The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

About Neil Gresham Neil Gresham is a British climber and trainer who's been training people for about 20 years now. He's the training columnist at both Climbing and Rock & Ice magazines, and has written extensively on the topic. At 44, he's still pushing his limits on sport climbs (14b last year), ice climbs, and deep water solos, among other types of climbing. Although he has no formal background in training (I'm finding that to be irrelevant in these interviews), he's studied the literature on climbing training and other related sports. But most of all, he's debatably one of the most experienced climbing trainers out there, having been doing this pretty full time since the 1990's. He also wrote an interesting article recently about his ketogenic diet that's made a huge difference in his climbing and body composition, which I responded to with my own podcast episode about the diet. We talk about his experience with keto and exactly what he eats on it. What We Talked About Case study of 5.10/11 climber trying to break into the next level How he helped fix a client's elbows in a matter of weeks How to break into 5.11 or 5.12 What the ketogenic diet is and how he's improved on it The most important overall exercise for a climber Neil Gresham Links Neil Gresham's website Awesome video of Neil training and redpointing

About Jorg Verhoeven Jorg Verhoeven is a professional Dutch climber who lives and trains in Austria. He's done about 150 world cups (in both bouldering and routes), and he won the Overall Lead World Cup in 2008 and was World Youth Champion twice. He did the 4th free ascent of The Nose on El Cap (5.14), and he recently did Wheel of Life (V15). He was on the cover of Climbing magazine for his historic repeat of The Nose, which further piqued my interest in this all-around badass climber. I wanted to know how he's capable of doing it all, so we chatted about his training, his attitude about climbing and life, and how he keeps it fun and interesting for himself. What We Talked About How he trains in his limited gym facility Whether or not he does finger training and campusing (very interesting answers) His internal struggle on The Nose How he trained for the Nose His very specific training for World Cups and other comps Jorg Verhoeven Links Jorg on Wheel of Life (V15) (Video) Jorg Verhoeven on The Nose (Video) Jorg Verhoeven on Facebook

About Neely Quinn Neely is your host for the podcast every week, but she's also a practicing nutrition therapist, and has been since about 2007. She's helped hundreds of people lose weight and get closer to optimal health. She takes an individualized approach to nutrition, and in this podcast episode she tackles weight loss for climbers and how to approach it properly (if you need to approach it at all). Weight Loss for Climbers Calories Carbs Food Sensitivities When to see a doctor Overtraining Want to work with Neely one-on-one? Her nutrition coaching page: www.trainingbeta.com/nutrition-coaching Email her at [email protected]

About Ethan Pringle Ethan Pringle is a 29 year-old professional rock climber who's had immense success in the competition scene as well as on real rock. He made the 2nd ascent of Jumbo Love (5.15b) and has done a few V14s and is working on his first V15 (The Nest). He's an all around strong, determined climber, and I wanted to know what makes him tick. What We Talked About How he prepared for Jumbo Love How he stayed motivated on Jumbo Love for 7 years How depression has affected him and his climbing Getting over psychological plateaus Future goals Ethan Pringle Links Ethan on Jumbo Love (Video) Ethan Pringle on Instagram Ethan Pringle on Facebook

About Matt Helliker Matt Helliker is a notable alpinist who's done quite a few first ascents. He's originally from England, but now lives, climbs, and guides in Chamonix, France. As an ice climber, a mixed climber, a trad climber, a sport climber, and a boulderer, I was really interested in knowing how Matt trains to stay strong for it all. You can find out more about him and his first ascents on his athlete page at Patagonia and on his personal site. What We Talked About What winter alpine climbs entail How he trains for it all Climbing 5.14a Hard alpine ascents in remote areas Training 7 days a week Why it's hard to do it all Related Links Video trailer of Citadel, a film about Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey in Alaska Matt Helliker's personal site: matthelliker.com Matt Helliker on Instagram Matt Helliker on Twitter Matt Helliker on Facebook

I've been hearing more and more about the ketogenic diet in the climbing world. For instance, Dave MacLeod and Neil Gresham have had success with it and I expect that a lot of people will want to try it for themselves. I researched the diet quite a bit a few years back and then experimented with it on my own. I've helped nutrition clients onboard to a ketogenic diet, and I've talked with a lot of people about the difficulties and successes they've had with it. It's a really interesting topic, partly because everyone is so different that it may or may not work for you. It didn't work for me (for reasons I'll explain in the episode), but it may work for you. And who knows - if I'd done things differently it may have worked for me. In this episode, I explain: What the ketogenic diet isWhat the macronutrient ratios areHow to know if you're actually in ketosisWhy people like the ketogenic dietThe difference between the ketogenic diet and Paleo/PrimalWhat foods are pretty much no-no's on the dietMy experience and mistakes on the dietMy goals are to help you understand it a little better and maybe to help you avoid some common mistakes if it's something you're interested in trying. I'd love to know what your personal experience with it has been, and if you have any questions about it just leave them in the comments below! Thanks for listening :)

About David Mason David Mason is a British boulderer who's climbed up to V13/14 (King of Limbs in South Africa) and many boulders between V10 and V13. In 2014, he managed to send 20 boulder problems between V11 and V13 during a 17-day trip to Vastervik, Sweden. He's a Senior Coach at The Climbing Works, a gym in Sheffield, England, and he does personal training/coaching for people there. He's known for his relentless training, and that's what we talked about in this interview. What We Talked About Dealing with failure Shoulder dislocation and injury 3-a-day training sessions Training for King of Limbs (V13/14) His exact training schedule How he'd change his training schedule for someone not as strong Related Links Video of David Mason on King of Limbs Article and videos of his trip to Sweden in Rock & Ice David Mason on Instagram David Mason's website and photography Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

Date: January 27th, 2016 About Matt Lloyd Matt Lloyd is a long-time friend of my husband, Seth, having started climbing on the same team in Denver about 15 years ago. He's known for his bold R and X-rated ascents, and now for having started a small gym in Denver called Mountain Strong that's devoted to training for climbing. What We Talked About How he prepares for free solosHis hardest sendsWhy he built a gym devoted to training for climbingHow olympic lifts and crossfit workouts help climbersHow to build fitnessThe future of training for climbingRelated Links Matt Lloyd's gym: www.mountainstrongdenver.comArticle on Climbing Mag by Matt about overcoming fearTraining Programs for You

About Nina Williams Nina Williams is a boulderer (and budding trad climber) who lives and trains in Boulder, CO. She's climbed V13 and she won the Dark Horse comp in 2015, but she spends most of her energy climbing outdoors and training for that. Being a full-time sponsored climber, she's able to travel often, and she's spent time in Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, Hueco Tanks, and other popular climbing destinations. I sat down with Nina to talk about how she trains, what she eats, her attitude toward climbing, and what it's like training and climbing with Alex Puccio. What We Talked About Why she did highball boulders and why she doesn't anymore Where her climbing is going Why trad climbing is so satisfying to her How she changed her approach to comp climbing Who trains her Her home training set up What she eats and why Related Links Nina Williams on Instagram Nina Williams on Facebook Trailer for Za, a movie about Nina, Daniel, Nalle, and Dave Graham Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

