Show Links Reach Program: Reach Program Discount: Code “Reach” for $50 off the program Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world. /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/23902494

TBP 208 :: Alex and Neely's Biggest Nutrition and Training Mistakes 07/19/2022

TBP 207 :: Allison Vest on Transitioning from Comp Climbing to Rock Climbing 07/13/2022

TBP 207 :: Allison Vest on Transitioning from Comp Climbing to Rock Climbing Allison Vest is a 27-year-old climber who lives in Salt Lake City. She’s originally from Minnesota and moved to Canada when she was 7, where she fell in love with climbing. She had a lot of success competing as a Canadian, winning the Canadian Bouldering Nationals in 2018 and 2020 and winning Canadian Lead Nationals in 2019. In August 2019, Allison became the first female Canadian climber to send V13 when she did The Terminator in Squamish, which you can watch a video about . She’s since done 4 more V13’s. This February, she became the first female Canadian climber to send V14 when she did Show Your Scars in Ogden, Utah. She’s known for her hilarious antics on , but also for her huge ape index (+7), which at 5’6″ makes her reach the same as a 6’1″ person. Allison was recently because Tyler tested her one-arm strength and her finger strength and said, “If I didn’t see it myself, I’d have trouble believing it.” Basically, she’s the strongest person (not just female) he’s ever tested, and he was completely blown away by that. She’s kind of an anomaly, and she talks about how she’s gotten so strong in this episode. She wasn’t always that way. Last year she decided to take a break from competition climbing to focus on climbing outside, so I wanted to talk with her about why she’s taking that break, how that transition has been, whether she misses comp climbing, and what the differences are in her training and performance tactics between outside and indoor climbing. She’s also been vocal on social media recently about body image insecurities, and I thought it was incredibly brave of her to come out with . She started it with, “I always worried that I didn’t look enough like a fitness model to be a professional athlete, and have been self conscious of the fact that I don’t have a resting six pack.” We talked about that and the response she’s gotten to her vulnerability online. We also talked about eating disorders among competition climbers and what, if any, responsibility the IFSC or other climbing organizations have in helping climbers or disqualifying them from competitions. We talked about so much… wow. I also got to ask her about her mindset in competition climbing vs outdoor climbing and how she deals with being a person who wears her heart on her sleeve (I can relate). I loved this talk – I’m a huge fan of Allison’s and I was grateful for the chance to get to know her a bit. I hope you love it too :) Allison Vest Interview Details Why she’s taking a break from comp climbing and how it’s going What she thinks about FFA’s What she’s had to learn in transitioning to outdoor climbing How the gymnastic style of comp climbing translates to outdoor bouldering Mental differences between comps and outdoor projects What her coach taught her about spiraling mentally What sets her apart physically and mentally from other climbers Her thoughts on her physical strength feats Body image issues and how she’s successfully dealing Show Links Instagram /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/23737817

TBP 206 :: How Matt, Alex, and I Are Approaching Our Mega Projects 07/06/2022

TBP 206 :: How Matt, Alex, and I Are Approaching Our Mega Projects Work with Matt or Alex as Your Climbing Coach Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger are both experienced climbing coaches who will work with you from anywhere in the world to help you create and reach your climbing goals. They can either consult with you on making your own program or they will create a detailed program for you based on your lifestyle and equipment availability. How Alex, Matt, and I Are Approaching Our Mega Projects In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how we trained and prepared for our projects, which are the hardest routes we’ve tried. We go over what the projects mean to us, how we stay mentally focused, and what we’re doing this summer to train for when the weather gets better. This is an intimate look at how two climbing coaches and I think about and physically prepare for hard rock climbing, and I hope it gives you some inspiration and ideas for your own projects! Episode Details Where we all are in our processes with our projects What our projects are What the projects mean to us in our climbing careers Our mental processes on the route Our tactics for redpointing Whether comparison with others affects our processes How to keep a growth mindset on hard projects What we would’ve done differently to prepare How we’re all training this month to prepare for better weather How to be mentally fresh while projecting Show Links Have topics you want us to cover? Email , , or Fear of Falling Workshop Coach Alex Stiger is hosting a Fear of Falling workshop next Tuesday, July 12th, where she’ll guide you in systematically overcoming your fear of falling in climbing. It will be a 2-hour live workshop on zoom (recorded) plus 3 months’ access to an online course with videos and resources from the workshop. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world. Photo Credit Photo of Neely Quinn on Tombraider 5.13d by James Lucas /episode/index/show/trainingbeta/id/23648510

TBP 205 :: Going from 5.11 projects to 5.11 Warm-ups with Erin Ettenger 06/22/2022

The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

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