The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

How to Use A Heart Rate Monitor for Training and How to Increase Your Lactic Acid Threshold This week, in our eighth mini episode of Ask Kris, we talked about two related topics: lactic acid thresholds and heart rate monitor training. Lactic acid is basically the stuff that builds up in your body to make you feel "pumped", and it comes partially from having a high heart rate during activity.  In terms of lactic acid, we talk about: how you can increase your lactic acid threshold how a climber might test their lactic acid threshold just like runners do what to do with that information and how to decrease the lactic acid build-up while you're climbing  One of the big ways to decrease lactic acid build-up while you're climbing is to decrease your heart rate while you're climbing, and one way to train that is with a heart rate monitor. Regarding training with a heart rate monitor, we talk about: how to train with a heart rate monitor at what level of your max heart rate you should be training what kinds of workouts you can do to train at difference percentages of your max how monitoring your heart rate helps you avoid overtraining This was one of my favorite talks with Kris because it's one of the few training tactics in climbing that are completely numbers-based and easily tracked and monitored. I hope you get something out of this one! I'm looking into getting a heart rate monitor right now myself... Want Help With Your Training? If you want 3 complete workouts every week to get you stronger and help you stay injury free, check out our most popular training programs written by Kris Peters. Bouldering Training Program   Route Training Program 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 ;)  

About Lynn Hill This is an interview with Lynn Hill, who's arguably the most famous climber of all time. She was the first person to free the Nose on El Cap (5.14-), the first woman to climb 5.14a, the first woman to onsight 5.13b, and she was a fierce competitor. She has over 30+ international titles and claimed 5 victories at the Arco Rock Master. More than once, she was the only person - man or woman - to do a route at a comp.   These days, she's a mother and an entrepreneur, and has settled down a bit. We talked about how she used to train for projects, what it was like back in the day, and the inequalities between women and men in the sport.  More About Our Talk How she trained for the Nose and other climbs The significance of FFA's Whether men and women should compete on the same routes at comps Her weight lifting records How to overcome fear and be bold like Lynn Motherhood and how it changed her climbing Lynn Hill Links Lynn's website: www.lynnhillclimbing.com Lynn's Instagram: @_linacolina_ Lynn on David Letterman (Video) Lynn on the Nose (Video) Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

Are You Overtraining? This week, in our seventh mini episode of Ask Kris, we talked about the signs and symptoms of overtraining, and how much rest people really need.  Here's what we talked about: What overtraining looks like How long you should feel tired after starting a training program The emotional effects of training and overtraining Sugar cravings, hunger, and overtraining Kris's Programs Have Rest Built In To Them All of the programs that Kris wrote for trainingbeta.com have rest built into every 6-week cycle so that you don't and overtrain. He knows all too well that not resting enough creates injuries, exhaustion, and burnout. In each 6-week cycle, you actually do 5 weeks of training and 1 week of active resting (meaning, you don't take the entire week off if you don't want to - you just don't train hard during that time). If you want 3 complete workouts every week to get you stronger and help you stay injury free, check out our bouldering training program or our route training program. More about Kris Train with Kris one-on-one or online  Train bouldering or route climbing using one of Kris's programs on TrainingBeta Kris's 6-Week Power Endurance Program 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 ;)  

About Ryan Vachon This is an interview with Ryan Vachon, a 43-year-old who won the Ouray Mixed Climbing Competition this year (2016) and sent Saphira, M15- shortly afterward. As a full-time climate scientist at his company, Earth Inititiatives, he has a lot on his plate. He's the ultimate weekend warrior, and he puts in long hours of training most weeks in order to stay super fit.  Ryan is a Rab athlete, and we recently teamed up with Rab to get you a 20% discount on their stuff. Get the discount here.  More About Our Talk What is mixed climbing and where do we draw the line between mixed and sport? Work/life balance His intense 30-minute sessions Exactly how he trains How his vegetarian diet affects his climbing Why the M Scale is "weird" Ryan Vachon Links Ryan's work website: earth-initiatives.org Ryan's Instagram: @nerd_in_nature A recap of Ouray with footage of Ryan winning this year (Video) Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

Improving Overall Fitness for Climbing This week, in our sixth mini episode of Ask Kris, we talked about how to improve overall fitness for climbing. I was actually a little bit confused about what "fitness" really meant, and Kris helped me understand what it is and how to gain more of it.  Here's what we talked about: What fitness actually is Specific workouts you should do to train fitness How I should train for my long-ass route project Who needs fitness?  How a workout that has no climbing in it can improve your climbing fitness Train Your Fitness with Kris's Programs All of the programs that Kris wrote for trainingbeta.com have a focus on overall fitness. He's a big advocate for creating great all-around athletes because he believes that strong people make strong climbers.  If you want 3 complete workouts every week to get you stronger and help you stay injury free, check out our bouldering training program or our route training program. More about Kris Train with Kris one-on-one or online  Train bouldering or route climbing using one of Kris's programs on TrainingBeta Kris's 6-Week Power Endurance Program   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 ;)  

About Aaron Mulkey This is an interview with Aaron Mulkey, the 39-year-old who was dubbed the "Patriarch of Cody Ice" for his 100+ first ascents in the Wyoming area. We dig in to what motivates him to find new routes and climb so hard, all while maintaining a full-time high-stress job and helping to raise two teenagers.  He's been training his butt off and divulges all the details about his daily, monthly, and yearly cycles of training so he can stay strong all year.  More About Our Talk Ice climbing training and how it ties in with climbing and kayaking training How his tenacity and stubbornness help him succeed How he trains fitness for all-day climbing Training with Connie at the Alpine Training Center How he maintains a full-time job and still finds time to climb Aaron Mulkey Links Aaron's website: www.coldfear.com Aaron's Instagram: @coldfear Aaron climbing ice in Norway (Video) Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

