The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 080 :: Steve Bechtel on How to Create Your Own Training Plan

TBP 079 :: Daniel Woods on Training, Comps, Life Stuff, and The Pressure to Send

In this interview with Daniel Woods, we talk about his training, comp climbing, his upcoming goals, and the pressure he feels to send. 

TBP 078 :: Natasha Barnes Tells Us The 4 Best Lifts for Climbers

I interviewed chiropractor Natasha Barnes about the 4 bests lifts for climbers,  shoulder and finger injuries, and optimal body weight for climbers. 

TBP 077 :: The Best Supplements for Climbers with Shannon O’Grady

In this interview I talked with Shannon O'Grady, PhD, from Gnarly Nutrition about what she thinks are the best supplements for climbers.

TBP 076 :: Esther Smith on How to Heal Your Finger Injury

In this interview, Physical Therapist Esther Smith talks about her protocol for healing finger injuries for climbers. She and Dan Mirsky used the protocol for their own finger injuries. 

New Mini Podcast Series with Mercedes Pollmeier: Using Body Awareness in Climbing and Beyond

Body Awareness Interview Details What is body awareness? Why it's important in climbing 3 best movements to train overall body awareness How body awareness is helpful in relationships How body awareness is helpful with nutrition Why that's all important for climbing   New Podcast Series with Mercedes!   I've talked with Mercedes Pollmeier on the podcast a couple times now (#1 and #2), she wrote an article for us, and she's our in-house online personal trainer for TrainingBeta. So knowing how knowledgeable she is and how easy she is to talk to, I wanted to make her a more constant presence on TrainingBeta. That's why we decided to begin a new podcast mini series together.  We'll be talking every month or so about a different topic of climbing training. The talks will be shorter than a normal podcast: only about 20 minutes. They'll be a quick bite of information that will be usable and digestible that will hopefully help your training immediately.  A Little More About Mercedes Mercedes is a Strength and Conditioning coach out of the Seattle Bouldering Project. She has a Master’s degree in Human Movement and works with climbers of all types and abilities, ranging from elite level/competition climbers to novice alpinists. Currently she works at the Seattle Bouldering Project with climbers and other athletes of all ability levels.  She’s offering 1-month and 3-month online training programs to people who feel like they need a little more individualized help than our other climbing training programs can provide. She is detail oriented, very focused on proper form, and offers continuous support and feedback to her online clients via the Trainerize app.  

TBP 075 :: Madaleine Sorkin on Training for 5.13 Big Walls and Alpine

About Madaleine Sorkin  Madaleine Sorkin is a 35-year-old climber originally from D.C., who's known for her alpine and big wall ascents. She makes a living as a sponsored climber and as a climbing guide and clinic leader. She's currently hosting "Mad Sensei" clinics with Justen Sjong helping people gain confidence leading trad and sport climbs.  Madaleine is a mentally tough climber with a lot of experience up high, having freed Moonlight Buttress (5.12+), Leaning Tower (5.13-), El Corazon (5.13b) in Yosemite, and most recently, The Honeymoon Is Over (5.13c) in Rocky Mountain National Park. All of those climbs are nails hard, long granite climbs.  In this interview we talk about how she physically and mentally prepares herself for those kinds of endeavors, what she eats while she's doing huge days, and what her current goals are.    Madaleine Sorkin Interview Details Highlights of her climbing career  How she trains for long routes outside and inside Lofty goals for this year How she trains power outside Resting on big walls: her strategies What she eats on big walls  Why weight lifting is important to her   Madaleine Sorkin Links Guiding and climbing Website at www.madaleinesorkin.com Instagram: @madaleinesorkin Mad Sensei Lead Confidence Clinics: www.coloradomountainschool.com Videos of Madaleine climbing: Videos   Photo Credit Henna Taylor   

TBP 074 :: Climbing Training Success Stories with Mercedes Pollmeier

About Mercedes Pollmeier This is my second interview with Mercedes Pollmeier, our in-house online climbing trainer here at TrainingBeta. She's a Strength and Conditioning coach out of the Seattle Bouldering Project. She has a Master’s degree in Human Movement and works with climbers of all types and abilities, ranging from elite level/competition climbers to novice alpinists. Currently she works at the Seattle Bouldering Project with climbers and other athletes of all ability levels. I wanted to ask Mercedes about her training philosophies, and how she trains people online in particular. She's offering 1-month and 3-month online training programs to people who feel like they need a little more individualized help than our other climbing training programs can provide. She is detail oriented, very focused on proper form, and offers continuous support and feedback to her online clients via the Trainerize app.    Mercedes Pollmeier Interview Details Her climbing accomplishments and injuries she's overcome Biggest mistakes she made as a trainer in the beginning Her latest discovery about bouldering training Client case studies Why she doesn't believe in taking time off How her athletes stay injury-free What training with her online is like

TBP 073 :: Margarita Martinez on Climbing Her First 13d at Age 58

About Margarita Martinez My first experience of Margarita Martinez was at the Red River Gorge, watching her dance her way up Bohica 5.13b. She ended up falling on it, but I remember her laughing as she fell, and then talking to her later she was as chipper as could be. In this interview, that positive outlook on life and climbing is very apparent.  Margarita is originally from Puerto Rico, but moved her in her late teens to be a ballerina, which she did for over a decade. She had to quit dancing because she could no longer travel and raise 3 children. She wanted something to fill the dancing void in her life, and at the age of 34 she found climbing. Since then, she's suffered several heartbreaking injuries and surgeries (broken back, broken ankle, and most recently a serious shoulder issue), but she's persevered and steadily climbed through the grades.  Last year, at the age of 58, she sent her first 5.13d in Maple Canyon and has not slowed down since. That was after she was told by a surgeon that she needed to have a shoulder replacement and quit climbing forever. Our good friend, Esther Smith (the PT who's been on the show a couple times) helped her fix her shoulder, and she's now climbing and training harder than ever.  Margarita Martinez Interview Details  In this interview, Margarita talks about her evolution as a climber, how she trains, and how she does things differently now that she's a little bit older. What We Talked About Training for first 13d at age 58 How she deals with having rheumatoid arthritis How she approaches climbing and training at age 58 What the MaxiPull is and how it helps her endurance Why she weight lifts and what she does Her training/climbing schedule Margarita Martinez Links Margarita's article "15 Truths About Being A Climber" How to Make A Maxi Pull - from Margarita's Facebook page Esther Smith's article on how to Hang Just Right (which Margarita uses) Margarita's shoe insert company (for stinky climbing shoes): www.DryPointe.com  

TBP 072 :: How Danny Robertson Broke A 10-Year Plateau

About Danny Robertson  Danny Robertson is a climber who lives in Carbondale, Colorado on the Western Slope. He's a 41-year-old Rifle regular who's been climbing for about 15 years. He's a full-time 7th-grade teacher, so he has summers off with his wife Wendy, who's also a teacher. This affords them some great climbing trips and projecting time.  Danny and Wendy have been listening to the podcast for a while, and they told me a few times when I saw them that they'd changed their training practices based off of what they'd learned from the podcast. When Danny sent his gnarly 3-year project, The Crew (5.14c), this fall, I decided I needed to know his secrets.  Prior to that he'd done a bunch of 14a's, and he considered himself to be sort of stuck at that level for about 10 years. After changing his training, he was doing 14a's and b's much more quickly than ever, and ultimately sent his mega project, The Crew.  Danny Robertson Interview Details Scheduling training with full-time job Training without a good gym What he learned from the podcast How yoga fixed his shoulder Training outside - paradigm shift Why more is not better