The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

In the episode, Coach Matt Pincus talks about the different kinds of “endurance” in climbing, and how to train each of them. We go over the anaerobic lactic system (power endurance), the aerobic system (long-form endurance), and the anaerobic alactic system (power) and the differences between them. Then Matt goes through some different training methods for each and how to incorporate those into your training program. I also selfishly ask Matt about what I’m doing to train endurance to get his opinions on it, which was super helpful for me.   Show Links Do an hour coaching session with Matt Work with Matt as your coach Do Matt’s Bouldering Training Program Have topics you want us to cover? Email matt@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com

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

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

Free Masterclass on the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Training and Climbing Next Tuesday we’re doing a free, live masterclass on zoom to talk about the 5 most common training and nutrition mistakes climbers make and how to avoid them. When: Tuesday, July 26th at 6-7:30pm Mountain Time Where: Zoom call Hosts: Alex Stiger and Neely Quinn What: 60-minute presentation and 30 minutes of Q&A from live audience: How to avoid common training mistakes How to avoid common nutrition mistakes How to make your outdoor climbing experiences more fun and productive Efficient training and nutrition methods *Masterclass will be recorded for anyone who can not make it to the live event. ​>>>Sign up for the Free Masterclass Here     TBP 208 :: Alex and Neely’s Biggest Nutrition and Training Mistakes In this episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about our own biggest mistakes in climbing, whether they’re about training, climbing tactics, or nutrition. We both picked about 6 things that stuck out in our minds as WRONG, and we talked about what we’d do differently if we could and what people can do to avoid our own mistakes. We both talk about pretty vulnerable personal eating habits we’ve overcome that did not help our climbing. But we also talk about various forms of overtraining, undertraining, being stuck in our ways, getting injured from too much training, and lots of other stuff. This episode is sort of a preamble to our free masterclass on Tuesday, July 26th about the most common nutrition and training mistakes we see our clients making. You can sign up for that free event here.   Show Links Our upcoming free masterclass on the biggest mistakes our clients make Our upcoming 4-week joint nutrition and training program called Reach Have questions? Email alex@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com

Allison Vest is a 27-year-old climber who lives in Salt Lake City. She’s originally from Minnesota and moved to Canada when she was 7, where she fell in love with climbing. She had a lot of success competing as a Canadian, winning the Canadian Bouldering Nationals in 2018 and 2020 and winning Canadian Lead Nationals in 2019. In August 2019, Allison became the first female Canadian climber to send V13 when she did The Terminator in Squamish, which you can watch a video about here. She’s since done 4 more V13’s. This February, she became the first female Canadian climber to send V14 when she did Show Your Scars in Ogden, Utah. She’s known for her hilarious antics on Instagram, but also for her huge ape index (+7), which at 5’6″ makes her reach the same as a 6’1″ person. Allison was recently featured on Tyler Nelson’s Instagram (@c4hp) because Tyler tested her one-arm strength and her finger strength and said, “If I didn’t see it myself, I’d have trouble believing it.” Basically, she’s the strongest person (not just female) he’s ever tested, and he was completely blown away by that. She’s kind of an anomaly, and she talks about how she’s gotten so strong in this episode. She wasn’t always that way. Last year she decided to take a break from competition climbing to focus on climbing outside, so I wanted to talk with her about why she’s taking that break, how that transition has been, whether she misses comp climbing, and what the differences are in her training and performance tactics between outside and indoor climbing. She’s also been vocal on social media recently about body image insecurities, and I thought it was incredibly brave of her to come out with this post on Instagram. She started it with, “I always worried that I didn’t look enough like a fitness model to be a professional athlete, and have been self conscious of the fact that I don’t have a resting six pack.” We talked about that and the response she’s gotten to her vulnerability online. We also talked about eating disorders among competition climbers and what, if any, responsibility the IFSC or other climbing organizations have in helping climbers or disqualifying them from competitions. We talked about so much… wow. I also got to ask her about her mindset in competition climbing vs outdoor climbing and how she deals with being a person who wears her heart on her sleeve (I can relate). I loved this talk – I’m a huge fan of Allison’s and I was grateful for the chance to get to know her a bit. I hope you love it too :)    Allison Vest Interview Details Why she’s taking a break from comp climbing and how it’s going What she thinks about FFA’s What she’s had to learn in transitioning to outdoor climbing How the gymnastic style of comp climbing translates to outdoor bouldering Mental differences between comps and outdoor projects What her coach taught her about spiraling mentally What sets her apart physically and mentally from other climbers Her thoughts on her physical strength feats Body image issues and how she’s successfully dealing   Show Links Instagram @allisonvest Gripped Magazine’s Article about Allison Sign up for my new Nutrition and Climbing Training Program, Reach

