The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 269: Ravioli Biceps on Moonboard Training and Mindset

Ravioli Biceps is one of the best Moonboard climbers in the world, so I was pretty excited to have him on the show. In 2021 he did all 280 (and counting) benchmarks on the 2016 Moonboard set, climbing up to V13. In total, he has sent 3500 problems on the 2016 board. Just take that in for a sec…
His Instagram feed is a beta encyclopedia–for Moonboard enthusiasts and fans alike–of his latest Moonboard ascents. He’s one of the people who are consulted when making the decision about whether a boulder should become a “benchmark” and he’s also a prolific setter himself.
And he does all of this while working long hours every week. So I wanted to talk to him about how he approaches the Moonboard, how he trains for it, his mindset around it, and whether the board is the goal or if he’s training for something outside (or both).
I received a lot of questions from our audience for Ravioli, and we had a fun time going through all of those at the end of this interview!
Here’s what we talked about:
Why he loves board climbing so much
The problem with the 2019 set
The feeling he gets from thousands of people doing his boulders
Hardest boulders he’s done on the Moonboard
How his board climbing translates to outdoor climbing
Thoughts on each of the boards
How often he climbs
How he trains
How he works climbing into his grueling work schedule
His positive mindset and how he maintains it
The book club he belongs to
Why he’s called Ravioli Biceps
His thoughts on height advantages on boards
Who should NOT be climbing on boards
Find bonus content with Ravioli about his diet, traveling to Moonboard, and his message to climbers everywhere on the TrainingBeta Podcast Patreon page. 

Mindset Mini: Why I Don't Toss Wobblers Anymore and How You Can Stop, Too

If you are a person who is maybe a little too intimately familiar with the term "wobbler," then this one is for you... 😉 This is the audio version of an article I wrote where I compare two similar climbs I did--a 5.13b in 2019 that I fully wobbled on, and a 5.13b I sent a few weeks ago that I fully enjoyed climbing on until then end.
I describe how I've evolved (slowly but surely) from wobbling through constant self-flagellation and shame... to enjoying pretty constant self-acknowledgment and fun in my climbing with the hope that you can get there, too.

TBP 268: From Overtraining to Discipline & Efficiency – Coach Charlie Schreiber

Charlie Schreiber is a climbing coach who runs Paradigm Climbing and works with all levels of athletes–including elite, competitive ones–from all over the world. He’s also a very strong boulderer, having sent up to V13 and continuously training to improve his own climbing.
In this interview, we talked about a range of topics, including how he used to overtrain and how his climbing and physical well-being improved when he learned to be more efficient with his training. This concept permeates the rest of our talk, as it guides him as a coach to do the best job possible.
Here’s what we talked about:
His experience as a youth coach
Overtraining vs. Disciplined Athlete
Training for an overhung crimpy boulder
Linear periodization vs logical progression
Case study of sport climbing’s 3-month training plan
How to know when you’re fully recovered
Why he has a coach himself
How he uses video analysis
How to have process goals vs outcome goals in training and climbing
How to access flow state
Making the tedious into the enjoyable and habit stacking

TBP 267: Why Your Gym Training Isn't Translating to Outdoor Climbing - Coach Karly Rager

Karly Rager is a climber and a climbing coach with her business Project Direct Coaching. Her approach to coaching climbers is a little different than what I've seen anywhere else, which really caught my attention when I discovered her on Instagram.
While she does the normal strength training and tactics education with her clients, she also focuses a lot on mindset. In fact, she has an entire mindset coaching option to help climbers with their "head game," including fear of falling and nervous system regulation while climbing. 
I asked her to be on the show to talk about ways she helps her clients manage fear, but also to discuss the reasons why our training in the gym doesn't often prepare us for climbing outside. Sometimes it's surprising when we go outside to find that we don't climb the same grades, things feel harder, and it's just weirder out there.
So she breaks down the reasons that's happening, and what you can do to make your outdoor climbing better, both physically and mentally. 
We also talk about Karly's own progression in climbing, what she loves about it so much, and what it was like to quit her full time engineering job to start a climbing coaching company. 
Here's what we talked about:
How she trained for her first 5.13c this year
Outdoor vs Indoor climbing tactics and training
Cognitive strategies to manage fear
Movement patterns and strengths required for harder climbs
Shoulder engagement on harder climbs
Fewer points of contact on the wall
How to practice and train all of these things

TBP 266: Negative Body Image Mindset Coaching Session with a Climber

Robynne Murray is a climber who graciously offered to do a mindset coaching session with me on the podcast about her negative body image. Robynne feels like her body doesn’t fit in with the “typical” climber body type, so she often feels self conscious and ashamed. It affects her mood, her confidence, and her sense of belonging.
In this session, her goal was to have some tools to use to start talking to herself differently about her body so she can stop feeling so ashamed and anxious about it. I coached her about her thoughts and emotions about the situation, and we did a lot of reframing, validating, and reassuring that she is indeed good enough just the way she is.
We talked about why she feels this way (what happened as a child that triggered such intense feelings of shame), how she can speak to herself differently going forward, and ways she can communicate with her close community more productively about it so she’s not constantly seeking external validation. We also talked about society’s role in her feeling this way, and the choice she has in caring about what people may or may not think of her.
This was one of my most favorite coaching sessions to date, honestly. If you struggle with low body image (I think I know one person who doesn’t), please listen to this. I’m confident you’ll hear something in this conversation that applies to you and you’ll be able to use some of the same insights and tools for yourself.
Work with Me on Your Body Image
If you want to work on this with me one-on-one, I’m accepting new mindset clients right now and I would be honored to help you feel more empowered and positive about your body. Or at the very least, must  more neutral about your body.
Work with Me on Body Image

TBP 265: Olympian Jesse Grupper on Comp Climbing, Training, and His Relentless Positivity

Jesse Grupper is a 27-yr-old climber who frequents podiums at international competitions, has climbed up to 5.15a and has flashed up to 5.14c. He is an amazing climber. AND I LOVE watching Jesse Grupper in climbing comps. His infectious smile, his tenacious try-hard, and his incredible climbing strength and skills are exactly why I watch climbing comps in the first place. I was so thrilled that he agreed to an interview, and I asked him a lot of questions about his approach to climbing, his detailed training program, how he maintains a positive mindset while climbing and competing, and how he’s coping with a current finger injury. Support the show and get tons of bonus content over at Patreon at www.patreon.com/trainingbeta.

