The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 007 :: Steve Bechtel on Training, Power Endurance, Running, Weight Loss, and More

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I was honored and excited to interview the great Steve Bechtel, a long-time climber and trainer who knows his stuff when it comes to getting strong, honing in on individual training needs, and staying lean, among many other things. Steve runs ClimbStrong.com, a website where he writes articles and training programs for climbers. You can subscribe to the site to get full access to all of his info. He also runs a gym in Lander, WY called Elemental Fitness, where he works with climbers and athletes of all kinds.
I've been following Steve's stuff for a while, and I post his articles on our own Facebook page because I consider him an expert in a field that has very few experts (climbing training). But I wanted to interview him partially for selfish reasons - I'll be honest ;) We took a few minutes of the interview to use me as sort of a guinea pig. I asked him what he'd do with me right now while I'm trying to send a powerful, pretty short route at my limit. He gave me some great advice.
I also asked him as many other technical questions as I could, and tried to make those questions applicable to as many people as possible, so you can take some usable advice from this conversation. After all, that's the mission of TrainingBeta: practical training advice. Steve has worked with a lot of climbers through the years, so he doesn't have any problems rattling off big scientific words and answers to all of our common climbing training questions. Hopefully we'll talk again on the show soon!
What We Talked About
How and why he learned so much about training
How he approaches new training clients
How to train power endurance and overall fitness
What he'd do with me as a client to help me send my current project
Whether or not running is good for climbing
How to lose weight for climbing
That our conversation was really awesome and we want to do it again soon
Related Links
Steve's website is Climb Strong at www.climbstrong.com
Climb Strong on Facebook: www.facebook.com/climbstrong
Steve's gym in Lander is Elemental Performance and Fitness at http://lmntl.net
Steve's book (on Amazon) about training power endurance: LINK
Support The Podcast
This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending!
If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at info@trainingbeta.com.
Listen on iTunes
Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE.
Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;)
Music
Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings 
Photo
Portrait of Steve Bechtel by Mei Ratz
 
Thanks for listening!
 

TBP 006: A Talk with Kris Hampton about Training, Rapping, 14a, and TrainingBeta

This interview is with Kris Hampton, a climber, trainer, artist, business owner, and all around great guy. I met him last fall at his home crag, the Red River Gorge, when we both had projects in the Motherlode (I was on Snooker and he was on Transworld Depravity). 
He's a super chill, obviously smart guy, and we were quick friends. It wasn't long 'til he was writing the 8-Week Endurance Training Program for TrainingBeta (here), and we were discussing all the ways we wanted to improve the online availability of climbing training advice. 
As a climber, he started out as a trad guy and then years later switched over to sport, early in his 30's. He quickly realized that if he was going to keep up and meet his own personal climbing goals, he'd have to get strategic about his training, especially because he's so busy with life outside of climbing. So he learned as much as he could about training tactics, and quickly took himself from a 5.11 climber to a solid 5.13 climber, now on his way to hopefully sending his first 5.14a. 
He represents those people who do NOT climb full time, who do not live on the road. He speaks for and to those climbers who only have a couple days a week to crush it outside (if that), and need to make the most of their time out there, which he does himself handily. 
What We Talked About
How and why he learned so much about training
Life as a rap artist, and his new album
Having a real job and a real life and still training and climbing hard
Why he gave up offwidth and crack climbing and started sport climbing 
His current 5.14a project
How he approaches new training clients
All about the 8-Week Endurance Training Program he wrote for TrainingBeta
Related Links
Kris' website is www.powercompanyclimbing.com
The 8-Week Endurance Training Program he wrote for TrainingBeta
Kris' music at odubmusic.com
Kris' new single "I Would Like to Live" on SoundCloud
Support The Podcast
This podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending!
If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at info@trainingbeta.com.