About Dave MacLeod Dave MacLeod is one of the most famous climbers, having put up many first ascents of sport, boulder, mixed, and trad climbs. Honestly, I'm not going to do him justice with a short introduction of his climbing and career, as he's accomplished so much in his 37 years. So here's his Wikipedia page. Please read it - it's fascinating. What We Talked About His climbing career How he's trained for different projects How mixed climbing helps him to train for sport and trad The mistakes most climbers make in their training Excelling even when the pressure is on How he deals with fear on scary routes His secret diet (exposed! woohoo!) Related Links Dave's blog: www.davemacleod.blogspot.com Dave MacLeod on Facebook Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

About Tom Randall Tom Randall is one of the infamous Wide Boyz offwidth climbers from Sheffield, England. He's climbed 5.14 offwidth, trad, and sport climbs, and he's a professional climbing trainer as well. He and his team at Lattice Training put hard science and historical data from other climbers into their training plans and robust assessments of their clients. He's pretty nerdy, in the best way possible. What We Talked About His assessment of Seth's climbing strengths and weaknesses How he works with clients Training for crack climbing Pinky crack drills Free soloing 3,000 routes Case study of bouldering client Sample Assessment of One of Tom's Clients Intro to "Jack Daniels" Jack is a 34 year old climber who has always been told by his friends that he has good finger strength, but never quite seems to transfer it to his projects. He either gets pumped too quickly on sport routes that feel within his redpoint ability and falls off when the moves are continuously strenuous, or on long style boulder problems he hits "The power-out wall" at about 60 seconds. He'd like to understand what factors are limiting his physical performance. --> Assessment feedback for Jack Daniels Related Links Lattice Training: www.latticetraining.co.uk Tom Randall on Facebook His coaching partner, Ollie Tom Randall on Instagram Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Podcast is on iTunes is HEREDirect Download: LINKDate: December 7th, 2015 About Thomasina Pidgeon Thomasina Pidgeon is a Canadian boulderer - one of the strongest Canadian female climbers, actually, having done over 40 boulders V11 to V12. She's also competed quite a bit, and been quite successful on national and international levels. She does this at the age of 40, all while living out of her van, which she's done since she was 19 years old, and while raising her 9 year-old daughter. What We Talked About Van life and being a mom Her training regimen designed by Steve Maisch What's different in her climbing now that she's 40 How she trains now vs before she started competing Her success on a high fat diet Related Links Thomasina's website: www.thomasinapidgeon.blogspot.com Thomasina on Facebook Thomasina on Instagram Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Mike Chapman Thanks for listening!

About Steve Bechtel I was honored and excited to interview the great Steve Bechtel for a second time. Steve is a long-time climber and trainer who knows his stuff when it comes to getting strong, catering to individual training needs, and staying lean, among many other things. Steve runs ClimbStrong.com, a website where he writes articles and training programs for climbers. You can subscribe to the site to get full access to all of his info. He also runs a gym in Lander, WY called Elemental Fitness, where he works with climbers and athletes of all kinds. What We Talked About What makes a good climbing trainer Confusion about periodization Confusion about finger training Repeaters vs. Eva Lopez training Climbing as training for climbing Listener questions Related Links Steve's website, Climb Strong at www.climbstrong.com Climb Strong on Facebook: www.facebook.com/climbstrong Steve's gym in Lander is Elemental Performance and Fitness at http://lmntl.net Steve's book about strength training on trainingbeta. Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

About Isabelle Faus Isabelle Faus is a 22 year-old boulderer out of Boulder, CO. (Yes, I know that a lot of my guests are from Boulder, but there are just so many amazing climbers here!) Isabelle climbed her first V14 in South Africa recently, and has done several V13's, including Nuthin' but Sunshine in a day. She also just started sport climbing and did her first 5.14a the other day. She'll tell you all about her climbing, training, and diet in this episode. What We Talked About Her bouldering career highlights How her coach as a child taught her so much about training Her weekly schedule for workouts and climbing Exactly what her workouts look like How she makes it work without sponsors How she stays injury-free Lots more Related Links Isabelle on Instagram: @Fausey Isabelle on Island.io Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. FrictionLabs Discount FrictionLabs (my favorite chalk company by far) is offering you a discount on their awesome chalk - woot! Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

About Justen Sjong Justen Sjong is a prolific climbing coach out of Colorado, who's also had a successful climbing career, having established up to 5.14a big walls with none other than Tommy Caldwell, and crushing 5.14 sport climbs across the globe. He currently works out of Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder and does online coaching via www.climbingsensei.com. He has a thing or two to say about climbers improving their mental game and becoming better climbers overall. What We Talked About The difference between a climbing coach and a climbing trainer When to say "take" on routes How he coaches Alex Puccio How to increase confidence, and why it's important How your body language can influence your climbing performance Lots more Related Links Justen's online climbing services: www.climbingsensei.com Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. FrictionLabs Discount FrictionLabs (my favorite chalk company by far) is offering you a discount on their awesome chalk - woot! Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Andrew Burr Photography Thanks for listening!

TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes Date: November 4th, 2015 (Get 10% off Armaid by using "climb" at checkout.) About Will Anglin Will Anglin is a 27 year-old climber and head climbing trainer at Earth Treks in Golden, CO. He minored in Exercise Physiology in college and is a certified personal trainer, and he's studied climbing training quite a bit. He trains people in person and online. One of the reasons I wanted to interview him is that he's not only a well-respected trainer, but also a prolific climber himself, having sent V13 and 5.14. He has a lot to say about training, and this was a dense conversation (in the best way possible). What we talked about: The importance of strength training Difference between strength and power His weekly training schedule during 50-60 hour work weeks Whether or not you should train to exhaustion Why he thinks using a weight vest during campusing is "safer" than not Who should be campusing Why he does weighted pull ups and why you should maybe not Things We Mentioned Will's website Tension Climbing (coming soon) Will's article on finger strength training I'm doing nutrition consults one-on-one with people again on a limited basis. If you're interested, email [email protected] Discount on ArmAid If you haven't heard of the ArmAid yet, definitely give it a look-see. It's a nutcracker-type self-massage tool for your poor, overused arms, and it actually works. We wrote a glowing review about it here. Use the code "climb" at checkout for a 10% discount! Training Programs for You Check out the Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. If you'd like to place an ad on the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Please Review Us on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Thanks to Matty Hong for the photo of Jon Cardwell. Thanks for listening!

