The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 295: Climber & Doctor Katie O'Brien on Perimenopause: Hormone Replacement Therapy, Nutrition, Supplements

Dr. Katie O'Brien is a functional medicine doctor who specializes in perimenopause, and in this episode she goes into great detail about what perimenopause is and how to navigate it with hormones, supplements, nutrition, and lifestyle choices so you can continue climbing hard in your late 30's, 40's and beyond. 
This episode is not just for perimenopausal women! This is for everyone so that you, as a woman, can be sure you recognize signs and symptoms of perimenopause when they happen (and know what to do about them), and so that you, as a man, can help advocate for the women in your life. This is crucial for every woman's health and happiness. I hope you get a lot out of this conversation :)
Dr. Katie's new supplement FemmeMD - get 20% off with code friends20: https://shop.femme-md.com/

Neely Quinn on The Struggle Climbing Show Talking about Perfectionism in Climbing

Ryan Devlin invited Neely Quinn (the host of The TrainingBeta Podcast) to be on his podcast, The Struggle Climbing Show, to talk about perfectionism in climbing. Neely talks about common symptoms of perfectionism in climbers, how it can hold people back, and how it's actually kind of a super power. She also did some coaching on Ryan to help him enjoy climbing a little bit more, instead of being so intent on constantly achieving big things in his climbing. Ryan kindly shared this recording of the interview with Neely to share on this podcast, but it was originally published on The Struggle Climbing Show, which you should definitely check out. 

TBP 294 :: Nutrition Session with Climber for Sugar Cravings and Weight Gain

In this episode I did a full nutrition session with a climber, Katelin Hollowell who was struggling with intense sugar cravings and some weight gain. I treated this episode as I would any client session and asked her a bunch of questions about her goals, her lifestyle, her training, etc., and then I looked at her diet log on the MyFitnessPal app and gave her some concrete suggestions for what to do next. I then asked her for an update about three weeks after our initial conversation and I included that at the end of the episode. 
If you want to follow along with her diet log screensharing that I did during the episode, you can watch this episode on video on youtube. If you'd like to work with me on your nutrition, I'm currently taking new clients and would love to help you! 
 
I also mentioned in the podcast that I created another podcast! It's completely off the topic of climbing and it's called The Spelling Bee Podcast, where I quiz you on the spelling of 10 challenging words each week and teach you about the origins of the words. You can find it wherever you get your podcasts :) 
 

TBP 293: Sport Psychologist Kat Lumby Uses REBT to Deal with Fear in Climbing

Kat Lumby is a Sport and Exercise Psychologist in Training (SEPiT) out of Wales, UK who works with all kinds of athletes, especially climbers and surfers. She has been a climbing coach for many years and has been able to take her skills to the next level with her SEPiT education. In this episode she talks about the specific kind of therapy she uses with athletes to deal with fear (and other barriers to performance). It’s called Rational Emotion Behavioral Therapy (REBT), and she will literally take you through the “ABC’s” of this modality.
She also does a quick therapy session with me during the interview where we talk about my fear of falling. We come to some pretty great insights, which I’ve been using ever since in my climbing sessions. We also talk about some research she did on climbers and how you can put this kind of concrete thinking to use in your own climbing.
You can work with Kat Lumby as your coach or your sport psychologist at labyrinthclimbing.co.uk.

TBP 292: How 13 Elite Climbers Approach Rest Days

I recently received an email from someone asking for a podcast episode that talked about resting. They wanted to know how elite/pro level climbers spend their rest days, how often they rest when they’re projecting, when they’re training, and generally just how they think about rest. So I reached out to a bunch of elite climbers and got 13 responses to these three questions:
How many days a week do you rest when you’re projecting? What about when you’re in a training cycle?
What do you do on your rest days in terms of physical activity when you’re projecting? What about when you’re in a training cycle?
How old are you and how long have you been climbing?
They sent me emails or a voice memo and here’s who responded:
Emily Harrington
Alex Honnold
Lynn Hill
Hazel Findlay
Jonathan Siegrist
Bill Ramsey
Katie Lamb
Paige Claassen
Matt Pincus
Alex Stiger
Luke Parady
Sam Elias
Dusty Rasnick
In this episode I’ll give you a short bio of each of these climbers and then either read or play you the recording of their response. Hopefully you learn something from this episode, but mostly it’s just interesting to see how pro/elite climbers approach resting. Enjoy!
 

