The Testpiece Podcast

AJ has been competing at the highest level for decades. She has won multiple Bouldering World Cups and she climbs just as hard outdoors with her iconic send of The Swarm (v13/14) in Bishop which was recently featured in Reel Rock.AJ also coaches some of the top up and coming Youth Athletes (one of her athletes recently won Nationals), through her business Delphi Climbing.In this podcast AJ gives tons of tips on how to perform your best and the drills she runs her athletes through. She also shares her struggles of returning to competing after a major injury and how she got over the hurdle of competing again.Support the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Drew Ruana is one of the strongest boulders in the world. Period. He over a hundred V14+ sends, and lots of then are V16. While some other climbers may have that amount of blocs under their belt, no one has accumulated this many in such a short time.Drew goes into his infamous “Send Colorado” journey, which is his goal to send all V14 and up boulders in CO (nearly 200!). He shares some of the ones that are left giving him trouble (e.g. Megatron, V17). And he goes into some finer points of grading, including the difference between V14 and V16.Drew also loves to share the knowledge he’s gained, and he’s doing so by writing books and even replying to questions on Reddit!Drew talks about the most common mistakes he sees in climbers, the common plateaus climbers face, and his biggest tip — Play the long game and work your weaknesses!SHOW NOTES:Drew’s YouTube ChannelSupport the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Felipe Camargo is one of the top climbers in our sport with sends up to 9b and V15. That’s impressive… But what’s more impressive is that he began climbing Brazil where there was no professional climbers, no routes past 8b+, and no modern training facilities.Felipe managed to send the iconic 50m 9a+ Papichulo by mainly training on a 3x3m spray wall at 85+ degrees! And even more incredible, is that he didn’t have other climbers of his caliber there to push him. He was the trail blazer.His story of going from unknown Brazilian kid to the first professional climber in South America is amazing and sounds almost like a fairy tale. But his hard work and passion is the real secret behind some of his “lucky” breaks.Over his career Felipe has gone on to establish Brazil’s first 8c, 8c+, 9a, and 9a+! You can see some of these in his latest film, a breakout hit, Tropical Lines. He also won the Netflix series Ultimate Beastmaster. He has taken his earnings and time and poured in back in the Brazilian community to help the next generation of climbers. To give them opportunities that he didn’t have. SHOW NOTES:El Bon Combat VideoTropical Lines VideoSupport the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Tim Kang is a frequent guest on the podcast, but now you get to hear him do a more typical interview.Tim is a professional climber and coach that has competed at the World Cup level, won a Psicobloc competition, climbed v14 and 5.14d, but he is best known for his daring sends of the wildest highballs in Bishop which culminated in the popular film Focus.Tune in to hear Tim’s arc as a climber, from his early days when he struggled to keep up with everyone else, to his success in high pressure competitions and on death defying hard boulders.SHOW NOTES:FocusTim’s Best Day podcastTim’s ClassroomTestpiece ShirtsSupport the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

 Greg Loh was one of the strongest boulders in the world during the mid 90’s and early 00’s. He traveled all over the world putting up FA’s of V13+ and climbing with the best. He competed in WC’s, the X-Games, and even won Nationals twice for speed climbing.  He is known for being one of the first people who truly embraced bouldering as a discipline in itself. This is back when bouldering was extra dangerous due to the lack of pads and Greg has 9 broken ankles to prove it! This also lead him to be known as perhaps the world’s best spotter, a job he took extremely seriously and caused at least 1 of those ankle breaks!  Greg also brought an aggression and intensity into climbing that hadn’t been seen before. His background in football and weightlifting, as well as larger than normal size, came out as an intense try hard that is now synonymous with hard climbing. Greg was the bouldering buddy you always wanted — strong enough to catch you on a big fall, committed enough to do so, and his infectious aggression brought out the intensity you needed to send.  SHOW NOTES: Greg on an easy lap of Midnight Lightning V8Peak Performance bookSupport the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Entitlement is the opposite of flow and perhaps the most damaging frame to have over the long term in your climbing. This can come from training, previous sends, or comp placement.Hear stories about Daniel Woods and other pro-climbers who have avoided this frame. And hear from Tim Kang and Josh Horsley about how they coach others and themselves to guard against it.SHOW NOTES:NEW!! Testpiece Pocket T-ShirtSUAV ShoesRhino Skin SolutionsSupport the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