TBP 005: Jonathan Siegrist on Sending, Failing, Training, and Dreaming Big

This interview is with one of my really good friends, Jonathan Siegrist, aka J-Star. I met Jonathan about 4 or 5 years ago and for some reason we just clicked and have stayed tight ever since. He's one of my favorite people, and you'll understand why that is if you listen to this interview :)
The interview was actually done at the house we just shared with him for a few months in Las Vegas, where we spent a lot of time up at the Promised Land and some other awesome areas with Jonathan. I got to belay him on his recent first ascent of the 5.14c he put up, Spectrum, and I can say that no matter how many times I watch him climb, it’s always incredible. I mean, besides the fact that he warms up on my epic projects, it’s incredible ;)
He always tries hard, he’s psyched to be climbing, he doesn’t toss wobblers – or at least I’ve never seen him do it – and I think it’s because he’s truly grateful for every opportunity he gets to be on rock outside. He’s also really into training indoors, especially because he’s got some big goals for this year. We’ll talk about his goals and his training in the interview.
He's done something like 140 routes rated 5.14a and above, including 19 5.14c's and 6 5.14d's. He won a Golden Piton Award for Breakaway Success in 2009 after his groundbreaking trip to the Red River Gorge, where his highlights included quick sends of the 5.14c’s Lucifer, Southern Smoke, and Fifty Words for Pump, three 5.14a flashes, three 5.13c onsights, and onsights of 10 routes graded either 5.13a or 5.13b, among other things. You can see his full climbing resumé here.
Jonathan and I sat down in my closet in Vegas (it was a big closet and the only place that didn't echo in our house - ha ha!) and talked about all things J-Star, including how he trains now compared to how he used to train, what he eats, his love life (he's taken for now, ladies), and his dreams.
What We Talked About
His favorite kind of climbing
His biggest achievements and biggest failures
Whether he'll try to be a pro climber forever
How traveling so much affects his relationships with the ladies
Where he'd like to call home someday
5.15?
What it takes to climb 5.14+
How he keeps his skin in shape for sharp crimpy routes
How he trains now and who he's coached by
How that compares with how he used to train
What he eats and why (he's a pescatarian)
What he thinks body weight's role is in sending hard
How often he parties
Related Links
Jonathan's website is www.jstarinorbit.com
Jonathan interviewed me on his site here.
He helped me create a training plan for myself (that worked!) and I blogged about it here.
Sponsors
The podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending!
If you'd like to sponsor the podcast, just email us at info@trainingbeta.com.
Listen on iTunes
Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE.
Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;)
Music
Intro and outro song: Yesterday by Build Buildings 
Thanks for listening!
 
 

TBP 004: Angie Payne on V14, Failures, Rivals, Diet, Weight, and Training

I met Angie Payne in 2004 when she first moved to Boulder. I worked at the Spot Bouldering Gym and she lived at the Spot Bouldering Gym. Not really, but she was there an awful lot. She was quiet, shy, sweet, and studious (she studied in the café where I "worked"). And obviously strong as hell.
She won three ABS National Championships and two PCA competitions during the 2003-2004 season. Over the next six years, Angie stood atop more than ten podiums as a top 3 finisher in bouldering competitions.
She doesn’t just crush inside, though — Angie has been a trailblazer among female climbers on boulders outside, too. Between 2004 and 2010, Payne did first female ascents of 17 V10-V12 boulder problems.
In 2010, after climbing European Human Being (video) V12 and No More Greener Grasses V12, Angie completed The Automator (video), becoming the first woman in the world to climb a confirmed V13. These accomplishments earned her two Climbing Magazine Golden Piton honorable mentions and the 2007 Everest Award in Women’s Bouldering.
Angie graciously sat down with me last summer (2013) to talk about how she got to be such a badass, how she continues to be such a badass after so many years competing, and how her "rivals" - who are also some of her best friends - keep her motivated. I'm lookin' at you, Puccio.
We also talk about...
Being a female in a man's world, and how she avoids the notorious downgrading of her FFAs
How she trains
What she eats
How weight affects her climbing
Her struggle with eating disorders
Her roller coaster relationship with competition climbing
Why she's not a full-time pro climber
The mental blocks she gets with projects and how she overcomes them
Her thoughts on climbing a V14
And lots of other things...
Oh, and I apologize for the temporary outdoor noises in the background intermittently. Recording a podcast outside is nice because of the birds in the background, but NOT good for the noise factor. Duly noted.
Show Links
You can read her full bio here.
Check out her website here.
She also wrote an article about how she trains on TrainingBeta here.
The podcast is made possible by the training programs on TrainingBeta here. Check 'em out if you need some help sending.
Listen on iTunes
Link to the TrainingBeta Podcast on iTunes is HERE.
Please give the podcast an honest review on iTunes here to help the show reach more curious climbers around the world ;)
Thanks for listening!