Date: October 5th, 2015 Climbing Magazine HUGE Sale! Climbing Magazine, one of the best media outlets for climbing news, training info, and climbing porn (let's be real here), is giving you, my dear listeners, a year subscription to the magazine for $10. Yes, only $10, which is 83% off the normal price. Holy cats. ==>> Get The Discount About Nathan Drolet We met Nathan Drolet in the Red River Gorge a couple years ago when his badass girlfriend, Natalie Hawley, was projecting 8 Ball while I was working on Snooker. We ran into them a lot over that season in the Red and in Chattanooga, where they now live. What I noticed about Nate is that he's a calm, collected, strong, solid climber. He was obviously dedicated to climbing, having moved to the Red to work at Miguel's so he could pursue it full time. He's climbed up to 5.14a and V11, and he won the 2011 24 Hours of Horseshoe Hell. And he's a really nice guy. When I asked you all a while back for suggestions for "everyday climbers" (ie not pros) whose training has paid off, several people suggested Nate, so of course I had to interview him to find out how he does it. What We Talked About How he stays strong living on the road How he uses breathing to create power and to relax How he trained back flagging His new interest in lifting and how it's changed his climbing Whether or not he runs and why Diet Mental training Training Programs for You Check out the Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Direct Download: LINKDate: August 20th, 2015 About Ben Moon Ben Moon is an iconic climber from England who's accomplished much in his 40-year climbing career. He's 49 years old and just sent 9a (5.14d) this year, after having put up the first of the same grade in 1990 ("Hubble" in France). He's bouldered up to V14, and he does all this while running a successful climbing company called Moon Climbing and raising a child with his wife. He also created the classic Moon Board and the Moon Fingerboard, designed for the stronger, more massochistic among us. I wanted to talk to this legend about how he's achieved all of this, and he kindly granted me an interview. By the way, there are 2 Ben Moon's in the climbing world: this English Ben Moon and the videographer/climber Ben Moon who lives in the U.S. and recently made a video about Denali the dog. What We Talked About Here's what English Ben Moon and I talked about: His history as a climber Hubble, the first 8c+ ever, and how it got upgraded to 9a Training for and sending 9a at age 49 How he trains in general His thoughts on the Moon board and the Moon Fingerboard Whether he's just genetically gifted or if he has to train hard Training and projecting on a tight schedule How he's doing on Northern Lights, another 9a Related Links Moon Climbing: www.moonclimbing.com Video interview of Ben Moon on his recent 9a ascent of Rainshadow Moon Climbing on Facebook Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Direct Download: LINKDate: August 12th, 2015 (Get 10% off Armaid by using "climb" at checkout.) About Jon Cardwell Jon Cardwell is a 26 year-old Albuquerque native living in Boulder, Colorado, who climbs 5.14d and V15, along with being one of the top male bouldering competitors in the U.S. He's a sponsored climber and also holds jobs as a route setter and youth climbing coach at Movement Climbing and Fitness in Boulder. I've been hearing all about him crushing Rifle and the Fortress this year, so we sat down and talked about how he trains for that, what he's psyched on right now, and his plans to go back to France this year and finally do Biographie. He's a super humble, sweet and well-spoken guy, and I really enjoyed this conversation with him. What we talked about: How he trained for The Game (V15) How he trains for hard routes His attempt at Biographie (5.15a) this spring, and what he'll do differently next trip His successful Rifle season this year, including 5.14a onsights His unconventional use of the hangboard and campus board How he gives back as a coach His thoughts on diet Things We Mentioned Jon's Instagram Jon's Facebook Discount on ArmAid If you haven't heard of the ArmAid yet, definitely give it a look-see. It's a nutcracker-type self-massage tool for your poor, overused arms, and it actually works. We wrote a glowing review about it here. Use the code "climb" at checkout for a 10% discount! Training Programs for You Check out the Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. If you'd like to place an ad on the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Please Review Us on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Thanks to Matty Hong for the photo of Jon! Thanks for listening!

Date: July 29th, 2015 Climbing Magazine HUGE Sale! Climbing Magazine, one of the best media outlets for climbing news, training info, and climbing porn (let's be real here), is giving you, my dear listeners, a year subscription to the magazine for $10. Yes, only $10, which is 83% off the normal price. Holy cats. ==>> Get The Discount About Adam Macke Adam Macke (pronounced "Mackey") is a climbing trainer out of Chattanooga, TN. He works with people out of High Point Climbing and Fitness, which is a pretty new gym downtown. Adam has been personal training people since the early 2000's, and uses weight training and Muscle Activation Technique (MAT) to unlock climbers' potential. He's also a climber of 8 years himself. His methods with people in training for climbing are quite different than other trainers, so our conversation was pretty interesting and out of the box. To find out more about him, go to www.mackefit.com. What We Talked About How he differs from other climbing trainers What MAT is and how it's helped climbers Why fingerboarding isn't the best way to train finger strength And what to do instead Why campusing isn't the best way to gain power And what to do instead Links We Mentioned Adam Macke's website: mackefit.com High Point Climbing: HighPointClimbing.com Anvil Crash Pad Rental in Chattanooga: AnvilCrashPadRentals.com New Awesome resource for Route setters: TickTapeTighten.com Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Photo of Adam Macke by Corey Wentz at www.coreywentz.com. Thank you, Corey! Thanks for listening!

About Neely Quinn I (Neely Quinn) am a Nutrition Therapist and a 5.13 rock climber, owner of TrainingBeta, and someone who's obsessed over food, health, and climbing performance since 1999. I've helped thousands of people find their optimal diet, lose weight, and be the best athlete they can be. My nutrition work lives at www.neelyquinn.com. As the host of the TrainingBeta podcast, I'm generally not the one in the spotlight in these interviews, but in this episode, I put my hide on the line and told you my opinions and advice about nutrition for climbers. What I Talked About In this episode, I asked for questions from you guys before the episode and answered as many of them as I could before getting sick of hearing my own voice ;) A good carb, protein, fat ratio for climbers Whether intermittent fasting is good for climbers Whether ketosis is good for climbers Why healthy centenarians can eat grains but Paleo says they're bad for us How sugar affects us, and how much we should eat Blood type diet Other stuff Related Links Neely's nutrition website: neelyquinn.com Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Date: July 9th, 2015 About Kevin Jorgeson After the Dawn Wall, Kevin Jorgeson needs no introduction really. Even my grandmother knows his name (and I'm not joking about that). Before the Dawn Wall, I knew Kevin for his highball bouldering; I knew him as a bold, strong-headed climber. After his send of Ambrosia (55-ft V11 in Bishop), he wanted something different to challenge him, so he called up Tommy Caldwell and asked him if he needed a partner for the Dawn Wall. What We Talked About In this conversation, Kevin tells me his own Dawn Wall story, how he fought through the challenges and ultimately succeeded, how he trained for it, and what's next. Which key pieces fell into place to let him send the Dawn Wall The media blow-up about the Dawn Wall How he skipped 14b & c and jumped to sending 14d Why pitch 15 was so hard for him How he dealt with the immense pressure up there Specific training he did for the Dawn Wall Why he switched from highballing to bigwalling Related Links Kevin Jorgeson's website: KevinJorgeson.com Kevin climbing Ambrosia Kevin climbing pitch 15 Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Climbing Magazine HUGE Sale! Climbing Magazine, one of the best media outlets for climbing news, training info, and climbing porn (let's be real here), is giving you, my dear listeners, a year subscription to the magazine for $10. Yes, only $10, which is 83% off the normal price. ==>> Get The Discount About Dr. Lisa Erikson Dr. Lisa Erikson is a chiropractor out of Boulder, CO with a specialization in Sports Chiropractic and Chiropractic Biomechanics of Posture. She works specifically with climbers, skiers, tennis players, and runners, among other athletes to fix them up when they have injuries and to teach them how to care for their injuries on their own. Dr. Lisa runs the medical for the USAClimbing Sport Climbing Championships, Speed Climbing Championships, and Bouldering Championships. Her new book, Climbing Injuries Solved, helps us learn how to prevent and manage injuries from climbing. An avid multisport athlete, Dr. Lisa competed in collegiate running, cycling, and nordic skiing. A trail runner, ultrarunner, climber, and nordic skier, Dr. Lisa is passionate about making sure athletes are not held back from doing the sports they love. She's got quite the long list of athletic accomplishments, as well as helpful resources on her website, www.lifesportchiro.com. What We Talked About How to recognize and treat finger injuries Self-care for finger, hand, forearm injuries The truth about ice, and why immersion baths are the best How often we should be doing self-care to stay injury-free When to know if you should go to a doctor Links We Mentioned Dr. Lisa Erikson's website: LifeSportChiro.com New book, Climbing Injuries Solved, at ClimbingInjuriesSolved.com Youtube videos at YouTube.com/LifeSportChiro Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