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

Erin Ettenger is a 25-year-old software engineer who lives in Seattle, Washington. I asked Erin to be on the show because she uses our Route Climbing Training Program and has had some amazing success on it, so I wanted her to share her story with you all.  Through using the program (and adapting it intelligently to her own needs), she gained work capacity, meaning she can now climb more routes in a session, and she improved her overall strength levels.  She went from mega-projecting 5.11a to regularly warming up on 5.11a's in a relatively short time. She'll tell you all about what she liked about the program, what was hard, and how all of this has translated to her outdoor climbing. 

In the episode, Coach Matt Pincus talks about how he trained all winter/spring for his 5.14b project in Wyoming this summer and some mistakes he made along the way. While Matt is a seasoned coach and climber, he was under some various constraints that made training challenging this year. One of those constraints was that Matt was working at a restaurant and coaching for a total of about 70 hours per week, so his plan needed to be efficient. The other is that he only had a board to climb on the entire time, and not that much other equipment. He made some mistakes along the way and suffered some consequences, and he’ll tell you all about what he learned in this episode. I think anyone listening to this episode will learn a few things about proper training tactics, whether you have similar constraints or not.   Episode Details What he did (and is doing) to train for his 5.14b project this summer What went wrong How he fit training in to 70+ hour work weeks Injuries/inflammation that occured How he’s dealing with those consequences now What he would’ve done differently What he learned as a coach from his own mistakes     Show Links Do an hour coaching session with Matt Work with Matt as your coach Do Matt’s Bouldering Training Program Have topics you want us to cover? Email matt@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com   Train with Matt Coach Matt Pincus provides training plans to climbers of all levels from anywhere in the world. If you need help with your climbing strength, power, mental game, skills, or tactics, Matt can help you. He will sit down with you over zoom to find out your goals, your available equipment, and time restrictions and then create a month-long plan for you on the True Coach app. You’ll have access to Matt via email and the app for however long you work with him. He also offers one-hour consultations if you just want a few questions answered or to help you build your own training program. Find out more at the link below. TRAIN WITH MATT   Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world.

Katie Lamb is a 24-year-old boulderer out of the Bay area who has proven her abilities over and over with consistent sends of V14 boulders. Included in her resumé are The Swarm (V13/14) in Bishop, New Base Line (V14) in Magic Wood in Switzerland, Jade (V14) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Direct North (V14) in Bishop, and so many more. She’s a Stanford graduate and works half time as a data scientist focused on clean energy, but her main priority is climbing. She’s surprisingly not sponsored, and I asked her why that is and if she would be a full-time climber instead of working as a data scientist. I also asked Katie about what sets her apart from other climbers–what makes her sooo good at bouldering. She started climbing at a really young age just outside of Boston on a youth team that emphasized the importance of outdoor climbing. She’s taken those values to heart and hasn’t competed indoors for a long time, preferring to spend all of her time outside on hard projects. One of the reasons I asked Katie to be on the show is that I heard about her willingness to rest a lot when she’s projecting. I really appreciated that coming from such a strong climber, as most super strong climbers I know do not rest more than 1 or 2 days at a time, ever. Katie tells us all about her mindset in climbing, her training program she just started (and whether it’s helping her), and how she’s prepping for her summer Rocklands trip. I really enjoyed talking with Katie, and I found myself mulling over some things she’d said for weeks after we talked. She’s wise beyond her years and takes this sport very seriously – I hope you enjoy!     Katie Lamb Interview Details How she developed as a climber Why she goes after aesthetic, historic lines Why she’s not just a sponsored climber Why THINKING about climbing a lot helps her send Why she only climbed every 5 days while trying The Swarm Whether or not she’d be happy just climbing and not working How many is too many tries on a boulder – when she gives up What sets her apart from other climbers Her new strength program from Natasha Barnes Why she regressed on her project recently   Show Links Instagram @ktlambies Climbing Magazine article about Katie Work on your nutrition with me   Photo Credit Photo of Katie on The Penrose Step (V14) in Leavenworth, Washington by @keenantakahashi   Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world.