TBP 264: Coaching Session to Help a Climber Send His 1st 5.13a (7c+)

This is an actual coaching session done by Coach Matt Pincus with a climber named Kyle Smith, who has a full-time job and wants to send his first 5.13a (7c+). Matt asks him a bunch of questions about his schedule, goals, weaknesses, injuries, and helps Kyle make a plan to get him to his goal.
Regardless of where you’re at in your own climbing, listening to this coaching session will give you insights into the questions you need to be asking yourself about your own life, goals, and climbing in order to make a plan for yourself. If you want help with all of that and you’d like Matt to coach you through it, he’s taking new clients right now and you can find more info about his services below.
WORK WITH MATT AS YOUR COACH

TBP 263: From 5.13 Big Walls to 5.14c Sport - Bronwyn Hodgins' Training

Bronwyn Hodgins is a 31-year-old Squamish-based professional climber and climbing guide whose main focus until recently was big wall and crack climbing. In 2022 she sent Necronomicon (5.13d/14a), which is one of the hardest roof cracks in the world. Before that send, she had climbed up to 5.13d sport and 5.13c trad.
In the summer of 2022, Hodgins and a team (including her husband, Jacob Cook) made a film about an expedition where they spent 65 days putting up many first ascents in Greenland, traveling between climbs via sea kayak. In fact, she’s made a lot of films and you can find them all here.
Needless to say, she is an accomplished, well-rounded climber and adventurer and I have a lot of respect for that. When I read about her recent ascent of La Rubia (5.14c / 8c+) in Villanueva del Rosario, Spain, I was intrigued. How did a big waller who’d climbed just one 5.14a sport route sent a long, burly 14c in Spain? So I asked her to be on the show to talk about her training and preparation for the route.
Turns out it’s a great story and she has a lot of wisdom to offer us.
Bronwyn Hodgins Interview Details
Her climbing story – how she became a pro climber
Big wall experience
Crack climbing training
How she got shut down hard on La Rubia and then trained for a year to send it
Visualization on projects
Managing fear of falling
The festival for women and gender expansive people she’s putting on in July
How running mid distance for so long prepared her for route climbing
Bonus Content on Patreon
redpointing tactics on outdoor routes
her diet
what her lifestyle and finances are like as a pro climber
sexism in climbing and guiding
Support the show and get all of the bonus episodes plus nutrition and mindset training at www.patreon.com/trainingbeta
 
 

[Replay!] TBP 262: Alex Stiger Tells You How to Break into 5.12 Climbing

This is a replay of an episode that originally aired in January, 2023. I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about the most common mistakes amde by climbers who are trying to break into 5.12 climbing. Sending 5.12 is the most common goal among her clients, so she has quite a bit of experience with the minutiae of what it takes to do that.
She will share her personal experience of her first 5.12’s and what she learned from her trials and tribulations. She’ll then go into the mindset shifts that are required to jump into the coveted 5.12 territory, and how she helps people do that.
While you might predict that strength training is one of the main tools Alex uses with her clients in this situation, it is not, as she says it is very rare to find a person who is climbing 5.11 who can not climb 5.12 with the strength they already have.
So while we spend a few minutes talking about strength training, you’ll find compelling evidence in this episode that that may not be your issue. Here are some of the other topics we discuss:
Why technique and staying calm are so important
Honing the skill of resting
How to decrease intimidation of the grade
How to learn from your falling experiences
How to have more of a competition mindset
What to climb on in the gym if you’re trying to send 5.12
A better alternative to having a perfect pyramid before entering into 5.12 territory
Why repeating climbs that are sort of hard for you is an important strategy
We talk about a lot in this episode, and I highly recommend it if you’re at the 5.10 or 5.11 level, or if you’re just not consistently climbing 5.12’s and you’d like to. Even if you are climbing 5.12’s consistently, I think a lot of her tactics will help you!
Show Links
Get the 5.12 Breakthrough Series AND the Steep Climbing Workshop for 30% Off
Work with Alex as your coach
Have questions? Email alex@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com

TBP 261: Ben Hanna's Training and Mindset for Competitions and Sending 5.15a

Ben Hanna is a 25-year-old professional climber originally from New Mexico. He climbs hard sport routes outside and he’s active in competition climbing. He started climbing at the age of 10 and quickly gained notoriety as a youth competitor. He’s gone on to podium at 2 national championships and climb 5.15a. I wanted to talk to Ben about how he trains, what his competition mindset strategies are, and what it’s like to be a professional, full-time climber.
He goes into detail about his “early life crisis” when he decided to put his faith in a coach to help him really level up his climbing abilities. It worked, and we go into exactly what he did during that long training phase and how it changed his body.
We also talk about the mindset tools he uses, the books he reads on the subject, and how he implements having a growth mindset and having a different definition of success than just winning and sending.
Bonus Content on Patreon
redpointing tactics on outdoor routes
his diet
honest conversation about his weight management tactics and my thoughts on that
You can find all of that bonus content and the uncut, ad-free video episode without intro or outro on my Patreon page.
GET THE AD-FREE INTERVIEW AND BONUS CONTENT