Lattice Training Podcast

On a rare occasion, you get a climber who has climbed impressive grades, but their performance metrics put them on weaker grades. Typically this means that the climber has something special or elite about another facet of their performance, away from pure physiology. And what better way to understand this better than for Tom Randall to sit down with Martin Keller, who is also known as 'SwizzyBouldering', to talk about how he approaches his projecting and has become one of these rare cases.Today's podcast will be about all things projecting, and how strategy, mindset, and technical preparation to deal with the exact physical demands of the rock can help you send harder!We hope you enjoy it, and remember to keep an eye out for part 2.Main topics:Deciding on a projectHow early do you visit a project and try the moves?What is your strategy for breaking it down?Do you use certain tools that others don’t? Fans, ladder, rope?What’s important for mindset in projecting?The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today's podcast,  Tom Randall sits down with one of Australia's most accomplished rock climbers, Tom O'Halloran. Having competed in the recent Tokyo Olympic games, bouldered up to V14, and also sport climbed 9a, this guest is a world class disciplined climber with a lot to share. In addition to his impressive climbing career, Tom has a family and a day job, so he has learnt a lot of valuable time managing skills in order to keep pushing his climbing to the limit. All of this will be discussed in today's podcast, but if you are keen to see more of Tom O'Halloran, then do check out his YouTube channel (link below), where he goes behind the scenes and mindset of climbing performance.  The main topics for today are:Australia's Climbing sceneSport climbing for BoulderersBouldering for Sport climbersClimbing grade progressionJuggling Sport vs Route climbing and training plan periodisationProjecting at your limitTom O’Halloran’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmMVI9Gf_VbPx_L9_6wrvpA?app=desktop The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Today we have another returning guest having previously chatted on the show, with her partner in crime Kyra Condie. Who is both accomplished in indoor competitions as well as in outdoor climbing, having climbed up to V14! Please welcome back to the show .... Allison Vest!Allison first came to the attention of us at Lattice through a piece of data funnily enough. Quite some time ago, Tom Randall was compiling a list of the greatest finger strength levels ever measured in female athletes and Allison was right at the top.Naturally, he wanted to dig into the information a bit further as the numbers were pretty outrageous! Over the last few years, Allison has risen to the position of one of the most accomplished outdoor boulderers in the world having climbed up to V14, which is also on top of a track record of multiple competition podiums for indoor competition climbing. On top of this, she’s someone who has a prolific social media presence, seamlessly connecting between content that’s both light-hearted and serious, but always with such an accessible style. We wanted to get her back on the podcast to talk about all things performance, training and bouldering focused. Tune in to hear all about:Her transition from coached to self-coached climbingHow she manages training vs performingHer thoughts on restingHow she trains on a fingerboardWhat her ‘personal bests’ or scores on a fingerboard areTesting with Camp4 Human PerformanceWorking ‘strengths’ vs working ‘weaknesses’ in climbingHer personal warning signs for when to not strength trainHow to access the ‘top end’ in boulderingHow she deals with the ‘a Muerte’ attitude towards training and performanceThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode, we have one of the Lattice athlete team, Anna Hazelnutt, returning to the podcast with Tom Randall to discuss her incredible run of climbing performance since last year. We last interviewed her, with just a few trad leads under her belt and her first 5.14 sport climb. Since then, she’s gone on to repeat two of the most iconic E9s in the UK - ‘Once Upon A Time In The Southwest’ and also ‘Walk of Life’ in a remarkable trajectory of grade.We talk to Anna about why she originally chose to try Once Upon A Time In The Southwest, how she justified attempting an E9 with almost no trad experience and her methods for controlling fear and anxiety in stressful situations. She also shares with us her strategies for breaking down projects, all the way from the start to the middle ‘messy’ region and finally the ‘end’ where an attempt is imminent. Finally, Anna talks through how she’s specifically dealt with the 2 current season projects (Walk of Life and The Quarryman) and her ‘book chapter’ approach for breaking down long and hard routes that take multiple sessions. Tom also discusses the ‘uncertainty bucket’ concept and how this relates to his own climbing and those projects he’s shared with Anna as a climbing partner this past year. Topics covered:Anna’s background in highball climbing and sport climbingHer first trip to the UK and how an E9 was chosenThe process of projecting Once Upon A Time In The SouthwestHow she controls her fear and anxiety on leadAnna’s ‘book chapter’ method for visualising and breaking down projectsHow her current projects have gone and what she’s learntThe ‘uncertainty bucket’ conceptHer plans for the futureThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

