The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 049 :: Trainer Mercedes Pollmeier on ARCing and Training for 5.12

About Mercedes Pollmeier
 
This is an interview with Mercedes Pollmeier, a Strength and Conditioning coach out of Seattle, Washington. She has a Master's degree in Human Movement and started working with climbers of all abilities, including elite level/competition climbers, in Colorado. 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 intermediate climbers in particular. 
Also, if you detect an accent, it's Australian. She came to the States in the early 2000's and promptly got rid of her accent, which I find amazing, seeing as how I can't even lose my Wisconsin accent...
What We Talked About
5.10 and 5.11 training
What ARCing is and how to use it
How to break into 5.11 or 5.12
Training for 5.11 vs 5.13
The most important lifts for a climber
Her book on training, Simple Strength
Mercedes Pollmeier Links
Mercedes Pollmeier's website
Mercedes' article on Quadrupedal Movements for Climbers
Mercedes' book, Simple Strength, on Amazon
Training videos by Mercedes
Training Programs for You
Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities.
Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

Ask Kris :: Finger Strength Training Mini Episode

New Mini Episodes!
We're going to do something new on the podcast every week (or as often as we can). Kris Peters and I will be tackling a specific subject and hashing some details out for about 15 minutes. We'll also take questions from you guys and answer them on these episodes. This week, we decided to start with finger training, since it's such a popular topic. 
Kris Peters is a climbing trainer who's worked with some of the strongest climbers in the world, as well as a ton of regular Joes like you and me. He's seen his methods work on 100's of climbers so far, and so I thought I'd give him a platform to share his knowledge with you guys. Here's episode 1 of "Ask Kris", and hopefully we'll get one out every week. If you have a question for him, email me at neely@trainingbeta.com and we'll try to answer it. 
What We Talked About
How he likes to train finger strength
Who should train finger strength and who should not
What "repeaters" are and how to do them
Kris Peters Links
More about Kris
Train with Kris one-on-one or online
Kris's online programs you can start following today with 3 workouts/week (bouldering and route training)
Kris's 6-Week Power Endurance Program 
Please Review The Podcast on iTunes!
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Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;)
 

TBP 048 :: Neil Gresham on Training for 5.11 and 5.12

About Neil Gresham
 
Neil Gresham is a British climber and trainer who's been training people for about 20 years now. He's the training columnist at both Climbing and Rock & Ice magazines, and has written extensively on the topic.
At 44, he's still pushing his limits on sport climbs (14b last year), ice climbs, and deep water solos, among other types of climbing. Although he has no formal background in training (I'm finding that to be irrelevant in these interviews), he's studied the literature on climbing training and other related sports. But most of all, he's debatably one of the most experienced climbing trainers out there, having been doing this pretty full time since the 1990's. 
He also wrote an interesting article recently about his ketogenic diet that's made a huge difference in his climbing and body composition, which I responded to with my own podcast episode about the diet. We talk about his experience with keto and exactly what he eats on it. 
What We Talked About
Case study of 5.10/11 climber trying to break into the next level
How he helped fix a client's elbows in a matter of weeks
How to break into 5.11 or 5.12
What the ketogenic diet is and how he's improved on it
The most important overall exercise for a climber
Neil Gresham Links
Neil Gresham's website
Awesome video of Neil training and redpointing

TBP 047 :: Jorg Verhoeven on The Nose, V15, and World Cup Training

About Jorg Verhoeven
Jorg Verhoeven is a professional Dutch climber who lives and trains in Austria. He's done about 150 world cups (in both bouldering and routes), and he won the Overall Lead World Cup in 2008 and was World Youth Champion twice. He did the 4th free ascent of The Nose on El Cap (5.14), and he recently did Wheel of Life (V15). He was on the cover of Climbing magazine for his historic repeat of The Nose, which further piqued my interest in this all-around badass climber.
I wanted to know how he's capable of doing it all, so we chatted about his training, his attitude about climbing and life, and how he keeps it fun and interesting for himself.
What We Talked About
How he trains in his limited gym facility
Whether or not he does finger training and campusing (very interesting answers)
His internal struggle on The Nose
How he trained for the Nose
His very specific training for World Cups and other comps
Jorg Verhoeven Links
Jorg on Wheel of Life (V15) (Video)
Jorg Verhoeven on The Nose (Video)
Jorg Verhoeven on Facebook

TBP 046 :: Neely Quinn on Weight Loss for Climbers

About Neely Quinn
Neely is your host for the podcast every week, but she's also a practicing nutrition therapist, and has been since about 2007. She's helped hundreds of people lose weight and get closer to optimal health. She takes an individualized approach to nutrition, and in this podcast episode she tackles weight loss for climbers and how to approach it properly (if you need to approach it at all). 
Weight Loss for Climbers
Calories
Carbs
Food Sensitivities
When to see a doctor
Overtraining
Want to work with Neely one-on-one?
Her nutrition coaching page: www.trainingbeta.com/nutrition-coaching
Email her at neely@trainingbeta.com