Improving Core Strength for Climbing This week, in our fifth mini episode of Ask Kris, we talked about how to improve core strength for climbing. Having just spent last week in Rifle on my project, I realized that I need to gain a lot of core strength myself, so I loved this episode.  Here's what we talked about: What our "core" actually is What exercises you should do to train core strength How I should train for my core-intensive kneebar crux Why we don't train core with low reps/high weights How to train your lower back to avoid injury Train Your Core with Kris's Programs All of the programs that Kris wrote for trainingbeta.com have a focus on core stability and strength. If you want 3 complete workouts every week to get you stronger and help you stay injury free, check out our bouldering training program or our route training program. More about Kris Train with Kris one-on-one or online  Train bouldering or route climbing using one of Kris's programs on TrainingBeta Kris's 6-Week Power Endurance Program Freebie Core Workout Do all of the exercises below without stopping, except for the noted rest times.  TRX Pikes (Video): Reps: 25 Rest: 10 seconds TRX Saws (Video): Reps: 25  Rest: 10 seconds AB Hip Raises (Video): 25 reps  Rest: 10 seconds TRX Planks (Video): 1 minute Sets: 2-4 Rest: 1-2 minutes between sets Toes to bar Reps: 15 Sets: 4 Rest: 1 minute between sets Ab Roller Reps: 20 Sets: 4 Rest: 45 seconds between sets V-Ups (Video) 25 v-ups Sets: 4 Rest: 90 seconds between sets All done - nice work!  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 ;)    

About Mathilde Becerra This is an interview with 25 year-old Mathilde Becerra, who's on the French National Climbing team. In 2015, Mathilde ended up in the top 10 overall in lead climbing, and even though she doesn't have much time for outdoor climbing, she has climbed up to 5.14a and V11 outside. You may have heard Mathilde's name in my last interview with Sean McColl because she's his long-time girlfriend. I thought it'd be really interesting to hear from a European lady crusher. She started climbing when she was a kid, and excelled very quickly. In this interview, we talked about what it's like being on the French team (as opposed to the US or Canadian team), how she makes it work financially as a full-time pro climber, and how she trains physically and mentally to perform so well at comps. More About Our Talk What her training cycles look like How she trains for route climbing and bouldering Aerobic conditioning How she trains to be more dynamic as a short climber Her strong opinions on bodyweight and climbing performance Her diet Mathilde Becerra Links Mathilde's website: www.mathildebecerra.com Mathilde on Facebook Mathilde's Instagram: @mathilde_becerra Mathilde in Bishop in 2015 (Video) Training Programs for You Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities. Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.  

Shoulder Care for ClimbersThis week, in our fourth mini episode of Ask Kris,wedecided to talk about shoulders - one of my favorite topics.Alot of climbers have shoulder issues, and we discuss how toavoidinjuries and how to prevent them.  Most common shoulder issues for climbers When to see a doctor What exercises you should do for injury prevention What exercises you should avoid when you have an injury More about Neely's experience with shoulder surgery Train Your Shoulders with Kris's ProgramsAll of the programs that Kris wrote fortrainingbeta.comhave a focus on shoulder stability, strength, andinjuryprevention. If you want 3 complete workouts every weektoget you stronger and help you stay injury free, check outourboulderingtraining program or our routetrainingprogram.  More about Kris TrainwithKris one-on-one or online  Train bouldering or routeclimbing usingone of Kris's programs on TrainingBeta Kris's 6-Week Power Endurance Program Please Review The Podcast on iTunes!Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE. Please give the podcast an honest reviewoniTunes here to help the show reach morecuriousclimbers around the world ;)

About Sean McColl This is an interview with 28 year-old Sean McColl, a well-known Canadian climber who's accomplished amazing things both outdoors and in competitions.  I can't describe his amazing accomplishments better than he does on his website, so here's an excerpt...  "Sean was the Canadian Youth Champion in his age group ever year from 1999-2005 having won every National Championships he attended. During his youth career, Sean claimed 5 world titles; since no other youth competitor has won more titles; this achievement is unsurpassed in youth climbing history to this day." "Since Sean started competing on the World Cup circuit, he has won 4 events (2 in bouldering, 2 in lead) and been on the podium another 23 times. Sean has won the Overall CombinedRankings and has been 2rd and 3rd in the Lead and Boulder Overall rankings respectively." "As an outdoor climber, Sean has onsighted 5.14a (8b+) and climbed multiple 5.14d’s (9a). On the bouldering side, Sean is one of a dozen climbers in the world to flash the grade of V13 (8B) and redpoint V15 (8C)." He seems to only be getting stronger as he gets older. In March of this year (2016), he won the Rab CWIF, a big competition in Sheffield, England, where he beat out Ty Landman, Jimmy Webb, and Jorg Verhoeven (video). He spends most of his year training for competitions, and only sometimes makes it outside to climb on real rock.  Whew! Sean is a badass. We've all seen videos of his crazy training (here he is on the campus board), but I wanted to find out more details about how he trains.  What We Talked About How he trained as a kid What his training cycles look like Training for bouldering vs route climbing Campus board, fingerboard, climbing drills His schedule His diet Sean McColl Links Sean's website: www.seanmccoll.com Sean on Facebook Sean's Instagram: @mccollsean Sean on Dreamcatcher (14d in Squamish) (Video)