About Steve Maisch Steve Maisch is a local SLC strong man and renowned training guru. If you’ve ever run into Steve at the cliff, you know how humble and unassuming he is. Once he pulls onto the wall though, his immense power and strength speak for themselves. He makes very hard moves look easy. Clearly, his training works, and not only for himself. He's had awesome success training other people as a side project of his. What We Talked About How he went from climbing V10 to V13 using a 6-foot wall in his basement What weight training is beneficial for climbers and why How to train for bouldering as opposed to route climbing Circuit training on a bouldering wall The best way to train finger strength Links We Mentioned Steve Maisch's website: SteveMaischTraining.com/ Steve's Training Program This is the training program Steve laid out in the episode for your reference! A big thanks to Steve for putting this together. You'll have to listen to the episode for more details, but this is the basic structure. Four week block with emphasis on strength: Four week block with emphasis on strength endurance: Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Date: June 10th, 2015 About Hazel Findlay By the time she was 23, Hazel Findlay had made a name for herself as the first woman to send E9 (basically 5.13d but with death fall potential). The British phenom can been seen in videos doing sketchy climbing way above her bolt or gear with seemingly no fear. She started climbing at the age of 7 with her dad, quickly moved up the ranks as a comp climber, and then eventually followed her heart to outdoor climbing, where she's now traveled the globe (Morocco, United States, Australia, to name a few) to climb in all different styles. I wanted to ask her about how she trains, but she told me right off the bat that she doesn't train ;) So this interview is mostly about her mental game, how she's planning to help other climbers with their own confidence, and we talk about her recent shoulder surgery. What We Talked About How she stays present and keeps a positive attitude on challenging climbs Being a woman who's doing things only men have done before Shoulder surgery How she stays humble in the face of hard projects Her plan to help others with their own climbing Links We Mentioned Hazel Findlay's website: HazelFindlayClimbing.com Book on getting and staying in the "zone": Flow In Sports by Susan Jackson Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

About Arno Ilgner Arno Ilgner is known in the climbing community for his work helping people overcoming fears and be overall mentally stronger. He began climbing and quickly realized that the mental aspect of it was paramount to sending hard climbs. So he started studying up, and resonated with the Warrior's Way philosophy he found in the Carlo Castaneda books about Don Juan. He started applying those tenets to climbing, and soon had an entire program built upon them. He now has books, clinics, and a dense blog devoted to helping you find peace, strength, and bravery in your climbing. I was honored to interview Arno Ilgner and really delve in to how he changes people's perceptions and fears in climbing. What We Talked About Overcoming fear of falling How to stay present and not psych ourselves out on climbs Overcoming fear of failing (and fear of succeeding) How to deal with our big egos getting in the way Exactly how he trains people in his clinics Links We Mentioned Arno's website: WarriorsWay.com Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

Date: May 27th, 2015 About Bill Ramsey Bill Ramsey is a legend among climbers, having put up classic first ascents in the Red River Gorge years ago such as Omaha Beach (14a), Golden Boy (13b), and many others. He's 55 years old and he just sent his 3-year project at the Cathedral near St. George, UT, called "Golden for A Moment" (5.14b). 5.14b is about as hard as Bill has ever climbed, even in his 20's and 30's, so with such a huge accomplishment under his belt, I wanted to ask him some questions. What We Talked About staying motivated after 100's of attempts his 14-hour training days whether his training style has changed as he gets older how he climbs and trains as a full-time philosophy professor at UNLV how he eats for training and loses weight for sending "The Pain Box" - his article on suffering and climbing learning from the failures Links We Mentioned Bill's "The Day I Sent Golden" post on EveningSends.com Bill's "Pain Box" Article: PDF Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review The Podcast on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Photo Credit Photo of Bill Ramsey by Mike Call Thanks for listening!

About Alex Puccio Alex "The Pucc" Puccio is the strongest female American boulderer, and the most accomplished female American bouldering competitor. She's won ABS Nationals 9 times, and has medaled 13 times in Bouldering World Cup events since 2009. Her goal this year is to be the overall IFSC World Cup Bouldering champ and to climb V15. She was the 4th woman to climb V14 (Jade and then Wheel of Chaos in Rocky Mountain), she's climbed 7 V13's, and she's done all of this in the past year. Naturally, I wanted to know how she went from climbing V12 to crushing V14 in such a short amount of time, so we talked all about how her training, diet, and mental game have changed recently. What We Talked About Exactly how she trains on a weekly basis Exactly how Justen Sjong is helping her improve her mental game Why she doesn't have enough sponsor money, and what she's doing about it How she lost weight, and whether or not she's anorexic What she thinks about performance enhancing drugs Lots more - she's very honest and open Links We Mentioned Alex's RallyMe crowdfunding campaign: Support Her Alex's Facebook page She often posts training videos on Instagram @alex_puccio89 New short film of her taking a break from comp climbing and doing V13's outside, "Switching Gears" Discount on The Best Chalk Ever Alex Puccio loves FrictionLabs chalk, and so do we. This chalk really does make a difference - it's no joke. Go to www.frictionlabs.com/trainingbeta for a special discount to try it out for yourself. Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. Please Review Us on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

About Alex Barrows I met Alex Barrows in Rodellar in 2011 when he introduced himself as the Duke of Barrows, which we believed for several hours. It would've been so cool if that had been true, but alas. He's just a British PhD student at Sheffield University with a hilarious sense of humor. He's also really strong, despite his rigorous school schedule and lack of good weather where he lives. When I met Alex, he was trying really hard on a 14a for weeks. Then I saw him a couple years later in the Red River Gorge, where I immediately noticed he'd improved dramatically. He was onsighting 13+ and sending 14s like it was his job. Then I heard he sent Era Vella (5.14d in Spain) this spring, '15, and I had to know how he was improving so much. This interview is an extremely detailed account of his training plan and philosophies, with some charming British humor thrown in there. What we talked about: Exactly how and when he trained for Era Vella How his training has evolved over the years, and how he learned so much about it How he stays so psyched to train 6 days a week What he does to avoid injuries, and whether or not he climbs through them when he has them All about circuit training How he finds time and money to project things in different countries, despite being a full-time student How he reached his sending weight, and whether or not climbers should always be thin Things We Mentioned Alex's epic training plan and philosophies: Alex Barrows Training PDF He credits Tom Randall (of Wide Boyz fame) for a lot of his training knowledge: tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com Fix Your Own Arms with ArmAid If you haven't heard of the ArmAid yet, definitely give it a look-see. It's a nutcracker-type self-massage tool for your poor, overused arms, and it actually works. We wrote a glowing review about it here. You can learn more on their website at ArmAid.com. Training Programs for You Check out the new Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. If you'd like to place an ad on the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Please Review Us on iTunes! Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