TBP 291 :: Alex’s Experience Being Coached by Roap for 6 Months

In this episode, Coach Alex Stiger talks about her experience being coached by Alex Puccio and Robin O’Leary (ROAP) for the past 6 months and what it’s done for her climbing. She started board climbing 2 grades harder and has improved her outdoor climbing experience as well because of the coaching she received. Alex strongly believes in the benefits of being coached and talks a little bit about being coached for the video game StarCraft as well.
She’s currently offering a 6-month coaching package for 15 new clients and she talks about what it’s like working with her at the end of the episode.
Episode Details
Why she wanted to be coached and why she chose ROAP
What worked for her
How their coaching style is different from hers
Why it made her try harder and be more consistent in her training
The thing that Puccio said to her that changed her climbing immediately
How her board climbing improved by 2 grades almost right away

TBP 290: How to Effectively Train with a Busy Schedule - Coach Collin McGee

Collin McGee (@liftsmcgee) is a personal trainer and coach at C4HP with Dr. Tyler Nelson. He is also a personal trainer and coach to athletes of all sports, ages, and abilities and he has a firm grasp on how to become a stronger, better athlete no matter what your objectives are. In this episode he breaks down the basics of training and how to get better at climbing even if you have a busy schedule. Here’s what he covers:
Assessment
Strength Training
Power Training
Endurance
Flexibility
Making a Plan

TBP 289: Climbing Training Success Story - How Doug Hartman Climbed His 1st 5.13a at 46

Doug Hartman is a 46-year-old ER doctor from Oakland, CA who is married with 2 kids. He’s a busy guy, but he figured out how to optimize his training and climbing in order to send his first 5.13a at the age of 46. He’s going to tell you the main things he learned from podcasts and coaches that helped him the most, and a little bit of advice about how to be a good spouse and parent, even when you’re a passionate climber. The two main things Doug changed about his climbing were:
Resting more
Following a non-linear vs linear training program
He wrote up an entire description of everything he changed and how he trains so you can peruse it for yourself.
>See Doug’s Training Plan 
Suggestions for Menopause/Perimenopause Guests
In the beginning of the episode I asked for suggestions for guests to talk about their personal experience with perimenopause/menopause and clinicians who work with people going through menopause/perimenopause. I want to educate climbers about this topic because it’s super important and impactful, and doctors are not doing a good enough job of educating us. Please email me at neely@trainingbeta.com with your suggestions! I’d prefer to have people on who are also climbers.
 

TBP 288: Climbing Training Success Story Using Nutrition and Weightlifting

This interview with Jeff Rotkoff is about how he used simple information from the TrainingBeta Podcast to improve his climbing. Jeff is a 46-year-old climber from Austin, Texas, who has a full-time job and 13-year-old twins. So he’s a busy guy. He started climbing seriously about 9 years ago and started making these changes a few years ago.
He learned one nutrition tip from me and one weightlifting tip from Matt from this podcast and was able to start climbing harder, doing more in his sessions, and feeling more resilient to injury. Listen up to hear exactly what he changed and how it affected his climbing. You can find Jeff on Instagram @rotkoff.

TBP 287: Trip Report and Lessons Learned from Matt’s Climbing Trip to Margalef

Coach Matt Pincus recently got back from a 7-week trip to Margalef, Spain, where he intended to get into projecting mode and climb 5.14. It turns out that the weather was rainy and he didn’t reach that goal, but he came away from the trip with some insights about his own climbing and some wisdom for the rest of us. Matt is taking a few new clients right now if you’re interested in working with him on your own climbing training. You can find his services here.
More Details:
What his intentions and goals were for the trip
What happened on his trip
How to go into a trip to have a good time even while climbing at your limit
What he learned from climbing with/near some of the world’s best climbers on this trip
Train with Coach Matt Pincus at Discounted Rate
Matt is taking 6 new clients for a 12-week stint with him at $260 per month instead of his normal $295 per month