The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

Dr. Jared Vagy, a physical therapist and founder of The Climbing Doctor, dives into the world of capsulitis, a prevalent finger injury among climbers. He explains how it occurs, the symptoms to look for, and how to avoid it. Vagy shares effective treatment strategies, including unloading techniques and mobility tools to help maintain a pain-free range of motion. He emphasizes the importance of strength training and proper rehab protocols. Vagy also discusses how finger anatomy and training methods impact injury risk, offering valuable insights for climbers of all levels.

The Enneagram is a personality typing method that I’ve been super interested in for a few years now. I try to type all of my friends, my clients, and other people around me to help me understand them better and have more compassion for them. Knowing my own type has helped me have more compassion for myself and to identify areas I want to improve on in my life, in and outside of climbing. I recently met Becca Droz of sunrise-mindset.com, who is certified as an Enneagram coach, and she’s a climbing coach and guide. She often ends up talking with her clients about what Enneagram type they are and how it shows up for them. I asked her to be on the show to talk about what each of the types looks like in people in general, and how the types show up for us as climbers. We talk in depth about all of the types’ core fears, motivations, strengths, and challenges. We talk a little more extensively about our own types (I am an 8 and she is a 7). Resources Mentioned Becca’s website: sunrise-mindset.com Enneagram Test on Becca’s site: sunrise-mindset.com/enneagramtest Greece trip with Becca: sunrise-mindset.com/greece Suzanne Stabile Books on the Enneagram: Amazon list Suzanne Stabile podcast: The Enneagram Journey  The Enneagram Institute RHETI Test: www.enneagraminstitute.com Integrative 9 Enneagram Test: www.integrative9.com Wisdom of the Enneagram Book: Amazon

Jana Unterholzner has her master’s degree as a Sport and Performance Psychologist and she recently helped create an online course at unblocd.com to guide climbers through mentally recovering from injuries. I asked her to be on the show to talk about some of the tools and information she provides in that course. In this episode, we both share some of our key experiences going through our own injuries and Jana talks about the following: Why the mental side of injury matters as much as the physical How injury recovery can mirror grief in practice Strategies for working with fear after injury Why tracking progress makes such a difference Reframing injury: challenge vs. threat Building resilience (vs. being born with it) The role of self-compassion in recovery Tools for managing negative thoughts What kind of support actually helps during recovery Why rehab consistency is tough — and what helps Growing into someone new, rather than ‘getting back’ to your old self The people at unblocd.com are offering you a 30% discount on all of their programs, including the new Injury Recovery program, and their mini programs at unblocd.com using the code “TRAININGBETA30” at checkout.

In this episode I do a full mindset coaching session with Robyn Steuber, a 33-yr-old climber whose main barrier in climbing is her fear of falling and inability to try hard above her bolt. She also struggles with performance anxiety and fear of failing. So I did a complete one-hour session with her, just as I would with any climbing client, and we dissected exactly what she's afraid of and made a plan for her to start overcoming her fears. We discussed fall practice, quantitative ways for her to start learning how to try hard in general (and eventually above her bolt), and I gave her strategies for dealing with the big emotions that come with a stressful day of climbing.  If you want to work with me on your own mental barriers in climbing, visit www.trainingbeta.com/mindset.

Dr. Katie O'Brien is a functional medicine doctor who specializes in perimenopause, and in this episode she goes into great detail about what perimenopause is and how to navigate it with hormones, supplements, nutrition, and lifestyle choices so you can continue climbing hard in your late 30's, 40's and beyond.  This episode is not just for perimenopausal women! This is for everyone so that you, as a woman, can be sure you recognize signs and symptoms of perimenopause when they happen (and know what to do about them), and so that you, as a man, can help advocate for the women in your life. This is crucial for every woman's health and happiness. I hope you get a lot out of this conversation :) Dr. Katie's new supplement FemmeMD - get 20% off with code friends20: https://shop.femme-md.com/

Ryan Devlin invited Neely Quinn (the host of The TrainingBeta Podcast) to be on his podcast, The Struggle Climbing Show, to talk about perfectionism in climbing. Neely talks about common symptoms of perfectionism in climbers, how it can hold people back, and how it's actually kind of a super power. She also did some coaching on Ryan to help him enjoy climbing a little bit more, instead of being so intent on constantly achieving big things in his climbing. Ryan kindly shared this recording of the interview with Neely to share on this podcast, but it was originally published on The Struggle Climbing Show, which you should definitely check out. 

Katelin Hollowell joins as a guest, sharing her struggles with sugar cravings and weight gain as a climber. She undergoes a detailed nutrition session, receiving tailored advice on meal planning and managing cravings. The discussion dives into the challenges of balancing nutrition with an active lifestyle and the importance of macronutrient distribution for optimal performance. Insights on mindful eating and practical strategies to curb sugar cravings round out this engaging conversation, offering a wealth of tips for both climbers and fitness enthusiasts.

Kat Lumby is a Sport and Exercise Psychologist in Training (SEPiT) out of Wales, UK who works with all kinds of athletes, especially climbers and surfers. She has been a climbing coach for many years and has been able to take her skills to the next level with her SEPiT education. In this episode she talks about the specific kind of therapy she uses with athletes to deal with fear (and other barriers to performance). It’s called Rational Emotion Behavioral Therapy (REBT), and she will literally take you through the “ABC’s” of this modality. She also does a quick therapy session with me during the interview where we talk about my fear of falling. We come to some pretty great insights, which I’ve been using ever since in my climbing sessions. We also talk about some research she did on climbers and how you can put this kind of concrete thinking to use in your own climbing. You can work with Kat Lumby as your coach or your sport psychologist at labyrinthclimbing.co.uk.

I recently received an email from someone asking for a podcast episode that talked about resting. They wanted to know how elite/pro level climbers spend their rest days, how often they rest when they’re projecting, when they’re training, and generally just how they think about rest. So I reached out to a bunch of elite climbers and got 13 responses to these three questions: How many days a week do you rest when you’re projecting? What about when you’re in a training cycle? What do you do on your rest days in terms of physical activity when you’re projecting? What about when you’re in a training cycle? How old are you and how long have you been climbing? They sent me emails or a voice memo and here’s who responded: Emily Harrington Alex Honnold Lynn Hill Hazel Findlay Jonathan Siegrist Bill Ramsey Katie Lamb Paige Claassen Matt Pincus Alex Stiger Luke Parady Sam Elias Dusty Rasnick In this episode I’ll give you a short bio of each of these climbers and then either read or play you the recording of their response. Hopefully you learn something from this episode, but mostly it’s just interesting to see how pro/elite climbers approach resting. Enjoy!  

In this episode, Coach Alex Stiger talks about her experience being coached by Alex Puccio and Robin O’Leary (ROAP) for the past 6 months and what it’s done for her climbing. She started board climbing 2 grades harder and has improved her outdoor climbing experience as well because of the coaching she received. Alex strongly believes in the benefits of being coached and talks a little bit about being coached for the video game StarCraft as well. She’s currently offering a 6-month coaching package for 15 new clients and she talks about what it’s like working with her at the end of the episode. Episode Details Why she wanted to be coached and why she chose ROAP What worked for her How their coaching style is different from hers Why it made her try harder and be more consistent in her training The thing that Puccio said to her that changed her climbing immediately How her board climbing improved by 2 grades almost right away