About Eric Hörst Eric Hörst is a well-known climbing trainer, having written some of the first books on the topic, including How to Climb 5.12, Training for Climbing, and Maximum Climbing. He's a 50-year old climber who still climbs as hard as ever (5.13 redpoints) due to his smart training methods, which he's catered to himself to fit his mature body. His 2 boys are living proof of his training methods, regularly climbing 5.14's by the time they were each 11 years old. Eric keeps an active blog on training for climbing, aptly named www.trainingforclimbing.com. He also writes regularly for www.nicros.com. What we talked about: How to most efficiently train for different kinds of climbing How his training has evolved over the years, and how he learned so much about it Whether or not we should run to train for routes (the burning question) How his kids train for climbing, and how they've become such balanced athletes When to train and when to climb, and how to not overdo it Related Links Eric Hörst's website: www.trainingforclimbing.com His work at Nicros.com Support The Podcast Check out the newRoute Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. If you'd like to place an ad on the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

This is a recording of our second live Q&A call dedicated to training for climbing. Answering the questions are: Kris Peters - Climbing Trainer Neely Quinn - Nutritionist and 5.13 climber Seth Lytton - Training geek and 5.14 climber Hope you can join us for the next one! The sound quality isn't super great on this because it's an actual phone call, but we're working on it!

Direct Download: LINKDate: March 30th, 2015 About Mike Doyle Mike Doyle is a full time(+) computer programmer in his late 30's who crushes hard rock climbs. He's a Vegas local who has devoted the last several seasons to the route Necessary Evil (classic 5.14c) in the Virgin River Gorge, and finally sent it this past spring. He's Canadian, and helped train Sean McColl back when he was training youth competition climbers and competing himself. He's climbed all over the world, having sent numerous 5.14's, all while ambitiously pursuing a career he loves. What we talked about: How he efficiently trained for Necessary Evil How his training has evolved over the years The creative ways he manages to work so many hours AND climb so much outside His thoughts on diet and body weight, and how he lost weight for Necessary Evil Related Links Mike Doyle's website: www.mikedoyle.ca Video about Mike Doyle's persistence on Necessary Evil Support The Podcast Check out the Bouldering Strength and Power program for boulderers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

I was honored that Adam Ondra took time out of his very busy day (he's a full time student and trains for climbing a LOT) to let me pick his brain about climbing and training. I hope you like this interview! About Adam Ondra He doesn't really need much of an introduction, does he? He's debatably the strongest overall climber in the world, having the most impressive climbing resume I've ever even imagined. Here's what his Wikipedia page has to say about him. He is the only athlete to have won the World Championships in two disciplines, lead and bouldering. In addition, he succeeded to win both medals in the same year, during the 2014 edition. He has also a similar record in the World Cup, being the only athlete to have won the World Cup in two disciplines, lead in 2009 and bouldering in 2010. As of 7 December 2014, he climbed 1,162 routes between 8a (5.13b) and 9b+ (5.15c), of which 3 were at 9b+ (5.15c) and 548 were onsights, including 3 onsights at 9a (5.14d) and 15 onsights at 8c+ (5.14c).[1] He is the first climber to have redpointed a route with a proposed grade of 9b+ (5.15c) (Change, Flatanger, 4 October 2012)[2] and the only climber to have redpointed three 9b+ (5.15c) routes. And that's not even including his bouldering accomplishments, which include 202 boulders between V11 and V16. Jeeeeez... Here's what we talked about: How he trained to win both bouldering and route climbing world championships How he used to train before he started training with Patxi How he manages to go to school full time and climb 5.15c The prospect of climbing 5.15d His thoughts on diet and body weight Related Links Adam isn't online of his own accord (he's a little busy), but www.adamondra.com is a fan page that someone else made for him... Support The Podcast Check out the new Bouldering Strength and Power program for boulderers of all abilities! Our other training programs are pretty cool, too. Check 'em out on the Training Programs Page. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Photo Photo credit goes to Dario Rodriguez of Desnivel.com Thanks for listening!

I got to sit down with the great Steph Davis the other day and chat about her training for climbing, her vast accomplishments, her FFAs, her free soloing exploits, her diet, her wing suit flying, and all kinds of other stuff. About Steph Davis I can't really do her resumé justice, so I'm just going to let her Wikipedia page do it for me. Stephanie "Steph" Davis (born 1973) is an American rock climber, BASE jumper and wingsuit flyer. She is one of the world's leading female climbers, having completed some of the hardest routes in the world. She is the only woman to have free solo climbed a 5.11 climb, the first woman to summit all the peaks of the Fitzroy Range in Patagonia, the second woman to free climb El Capitan in a day, the first woman to free climb the Salathė Wall on El Capitan, the first woman to free solo The Diamond on Long's Peak in Colorado, and the first woman to summit Torre Egger. Here's what we talked about: How she trained for her free solo ascents on the Diamond How she trained for her alpine ascents in Patagonia How she trains for Rifle Whether or not FFA's really matter Her vegan diet Related Links Steph Davis site at www.highinfatuation.com Support The Podcast Check out the new Bouldering Strength and Power program for boulderers of all abilities! Our other training programs are pretty cool, too. Check 'em out on the Training Programs Page. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

This is a recording of the free Q&A webinar that we hosted on 2-2-15. Chris and Seth answered training questions from anyone who called. Questions are focused on general training and specific questions about the training programs offered on TrainingBeta.

It's been FOREVER since I published a podcast episode and I'm really sorry for the inconsistency! My surgery and ensuing weirdness has had me away from working very much at all, but I'm hoping to start putting podcasts up again on a regular basis. About Heather Alright, so this episode is with my friend, Heather Weidner (nee Robinson), who is a badass sport and trad climber, having redpointed Stockboy's Revenge (5.14b) in Rifle this summer and Must'a Been High (5.13c R) in Eldorado Canyon in Colorado soon after. She and her husband, Chris Weidner, are full time climbers living the dream, although Heather was a veterinarian for about 5 years before that. When I think of Heather, I think of a very sweet woman with a bullish determination to climb her projects. I also think of kneebarring, since she's a pro at it. Here's what we talked about: Her lack of fear and how that helps her climbing Whether kneebarring is "cheating" How her vegetarian diet affects her climbing Her longest (time) project and how she kept trying even when she felt defeated How she makes it as a full time climber Related Links Heather's site at www.heatherclimbs.com Heather's article for TrainingBeta, "Headstrong" Support The Podcast Check out the new Bouldering Strength and Power program for boulderers of all abilities! Our other training programs are pretty cool, too. Check 'em out on the Training Programs Page. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