In this episode, Tyler explains the most common youth finger injuries, what ages are at highest risk, how to mitigate them, and what to do if a youth climber has a finger injury. Once again, Tyler pored over the research and is sharing this information with us so that youth coaches and parents are better equipped to understand these injuries and avoid permanent damage to their kids. Tyler Nelson has a lot of qualifications, so I’m going to let his website sum those up for you: Tyler is a second generation chiropractor whose father was a leader in chiropractic sports medicine for many years. In graduate school he did a dual doctorate and masters degree program in exercise science with an emphasis on tendon loading. He completed his masters degree at BYU and was a physician for the athletics department for 4 years out of school. He currently is the owner of Camp4 Human Performance where he treats clients through his license as a chiropractic physician. He also is an instructor for the Performance Climbing Coach seminar series and a certified instructor for gobstrong. When he’s not working he’s climbing or hiking outside with his family.   You can find Tyler in Salt Lake City at his clinic, Camp 4 Human Performance, where he tests athletes, creates training programs, and treats all kinds of athletes for injuries. Other Episodes with Tyler TBP 168: New Insights on Finger Training TBP 162: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Endurance Training for Fingers TBP 155: Dr. Tyler Nelson on High Volume Power Training TBP 149: The Different Roles of Stretching for Climbing TBP 133: The Simplest Finger Training Protocol with Dr. Tyler Nelson TBP 084: Injury Rehab and Blood Flow Restriction Training TBP 098: Isometric Movements to Prime and Test Your Body TBP 108: Bood Flow Restriction for Injury Healing and Performance TBP 118: Latest Technology for Finger Training and Performance Testing TBP 128: Surprising Methods for Healing Tendon Injuries TBP 186 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson’s New Injury Prevention and Warm-Up Protocol     Tyler Nelson Interview Details What the most common youth injuries are Why youth injuries can be confusing Most common age to get injured Risk factors for youth injuries How to properly diagnose A2 pulley vs. stress response injury Who to see about these injuries How to mitigate risk factors What it means to “spin your wheels” on the wall   Tyler Nelson Links Climbing Wall Association Summit where Tyler will be presenting Personal website: camp4humanperformance.com Take an online class with Tyler: camp4humanperformance.com/store Do a consultation with Tyler Instagram: @c4hp Facebook: @camp4chiropractic Learn More from Tyler: If you want to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson on an individual basis for injuries or strength training, he offers remote consultations to people all over the world. He also teaches online classes on strength training and injuries. Learn more.   Training Programs for You Do you want a well-laid-out, easy-to-follow training program that will get you stronger quickly? Here’s what we have to offer on TrainingBeta. Something for everyone… At-Home Training Program: trainingbeta.com/covid Personal Training Online:  www.trainingbeta.com/coaching For Boulderers: Bouldering Training Program for boulderers of all abilities For Route Climbers: Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities Finger Strength : www.trainingbeta.com/fingers All of our training programs: Training Programs Page     Please Review The Podcast on iTunes Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world.