TBP 045 :: Ethan Pringle on Jumbo Love 15b, The Nest V15, and Depression

About Ethan Pringle
Ethan Pringle is a 29 year-old professional rock climber who's had immense success in the competition scene as well as on real rock. He made the 2nd ascent of Jumbo Love (5.15b) and has done a few V14s and is working on his first V15 (The Nest). He's an all around strong, determined climber, and I wanted to know what makes him tick.
What We Talked About
How he prepared for Jumbo Love
How he stayed motivated on Jumbo Love for 7 years
How depression has affected him and his climbing
Getting over psychological plateaus
Future goals
Ethan Pringle Links
Ethan on Jumbo Love (Video)
Ethan Pringle on Instagram
Ethan Pringle on Facebook

TBP 044 :: Matt Helliker on Training for Alpine Climbing

About Matt Helliker
Matt Helliker is a notable alpinist who's done quite a few first ascents. He's originally from England, but now lives, climbs, and guides in Chamonix, France. As an ice climber, a mixed climber, a trad climber, a sport climber, and a boulderer, I was really interested in knowing how Matt trains to stay strong for it all. You can find out more about him and his first ascents on his athlete page at Patagonia and on his personal site. 
What We Talked About
What winter alpine climbs entail
How he trains for it all
Climbing 5.14a
Hard alpine ascents in remote areas
Training 7 days a week
Why it's hard to do it all
Related Links
Video trailer of Citadel, a film about Matt Helliker and Jon Bracey in Alaska 
Matt Helliker's personal site: matthelliker.com
Matt Helliker on Instagram
Matt Helliker on Twitter
Matt Helliker on Facebook

TBP 043 :: Neely Explains the Ketogenic Diet

I've been hearing more and more about the ketogenic diet in the climbing world. For instance, Dave MacLeod and Neil Gresham have had success with it and I expect that a lot of people will want to try it for themselves.
I researched the diet quite a bit a few years back and then experimented with it on my own. I've helped nutrition clients onboard to a ketogenic diet, and I've talked with a lot of people about the difficulties and successes they've had with it.
It's a really interesting topic, partly because everyone is so different that it may or may not work for you. It didn't work for me (for reasons I'll explain in the episode), but it may work for you. And who knows - if I'd done things differently it may have worked for me.
In this episode, I explain:
What the ketogenic diet isWhat the macronutrient ratios areHow to know if you're actually in ketosisWhy people like the ketogenic dietThe difference between the ketogenic diet and Paleo/PrimalWhat foods are pretty much no-no's on the dietMy experience and mistakes on the dietMy goals are to help you understand it a little better and maybe to help you avoid some common mistakes if it's something you're interested in trying.
I'd love to know what your personal experience with it has been, and if you have any questions about it just leave them in the comments below! Thanks for listening :)

TBP 042 :: David Mason on Training for V14

About David Mason
David Mason is a British boulderer who's climbed up to V13/14 (King of Limbs in South Africa) and many boulders between V10 and V13. In 2014, he managed to send 20 boulder problems between V11 and V13 during a 17-day trip to Vastervik, Sweden. He's a Senior Coach at The Climbing Works, a gym in Sheffield, England, and he does personal training/coaching for people there. He's known for his relentless training, and that's what we talked about in this interview. 
What We Talked About
Dealing with failure
Shoulder dislocation and injury
3-a-day training sessions
Training for King of Limbs (V13/14)
His exact training schedule
How he'd change his training schedule for someone not as strong
Related Links
Video of David Mason on King of Limbs
Article and videos of his trip to Sweden in Rock & Ice
David Mason on Instagram
David Mason's website and photography
Training Programs for You
Check out our Route Climbing Training Program for route climbers of all abilities.
Our other training programs: Training Programs Page.

TBP 041 :: Matt Lloyd and His Climbing/CrossFit Hybrid Gym

Date: January 27th, 2016
About Matt Lloyd
Matt Lloyd is a long-time friend of my husband, Seth, having started climbing on the same team in Denver about 15 years ago. He's known for his bold R and X-rated ascents, and now for having started a small gym in Denver called Mountain Strong that's devoted to training for climbing.
What We Talked About
How he prepares for free solosHis hardest sendsWhy he built a gym devoted to training for climbingHow olympic lifts and crossfit workouts help climbersHow to build fitnessThe future of training for climbingRelated Links
Matt Lloyd's gym: www.mountainstrongdenver.comArticle on Climbing Mag by Matt about overcoming fearTraining Programs for You