About Dr. Jared Vagy I am so excited to put this podcast out! Holy crap. This is some MUCH NEEDED info for climbers of all kinds, and I really hope you listen to the whole thing. Jared Vagy is a PhD physical therapist who also happens to be a rock climber who's had a lot of injuries. He works with athletes of all kinds and does special phone/skype and in-person assessments and sessions with climbers all over the world. He's written a book just for us on how to prevent and treat common climber injuries, and he's got a lot more info for us up his sleeve. He's super passionate about educating us, and I'm so happy I found him! He's dissected our contorted movements and figured out how we can prevent finger, elbow, and shoulder injuries. What We Talked About Finger injuries Elbow injuries Shoulder injuries (my favorite!) What we're doing wrong on the wall to cause these injuries How to properly warm up before climbing Related Links Jared's site at www.theclimbingdoctor.com Jared's book, The Ultimate Climber Support The Podcast Check out the new Bouldering Strength and Power program for boulderers of all abilities! Our other training programs are pretty cool, too. Check 'em out on the Training Programs Page. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

About Hans Florine This is from Wikipedia because I couldn't possibly sum this up any better. Hans Florine has a long and storied history on El Cap, and in particular on The Nose. Here goes: Hans Florine (born June 18, 1964)[3][4][5] is an American rock climber, who together withAlex Honnold holds the Speed Climb World Record for climbing The Nose of Yosemite’s El Capitan in 2:23:46 (2 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds), set on June 17, 2012[6] which broke the previous record of 2:36.45 set by Dean Potter and Sean Leary. Hans also previously held the same record with Yuji Hirayama for El Capitan in 2:37:05 (2 hours, 37 minutes and 5 seconds), set on October 12, 2008.[2] This broke their record of 2:43:33 set on July 2, 2008, which had broken the record that was set by the German "Huberbuam",Alexander Huber and Thomas Huber.[7] The two brothers climbed The Nose on October 8, 2007 in 2:45:45, breaking Hans' and Yuji's prior speed record.[8] El Capitan is traditionally climbed in three to five days.[9]The Nose route is 2,900 ft long (880 m) and features over 31 pitches of strenuous, exposed climbing.[9] Florine thus climbed The Nose at roughly 6 minutes per pitch. On July 30, 2005, Florine also completed a solo ascent of The Nose in just 11 hours and 41 minutes.[10] Solo ascents are characterized by climbing by yourself and require one person to do all the work. Pretty impressive, huh? I wanted to know how he trained for such crazy shenanigans, and he kindly gave his time for an interview. What We Talked About His seriously amazing feats as a Yosemite and competition speed climber His badass training sessions in the gym before work How he trains for big walls and speed climbing What he eats before and during big wall speed ascents Whether or not he'll attempt another speed record on the Nose A lot more Related Links Hans's site at www.hansflorine.com Hans on Wikipedia (he's that good) Hans with Yuji Hirayama on a previous record speed ascent of the Nose (VIDEO) Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the Training Programs on TrainingBeta. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Photo Jim Thornburg Thanks for listening!

About Alli Rainey Alli Rainey is a long-time climber and route developer, having put up a ton of routes in Ten Sleep Wyoming and boulder problems in Cody, Wyoming. She's redpointed several 14a's in Ten Sleep and done more than 90 5.13s up to 5.13d all over the world. She got into training for climbing a while back when she realized that she wasn't the greatest at steep powerful climbing (not much of that in Ten Sleep) and needed to train to improve. Since then, she's studied the art and science of training for climbing (rather than climbing to train for climbing) for herself and her clients, and she's successfully expanded her climbing horizons to steeper stuff. I know - I've seen her at the Motherlode in the Red ;) What We Talked About The most important things for climbers to do to get stronger How everyone's needs are different, and how to train your personal weaknesses Diet and body weight's role in sending hard What to do on your off season, and how she's successfully sent hard routes after only climbing on her home wall A lot more Related Links Alli's site at www.allirainey.com Alli on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alliraineyclimbing Alli working the 14a at Ten Sleep, Galactic Emperor (VIDEO) Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the Training Programs on TrainingBeta. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

About Dan Mirsky Dan Mirsky is an understated crusher. I've been watching him gracefully take down rock climbs in Rifle for as long as I've been climbing there. Last year we witnessed his fitness (literally) in The Red when we were next door neighbors at Lago Linda's last year. And then a few months later he was kind enough to show us around The Cathedral/Wailing Wall, giving Seth and me encyclopedic beta on the entire crag from the ground. He chucked a couple laps on Golden (14b) that day right after sending Route of All Evil (14a) in the Virgin River Gorge that morning. Mirsky is PSYCHED to climb and psyched to see others succeed. He's a bright-eyed, happy, almost boyish guy with a sneaky sense of humor and a willingness to get a little crazy with friends. He knows everything about the places he climbs because he's obsessed with all things climbing. He's sent 30+ 5.14's up to 5.14c, having taken down Carry the Fire (14c), 50 Words for Pump (14b), Bad Girls Club (14c), Lungfish (14b), and lots of other hard stuff, including an FA of Solid Gold (14c), the direct line to Golden (read his "The Day I Sent Solid Gold" from EveningSends.com). He lives part time on the road and part time at his house in Carbondale. He dates my good friend and fellow TrainingBeta worker bee, Katy Dannenberg (you may have noticed her posting a bunch of awesome stuff on our Facebook page recently?), and together they are the hardest training couple I've ever known. If they're not climbing, they're doing CrossFit workouts outside of the Airstream, running half marathons, doing yoga, or hangboarding on their portable A-frame hangboard. So how does Dan Mirsky do it? He doesn't even live in a city with a climbing gym and yet he's consistently killing it. He'll tell you all about it in the interview. What We Talked About How he financially manages to live on the road for most of the year How he stays strong on long trips to the Red or other areas What he thinks doing cardio has done for his climbing How he stays super ripped and lean without starving himself (he eats - I've seen it myself) The wise advice he gave me about projecting Related Links A more complete bio on Dan Mirsky on Millet.com, one of his sponsors. His account of his FA of Solid Gold (14c) on Evening Sends Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the Training Programs on TrainingBeta. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

Hooray!! I finally did an interview with my favorite climbing trainer, Kris Peters! He's been working on TrainingBeta with us since basically the beginning, so I've had plenty of time to get to know and love this guy. He's kind of intimidating on the outside (big muscles, beard, hardass trainer), but he's a playful teddy bear on the inside. What I've noticed is that while he jokes a lot with his clients, he takes their workouts and progress VERY seriously, and puts his all into their success. He takes on a lot in life, between working with clients one-on-one, being a part of the training/coaching duo, Team of 2, with Justen Sjong, and keeping up with his own athletic goals. He's trained climbers of all abilities from all over the world, including Daniel Woods, Alex Johnson, Matt Segal, as well as people who just do this sport for the fun of it, and he's had amazing success with a lot of them. He also wrote our 6-Week Power Endurance Training Program, which has gotten a lot of positive feedback from climbers all over the world. What We Talked About His background as a trainer How he approaches every individual climber as a client 2 Case Studies: How he trained a 5.11- climber vs a V10 climber His thoughts on cardio training (and whether or not he'd tell Daniel Woods to run as part of his training) Who should be campusing and who should NOT All about the new training subscription program he created for TrainingBeta (coming soon) Related Links A more complete bio on Kris: trainingbeta.com/about-kris-peters Train with Kris one-on-one from anywhere in the world: teamof2climbing.com/trainer/ or email [email protected] 6-Week Power Endurance Training Program Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Photo Photo by Ian Civgin Thanks for listening!