For today's podcast, Tom Randall sits down with Molly Mitchel,  a pro climber with a very unique story. Having come out of a climbing gym, she is now a rising star in the trad community. Who seemingly quickly decided to get into hard and very bold trad, having done accents in Colorado mountains, including China Doll, a super techy 5.14 climb.With more danger inevitably comes more risk and Molly sadly broke her back on her project "Crank It" 5.13+. Having fractured L2 and L3 vertebrae, getting back climbing can be a daunting and lengthy process. However, this really didn't stop her, and in 2021 Molly reached out to Lattice to get some coaching for overcoming her physical and mental trauma in order to finally send this route!So sit down and enjoy this coach-to-athlete interview as Tom and Molly discuss the work they put together in order for her to revisit the scene of her accident and conquer her demons.Topics covered:Molly's indoor climbing journeyHer first Trad climbing experiencesThe mental game needed for bold climbingHow her accident impacted her approach to climbingSetting goals to work on mental trauma, and commuting to themWhat Molly learned from the whole processFinal stages of projecting, including mental state control and confidenceThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Have you ever wondered about extreme margins of performance, well today's podcast is the right one for you! Dominic Rowe, a client of Lattice, just got his first 8a / V11 under  2 years, and we couldn't be prouder. His amazing progress in an insanely small amount of time just blows our minds, so we had to have him come in and talk about it all. Training and hard work are all part of the equation, but what really gets climbers to accomplish such hard grades so early on? Well, Tom Randall sits down with Dominic to talk about tactics, hard work, and the passion behind his journey. So grab yourself a pair of headphones and get training with the motivational story behind this speedy progression!Main episode topics:Dom's Boxing and athletic backgroundTransferable skillsWhat he learnt from his professional elite climber friendsHow he projects like a professional climberHis view on mindset and performance for growth and progressWhy climbing makes him so happyThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today's Lattice podcast, we bring you Moonboard Royalty, the one and only, Mr Ravioli Biceps! Most of you probably already know him for his impressive and focused Moonboard achievements over on his Instagram. Ravioli has completed 413 of the benchmarks Moonboard 2016 set up, and most of the 2019 set up, placing him among the elite. Ravioli also has his fair share of outdoor ticks, with grades up to V14, so he is definitely very capable in both formats of bouldering.We will be keeping Ravioli's anonymity, but don't worry as there is much more to Ravioli than his nickname. So sit down, or if you're training, prepare your headphones, because we will learn all about this veteran of system boarding and what his approach to projecting is like.Topics covered:Why the name RavioliBicepts?When did his focus on MoonBoarding start?What Ravioli's warm-up and projecting looks likeDoes he go back to old projects?What he has gained from being so focused Common MoonBoard misconceptions Ravioli's very strong sense of community and how it links to his MoonBoarding JourneyThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Are you obsessed with fingerboarding? Well, grab a seat and listen up as we delve into the world of beastmaking! In this episode Tom sat down with one of the founders of Beastmaker, Dan Varian, a fingerboarding expert. As you probably know Dan is no stranger to training and also has multiple FAs, repeats of v14s and hard trad routes, to name a few of his climbing achievements. It's tricky to know where to start in interviewing Dan, as alongide an impressive ticklist and running a successful business, Dan also manages to juggle family life as a loving husband and father. So this episode is not just for climbers trying to reach the next level in their own climbing, but also for those who manage a busy working and family life!Topics covered:Why Dan first started fingerboarding.How Beastmaker came to be.What does his training look like.What his approach is to finding new FAs.How he juggles Work, family and getting outdoors.How impactful ageing and becoming a parent is for him.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to achieve your climbing goals? Some people would argue you need the right facilities, equipment, time, low work stress and perhaps professional support to reach such high climbing grades, however, some individuals have proven that this is not necessarily true. Regardless of your personal approach, training for your goals is a process. In speaking to high-level climbers and athletes, we can always learn another side to the coin, and perhaps find tactics to deploy into our own training.   So, this is exactly what Andre Neres and Tom Randall are talking about today. Andre is a climber from Portugal who managed to climb 9a before the first commercial gym was even open in his home country while juggling busy family life and the all so common 9-5 working week!  Part of his success can be narrowed down to travelling as much as possible to famous crags, in order to learn from some of the best climbers out there. As such, Andre has acquired years' worth of knowledge, so this podcast is definitely not one to miss.  Topics covered:Why Andre started climbing.His mindset and training structure.What the climbing scene is like, in Portugal.Advice and experience gained from his climbing trips. Future Climbing Goals.For Andre's famous R9ad video, go to the following link: https://vimeo.com/80941121The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

On this episode we have guest host Lattice coach Josh Hadley with Tom Merrick - who you may well know from YouTube! Tom has an amazing 8-year fitness journey in callisthenics and flexibility and is not only a great inspiration online with all of his drills and training, but is also a coach and specialist in bodyweight skills.  This kind of training and sport not only provides great strength and flexibility, but also control of your body and movement, which can be hugely transferable in climbing, whilst breaking away from traditional forms of training.  In this episode we cover:How Tom became a Coach and AthleteBiggest flexibility mistakesTips for breaking the struggling cycle and making progressHow much flexibility do we actually needRisks associated with flexibilityOne-arm pull-ups and front leversThe Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.