The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

Zoe Sayetta, a youth and adult climbing coach from New York with a master’s in sport psychology, shares her expertise on fostering a growth mindset. She discusses the importance of emotional regulation in teens and how to encourage healthy self-talk. Zoe offers strategies for managing imposter syndrome and emphasizes using visualization techniques in climbing. She also highlights ways to motivate climbers without tying their identity to success, advocating for patience and resilience as essential skills in both youth and adult athletes.

Ravioli Biceps, a top Moonboard climber known for sending V13 problems, shares insights from his remarkable climbing journey. He reveals his passion for board climbing and its impact on his outdoor ascents. Listeners learn about the challenges of balancing a demanding work schedule with rigorous training. Ravioli discusses community engagement, mental resilience, and the evolution of climbing grades. Notably, he reveals the story behind his nickname and reflects on the importance of accessibility in climbing problem-setting.

Explore the journey of evolving from frustration to fulfillment in climbing. Discover how embracing self-compassion can transform your mindset. Reflect on the importance of acceptance and nurturing a positive approach to challenges. Listen as personal anecdotes reveal the value of community support and enjoying the journey. Uncover ways to navigate life's difficulties with kindness towards oneself, emphasizing that true worth goes beyond achievements.

Climbing coach Charlie Schreiber discusses transitioning from overtraining to efficiency, coaching strategies, creating personalized training plans, optimizing recovery, mindset in climbing, and the power of purpose in climbing. He shares insights on video analysis, flow states, and habit stacking for peak performance.

Karly Rager is a climber and a climbing coach with her business Project Direct Coaching. Her approach to coaching climbers is a little different than what I've seen anywhere else, which really caught my attention when I discovered her on Instagram. While she does the normal strength training and tactics education with her clients, she also focuses a lot on mindset. In fact, she has an entire mindset coaching option to help climbers with their "head game," including fear of falling and nervous system regulation while climbing.  I asked her to be on the show to talk about ways she helps her clients manage fear, but also to discuss the reasons why our training in the gym doesn't often prepare us for climbing outside. Sometimes it's surprising when we go outside to find that we don't climb the same grades, things feel harder, and it's just weirder out there. So she breaks down the reasons that's happening, and what you can do to make your outdoor climbing better, both physically and mentally.  We also talk about Karly's own progression in climbing, what she loves about it so much, and what it was like to quit her full time engineering job to start a climbing coaching company.  Here's what we talked about: How she trained for her first 5.13c this year Outdoor vs Indoor climbing tactics and training Cognitive strategies to manage fear Movement patterns and strengths required for harder climbs Shoulder engagement on harder climbs Fewer points of contact on the wall How to practice and train all of these things

Robynne Murray is a climber who graciously offered to do a mindset coaching session with me on the podcast about her negative body image. Robynne feels like her body doesn’t fit in with the “typical” climber body type, so she often feels self conscious and ashamed. It affects her mood, her confidence, and her sense of belonging. In this session, her goal was to have some tools to use to start talking to herself differently about her body so she can stop feeling so ashamed and anxious about it. I coached her about her thoughts and emotions about the situation, and we did a lot of reframing, validating, and reassuring that she is indeed good enough just the way she is. We talked about why she feels this way (what happened as a child that triggered such intense feelings of shame), how she can speak to herself differently going forward, and ways she can communicate with her close community more productively about it so she’s not constantly seeking external validation. We also talked about society’s role in her feeling this way, and the choice she has in caring about what people may or may not think of her. This was one of my most favorite coaching sessions to date, honestly. If you struggle with low body image (I think I know one person who doesn’t), please listen to this. I’m confident you’ll hear something in this conversation that applies to you and you’ll be able to use some of the same insights and tools for yourself. Work with Me on Your Body Image If you want to work on this with me one-on-one, I’m accepting new mindset clients right now and I would be honored to help you feel more empowered and positive about your body. Or at the very least, must  more neutral about your body. Work with Me on Body Image

Jesse Grupper, a talented climber, shares his training regimen and positivity. Topics include injury recovery, balancing climbing with engineering, and advocating for change in the climbing community. He discusses mindset, training dynamics, and the importance of setting personal limits for success.

This is an actual coaching session done by Coach Matt Pincus with a climber named Kyle Smith, who has a full-time job and wants to send his first 5.13a (7c+). Matt asks him a bunch of questions about his schedule, goals, weaknesses, injuries, and helps Kyle make a plan to get him to his goal. Regardless of where you’re at in your own climbing, listening to this coaching session will give you insights into the questions you need to be asking yourself about your own life, goals, and climbing in order to make a plan for yourself. If you want help with all of that and you’d like Matt to coach you through it, he’s taking new clients right now and you can find more info about his services below. WORK WITH MATT AS YOUR COACH

Bronwyn Hodgins is a 31-year-old Squamish-based professional climber and climbing guide whose main focus until recently was big wall and crack climbing. In 2022 she sent Necronomicon (5.13d/14a), which is one of the hardest roof cracks in the world. Before that send, she had climbed up to 5.13d sport and 5.13c trad. In the summer of 2022, Hodgins and a team (including her husband, Jacob Cook) made a film about an expedition where they spent 65 days putting up many first ascents in Greenland, traveling between climbs via sea kayak. In fact, she’s made a lot of films and you can find them all here. Needless to say, she is an accomplished, well-rounded climber and adventurer and I have a lot of respect for that. When I read about her recent ascent of La Rubia (5.14c / 8c+) in Villanueva del Rosario, Spain, I was intrigued. How did a big waller who’d climbed just one 5.14a sport route sent a long, burly 14c in Spain? So I asked her to be on the show to talk about her training and preparation for the route. Turns out it’s a great story and she has a lot of wisdom to offer us. Bronwyn Hodgins Interview Details Her climbing story – how she became a pro climber Big wall experience Crack climbing training How she got shut down hard on La Rubia and then trained for a year to send it Visualization on projects Managing fear of falling The festival for women and gender expansive people she’s putting on in July How running mid distance for so long prepared her for route climbing Bonus Content on Patreon redpointing tactics on outdoor routes her diet what her lifestyle and finances are like as a pro climber sexism in climbing and guiding Support the show and get all of the bonus episodes plus nutrition and mindset training at www.patreon.com/trainingbeta    

This is a replay of an episode that originally aired in January, 2023. 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! Show Links Get the 5.12 Breakthrough Series AND the Steep Climbing Workshop for 30% Off Work with Alex as your coach Have questions? Email alex@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com