I'm psyched to introduce this podcast with the Anderson brothers, Mark and Mike. We did a longer-than-usual interview this time, partly because there were two of them and mostly because they have a lot of advice to give. For the uninitiated, Mark and Mike are the Rock Prodigy guys, the authors of the new book The Rock Climber's Training Manual. They're the trainers who helped J-Star turn his training methods around in order to do "Biographie" (or "Realization", 5.15a), but they also have impressive climbing resumes themselves, despite having high-stress jobs and families. Mike is an Aeronautical Engineer, aka robot developer. He's an officer in the US Air Force and he has 2 sons (5 and 8) with his wife and they live in Colorado. He's redpointed 5.14 sport and has done some very impressive 5.13s, including First Free Ascents of Touchstone Wall (5.13, IV), Space Shot (5.13 IV) and Thunderbird Wall (5.13 VI) in Zion, UT, and Arcturus (5.13, VI) on Yosemite’s Half Dome. Mark (by the way, they're twins) supervises a team of computer engineers and has 2 kids with his wife, and they also live in Colorado. He's an “all-around” climber, having climbed on four continents, established numerous first ascents, freed El Cap, summited Denali, red-pointed 5.14c and on-sighted 5.13b. Along with their book, they also partnered with Trango to make the Rock Prodigy Training Center, a hangboard they recommend. So they're kinda the shit when it comes to training. What We Talked About How long it took Mark to get off his 5.10 plateau The thing Mike eats every day to stay lean and strong Both of their biggest accomplishment in climbing (they have the same one) The surprising number of hours they train every week How Mike trained for one of his hardest sends in Afghanistan Who should be campusing and fingerboarding and who should avoid it What to do when you've been falling at the same high point for 8 weeks Their passionate opinion on running for climbing LOTS more Related Links Mark and Mike's website is www.rockclimberstrainingmanual.com Their recent posts about training J-Star (part 1 and part 2) Their book, The Rock Climber's Training Manual Their hangboard, the Rock Prodigy Training Center by Trango Jonathan Siegrist's interview with me about training with the Anderson brothers Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen and Review on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

Download on iTunes Direct Download RSS Feed - http://trainingbeta.libsyn.com/rss After many months of trying to find a time that worked for both of our crazy schedules, Alex Johnson and I finally sat down and had a conversation about her climbing, training, eating, and other aspects of her life. Alex Johnson is an athlete on The North Face team, and she travels the world as a professional climber. She has some V12 ascents under her belt, she's a 2-time world cup winner and 5-time national champ. She's currently living in Las Vegas, but before that she was living out of her RV, following the good weather to her favorite bouldering areas. She spent a lot of time this winter in Bishop trying The Swarm, a V13/V14, which we talk about in the interview. I've always been a fan of Alex Johnson, and I remember watching her at The Spot competing when she was just a kid really. Her confidence and poise, as well as her incredible strength, have always impressed me. What We Talked About Her biggest accomplishments and biggest failures as a climber Which training styles have worked for her and which have not What it was like for her to train with the Euros How she's training for Vail this year (it's a secret so don't tell anyone) How her diet affects her climbing (if at all) Whether or not her hard ascents have been downgraded because she's a female How she balances being friends and fierce competitors with Angie, Puccio and the other girls Related Links Alex's website is www.aj-ontherocks.blogspot.com Alex on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexjohnsonclimber An article in Rock & Ice about Alex's negative experience training in Europe: "Unbroken: The Alex Johnson Profile" Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! Subscribe to the newsletter to find out when our new training programs are available. If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Photo Portrait of Alex Johnson by Forest Woodward Thanks for listening!

Download on iTunes RSS Feed - http://trainingbeta.libsyn.com/rss I was honored and excited to interview the great Steve Bechtel, a long-time climber and trainer who knows his stuff when it comes to getting strong, honing in on individual training needs, and staying lean, among many other things. Steve runs ClimbStrong.com, a website where he writes articles and training programs for climbers. You can subscribe to the site to get full access to all of his info. He also runs a gym in Lander, WY called Elemental Fitness, where he works with climbers and athletes of all kinds. I've been following Steve's stuff for a while, and I post his articles on our own Facebook page because I consider him an expert in a field that has very few experts (climbing training). But I wanted to interview him partially for selfish reasons - I'll be honest ;) We took a few minutes of the interview to use me as sort of a guinea pig. I asked him what he'd do with me right now while I'm trying to send a powerful, pretty short route at my limit. He gave me some great advice. I also asked him as many other technical questions as I could, and tried to make those questions applicable to as many people as possible, so you can take some usable advice from this conversation. After all, that's the mission of TrainingBeta: practical training advice. Steve has worked with a lot of climbers through the years, so he doesn't have any problems rattling off big scientific words and answers to all of our common climbing training questions. Hopefully we'll talk again on the show soon! What We Talked About How and why he learned so much about training How he approaches new training clients How to train power endurance and overall fitness What he'd do with me as a client to help me send my current project Whether or not running is good for climbing How to lose weight for climbing That our conversation was really awesome and we want to do it again soon Related Links Steve's website is Climb Strong at www.climbstrong.com Climb Strong on Facebook: www.facebook.com/climbstrong Steve's gym in Lander is Elemental Performance and Fitness at http://lmntl.net Steve's book (on Amazon) about training power endurance: LINK Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Photo Portrait of Steve Bechtel by Mei Ratz Thanks for listening!

This interview is with Kris Hampton, a climber, trainer, artist, business owner, and all around great guy. I met him last fall at his home crag, the Red River Gorge, when we both had projects in the Motherlode (I was on Snooker and he was on Transworld Depravity). He's a super chill, obviously smart guy, and we were quick friends. It wasn't long 'til he was writing the 8-Week Endurance Training Program for TrainingBeta (here), and we were discussing all the ways we wanted to improve the online availability of climbing training advice. As a climber, he started out as a trad guy and then years later switched over to sport, early in his 30's. He quickly realized that if he was going to keep up and meet his own personal climbing goals, he'd have to get strategic about his training, especially because he's so busy with life outside of climbing. So he learned as much as he could about training tactics, and quickly took himself from a 5.11 climber to a solid 5.13 climber, now on his way to hopefully sending his first 5.14a. He represents those people who do NOT climb full time, who do not live on the road. He speaks for and to those climbers who only have a couple days a week to crush it outside (if that), and need to make the most of their time out there, which he does himself handily. What We Talked About How and why he learned so much about training Life as a rap artist, and his new album Having a real job and a real life and still training and climbing hard Why he gave up offwidth and crack climbing and started sport climbing His current 5.14a project How he approaches new training clients All about the 8-Week Endurance Training Program he wrote for TrainingBeta Related Links Kris' website is www.powercompanyclimbing.com The 8-Week Endurance Training Program he wrote for TrainingBeta Kris' music at odubmusic.com Kris' new single "I Would Like to Live" on SoundCloud Support The Podcast This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected].