We love board climbing. And if you do too, or even if you are just board curious, this episode it for you. The history of boards, board training, board ethics, board best practices, the future of boards. BOARDS!!This was a special in person recording in Colorado with part of the Tension Climbing crew (Will Anglin, Michael Rosato, and Quinn Spadafora). This episode was recorded the day after Josh and Tim did a YouTube video with Tension, “Comparing the Boards: Testpiece Comes to Tension”. You need to watch that video ASAP!! Tension and Testpiece also collaborated on a special giveaway. You can win a Testpiece T-Shirt and a Tension training tool of your choice by winning. BONUS — the Tension training tool will have the Testpiece logo on it as well! All you have to do is climb an amazing climbs on the TB2 and post them to Instagram, tagging @tensionclimbing and @testpiececlimbing. The climbs are: “Testpiece Mirror” @ 45 (both mirrored versions), on the mirrored layout of the 12x12 wall. “Testpiece Spray” @ 45 on the spray wall layout of the 12x12 wall.Or ANY of your favorite Classics on and TB2 layout. You must post in your comments why it’s your favorite to enter the raffle.Uncut footy only 😇SHOW NOTES:Tension and Testpiece YouTube VideoUndeniable Vibes Tension Shoe SprayEGODEATH Video Tension Board 2Mimic holdsBubble Wrap Project at CATS Josh’s Board Account (@thebarnboard)Support the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Dave Burleson is one of the top agents for professional climbers. He's part of Reppa Athlete Managment that represents athletes like Sean Bailey, Nathaniel Coleman, Nina Williams, Jesse Grupper… the list goes on, but all of them have been on the podcast so we put them here first! Before being an agent, Dave worked at the iconic brands Petzl and The North Face as an athlete coordinator / manager. So that means Dave has been on both sides of the table, representing brands who sponsor athletes and now representing the athletes themselves. Dave shares with us the REAL side of what it takes to be a pro, what pro’s actually earn, and the tips on how to become a professional climber.  He has also been involved in producing famous films like Alphane, Defying Gravity, and Tropical Lines. He’s been involved with too many to list, so we just picked some recent ones! If it has to do with TNF and Mellow, it’s a good guess that Dave had a hand in it. Support the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

 Episode #100!!!! Thank you all for the support. What a journey it’s been. This episode was an absolute banger that encapsulates a lot of the Testpiece message.  Tim and Josh break down the ‘Simple’ path that the best climbers follow to being great. And then they detail the appropriate role that strength plays in this path.  They also go over the latest news and cover the amazing media that has been dropping as well as a quick review of the Moonboard 2024 set by Tim.  SHOW NOTES: Janja on Bügeleisen sit (8C/V15)Retro Modern with Tim Kang Tropical Lines Patreon for Classrooms Steve Radar Moonboard Account Support the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE

Nina Williams pushes the limits in every discipline of climbing there is… comps, bouldering, highball bouldering, big wall, sport climbing, and even free soloing.In this episode she takes us through a harrowing experience she had while free soloing the Casual Route of the Diamond, a multi pitch 5.10. Nina ended up off route during the climb and thus onsight free soloing, 800 feet off the deck.Nina also shares what has propelled her to explore and master the different disciplines in climbing and what it means to be a long time professional in the climbing world. SHOW NOTES:Nina Williams InstagramBad Kitty PodcastToo Big To Flail, V10Splash of Red, V10Ray of Light, V13Support the showSupport us on Patreon: HEREVisit our podcast page: HERESign-up with one of our coaches: HEREFollow us on Instagram: HERE