TBP 003: Jamie Emerson on Training, Ethics, and Being The Sheriff

I sat down with Jamie Emerson last summer and had a really interesting chat with him. Jamie is, I think, an important voice in the climbing community. As an accomplished and ambitious climber himself, having sent up to V14, he has his finger on the pulse of the climbing community's players and their ascents.
He has a deep appreciation for not only trying hard and sending hard, but also doing it all in style. I've always thought that Jamie would be the best person for the job of MC-ing big competitions because he knows a lot about everyone, and he truly cares about their accomplishments, failures, and their characters.
As the writer at www.B3Bouldering.com, he not only keeps us all up to date on the most current sends, he also asks the hard questions and calls people out on ethical issues that no one else would dare to. This has earned him his nickname, "The Sheriff", which we discuss in this podcast interview. We talk candidly about a couple of his most controversial moments with other climbers, and whether or not he'd do it all over again if he could.
In a sport where people regularly use shady tactics for cleaning boulders, terrorize the land surrounding those boulders, manufacture holds, trespass on private property, make up their own start holds, and "send" things without anyone witnessing said send (I mean, it didn't happen unless it's on video, right?), somebody needs to be the one to say, "You didn't follow the rules. Hey everyone, what do you think the rules are here so we can tell this person the rules?"
That's Jamie, and I for one appreciate his honest, forthright style, and his willingness to fight for some semblance of order and respect in the sport, even if some think he might take it a little too far sometimes.
In this interview we talk about all that, and also this:
His biggest achievements in climbing
His biggest failures
His climbing aspirations
His um.. interesting ascent of Gang Bang
How he trains and the differences between the methods of all his different trainers
What he eats
What he thinks about his body weight as it relates to climbing
How he likes being called the sheriff, and where that nickname came from
What he wants to do in his professional life
Why he loves finding and developing new boulders
Why he started writing his blog
The surprising ways his climbing has changed as he's gotten older
What climbing means to him now compared with 10 years ago
And more!
Show Links
Jamie's blog at www.b3bouldering.com
Looking for more training advice? Check out our training programs here.

TBP 002: Paige Claassen on Training, Eating, and Body Weight

I sat down and chatted with my very good friend, Paige Claassen, before she took off on her Lead Now Tour around the country this past year. We talked about being driven by success, how she's managed to pull off proud 5.14 ascents with style, and how food affects her climbing.
Since our talk, she's been traveling the globe, climbing rad sport routes, sending even more 5.14s, and raising money for her favorite non-profits all along the way. If you'd like to donate to her noble cause, you can do so here.
Climbing and Training
How she got into climbing
How she trains and how she pushes herself
How often she trained before her big trip
The role breathing loudly plays in her climbing and what it’s done for my own climbing
Her one rule in climbing
Her strategy for doing more moves in a short gym
How she works her abs and other cross-training she does
The one exercise that helped her climbing the most
How she stays psyched to climb, and what she does when she’s not psyched
Diet & Weight
An explanation of her rapid weight loss years ago
How food affects her climbing
What role her weight has played in her hardest sends
What she eats now and what makes her feel amazing before climbs
Why food is a little frustrating for her
The surprising foods that make her feel the best
A day in the life of Paige’s eating
 

TBP001 - A Talk with Carlo Traversi

In this episode of The TrainingBeta Podcast, I chat with pro climber Carlo Traversi about his successes, failures, training, the pressures of being a sponsored climber, and confidence. We also talk about...
The interesting circumstances that really got him started climbing
What goes through his head at comps
Does the pressure of being a sponsored climber get to him?
How he deals with fear in climbing
The fine line between confidence and arrogance, and how that plays into his climbing
Whether or not he’s ever had a coach
His advice for how to get better at climbing without a coach
How he trains to compensate for being a shorter climber
A typical week of climbing for him
His answer to hangovers
His favorite drink :)