This interview is with one of my really good friends, Jonathan Siegrist, aka J-Star. I met Jonathan about 4 or 5 years ago and for some reason we just clicked and have stayed tight ever since. He's one of my favorite people, and you'll understand why that is if you listen to this interview :) The interview was actually done at the house we just shared with him for a few months in Las Vegas, where we spent a lot of time up at the Promised Land and some other awesome areas with Jonathan. I got to belay him on his recent first ascent of the 5.14c he put up, Spectrum, and I can say that no matter how many times I watch him climb, it’s always incredible. I mean, besides the fact that he warms up on my epic projects, it’s incredible ;) He always tries hard, he’s psyched to be climbing, he doesn’t toss wobblers – or at least I’ve never seen him do it – and I think it’s because he’s truly grateful for every opportunity he gets to be on rock outside. He’s also really into training indoors, especially because he’s got some big goals for this year. We’ll talk about his goals and his training in the interview. He's done something like 140 routes rated 5.14a and above, including 19 5.14c's and 6 5.14d's. He won a Golden Piton Award for Breakaway Success in 2009 after his groundbreaking trip to the Red River Gorge, where his highlights included quick sends of the 5.14c’s Lucifer, Southern Smoke, and Fifty Words for Pump, three 5.14a flashes, three 5.13c onsights, and onsights of 10 routes graded either 5.13a or 5.13b, among other things. You can see his full climbing resumé here. Jonathan and I sat down in my closet in Vegas (it was a big closet and the only place that didn't echo in our house - ha ha!) and talked about all things J-Star, including how he trains now compared to how he used to train, what he eats, his love life (he's taken for now, ladies), and his dreams. What We Talked About His favorite kind of climbing His biggest achievements and biggest failures Whether he'll try to be a pro climber forever How traveling so much affects his relationships with the ladies Where he'd like to call home someday 5.15? What it takes to climb 5.14+ How he keeps his skin in shape for sharp crimpy routes How he trains now and who he's coached by How that compares with how he used to train What he eats and why (he's a pescatarian) What he thinks body weight's role is in sending hard How often he parties Related Links Jonathan's website is www.jstarinorbit.com Jonathan interviewed me on his site here. He helped me create a training plan for myself (that worked!) and I blogged about it here. Sponsors The podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending! If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at [email protected]. Listen on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Music Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings Thanks for listening!

I met Angie Payne in 2004 when she first moved to Boulder. I worked at the Spot Bouldering Gym and she lived at the Spot Bouldering Gym. Not really, but she was there an awful lot. She was quiet, shy, sweet, and studious (she studied in the café where I "worked"). And obviously strong as hell. She won three ABS National Championships and two PCA competitions during the 2003-2004 season. Over the next six years, Angie stood atop more than ten podiums as a top 3 finisher in bouldering competitions. She doesn’t just crush inside, though — Angie has been a trailblazer among female climbers on boulders outside, too. Between 2004 and 2010, Payne did first female ascents of 17 V10-V12 boulder problems. In 2010, after climbing European Human Being (video) V12 and No More Greener Grasses V12, Angie completed The Automator (video), becoming the first woman in the world to climb a confirmed V13. These accomplishments earned her two Climbing Magazine Golden Piton honorable mentions and the 2007 Everest Award in Women’s Bouldering. Angie graciously sat down with me last summer (2013) to talk about how she got to be such a badass, how she continues to be such a badass after so many years competing, and how her "rivals" - who are also some of her best friends - keep her motivated. I'm lookin' at you, Puccio. We also talk about... Being a female in a man's world, and how she avoids the notorious downgrading of her FFAs How she trains What she eats How weight affects her climbing Her struggle with eating disorders Her roller coaster relationship with competition climbing Why she's not a full-time pro climber The mental blocks she gets with projects and how she overcomes them Her thoughts on climbing a V14 And lots of other things... Oh, and I apologize for the temporary outdoor noises in the background intermittently. Recording a podcast outside is nice because of the birds in the background, but NOT good for the noise factor. Duly noted. Show Links You can read her full bio here. Check out her website here. She also wrote an article about how she trains on TrainingBeta here. The podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending. Listen on iTunes Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;) Thanks for listening!

I sat down with Jamie Emerson last summer and had a really interesting chat with him. Jamie is, I think, an important voice in the climbing community. As an accomplished and ambitious climber himself, having sent up to V14, he has his finger on the pulse of the climbing community's players and their ascents. He has a deep appreciation for not only trying hard and sending hard, but also doing it all in style. I've always thought that Jamie would be the best person for the job of MC-ing big competitions because he knows a lot about everyone, and he truly cares about their accomplishments, failures, and their characters. As the writer at www.B3Bouldering.com, he not only keeps us all up to date on the most current sends, he also asks the hard questions and calls people out on ethical issues that no one else would dare to. This has earned him his nickname, "The Sheriff", which we discuss in this podcast interview. We talk candidly about a couple of his most controversial moments with other climbers, and whether or not he'd do it all over again if he could. In a sport where people regularly use shady tactics for cleaning boulders, terrorize the land surrounding those boulders, manufacture holds, trespass on private property, make up their own start holds, and "send" things without anyone witnessing said send (I mean, it didn't happen unless it's on video, right?), somebody needs to be the one to say, "You didn't follow the rules. Hey everyone, what do you think the rules are here so we can tell this person the rules?" That's Jamie, and I for one appreciate his honest, forthright style, and his willingness to fight for some semblance of order and respect in the sport, even if some think he might take it a little too far sometimes. In this interview we talk about all that, and also this: His biggest achievements in climbing His biggest failures His climbing aspirations His um.. interesting ascent of Gang Bang How he trains and the differences between the methods of all his different trainers What he eats What he thinks about his body weight as it relates to climbing How he likes being called the sheriff, and where that nickname came from What he wants to do in his professional life Why he loves finding and developing new boulders Why he started writing his blog The surprising ways his climbing has changed as he's gotten older What climbing means to him now compared with 10 years ago And more! Show Links Jamie's blog at www.b3bouldering.com Looking for more training advice? Check out our training programs here.

I sat down and chatted with my very good friend, Paige Claassen, before she took off on her Lead Now Tour around the country this past year. We talked about being driven by success, how she's managed to pull off proud 5.14 ascents with style, and how food affects her climbing. Since our talk, she's been traveling the globe, climbing rad sport routes, sending even more 5.14s, and raising money for her favorite non-profits all along the way. If you'd like to donate to her noble cause, you can do so here. Climbing and Training How she got into climbing How she trains and how she pushes herself How often she trained before her big trip The role breathing loudly plays in her climbing and what it’s done for my own climbing Her one rule in climbing Her strategy for doing more moves in a short gym How she works her abs and other cross-training she does The one exercise that helped her climbing the most How she stays psyched to climb, and what she does when she’s not psyched Diet & Weight An explanation of her rapid weight loss years ago How food affects her climbing What role her weight has played in her hardest sends What she eats now and what makes her feel amazing before climbs Why food is a little frustrating for her The surprising foods that make her feel the best A day in the life of Paige’s eating

In this episode of The TrainingBeta Podcast, I chat with pro climber Carlo Traversi about his successes, failures, training, the pressures of being a sponsored climber, and confidence. We also talk about... The interesting circumstances that really got him started climbing What goes through his head at comps Does the pressure of being a sponsored climber get to him? How he deals with fear in climbing The fine line between confidence and arrogance, and how that plays into his climbing Whether or not he’s ever had a coach His advice for how to get better at climbing without a coach How he trains to compensate for being a shorter climber A typical week of climbing for him His answer to hangovers His favorite drink :)