The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

TBP 240: Nutrition Session with Climber Who Has Fatigue at the Crag and Poor Recovery

In this episode I do a full nutrition session with a climber who has been struggling with feeling fatigued most days, especially at the crag. Fatigue is something I see in a lot of my nutrition clients that is often improved really quickly with nutrition, so I thought this session would be great for everyone to be able to listen in on.
My client was Leah Thomas, a 31-year-old climber who is basically living at a crag and climbing most days of the week. She just feels tired and is very dependent on caffeine to get her through her days and she wanted to change that by trying to eat better. She just was confused about how to do that, which is not uncommon at all.
In this session we talk about her weekly schedule of exercise and work, her daily schedule of eating, climbing, working, and sleeping, and then we looked at her diet log on myfitnesspal to see what was going on to contribute to her fatigue.
I gave her really concrete suggestions for small changes to make in her diet every day, what to do differently at the crag, and I gave her some advice about her climbing schedule to decrease her fatigue levels and increase her recovery so she’s not feeling so tired all the time.
I hope, if you struggle with similar things, that this episode is helpful for you!
 
 
 
 
Work with Me on Your Nutrition
I’m currently taking new clients for the first time in many months, and if you’d like to work with me to improve your climbing performance, overall energy levels, digestion, and blood glucose, I’m here for you!
We can do an hour session, a month package, or you can do my self-paced nutrition course, Nourish, and add a single session onto that for more personalization.
>>Find Out More about My Nutrition Services
If you’re not ready to pay for nutrition services quite yet and you just want something free to get started, I have a mini-course you can sign up for that includes 6 days of informative emails (with a discount code for my Nourish program included).

TBP 239 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Training Finger Endurance

In this episode, Dr. Tyler Nelson talks about how we can increase our finger endurance without putting ourselves in a huge recovery hole from the session. Tyler uses a strain gauge (in this case a Tindeq Progressor) for this kind of workout (as he does for a lot of his training).
I actually ended up being so convinced by this episode that I finally got a Tindeq for myself! He has a code you can use for $10 off, which I used. It’s “C4HP” at this site. This isn’t meant to be an advertisement for them and I have no affiliation with the company, but after hearing Tyler talk about this thing for literally years, I needed to have one. I’m about to start doing these endurance workouts this week.
So in this episode, Tyler goes into a lot of detail about what your workouts should look like to get the most out of an endurance finger training session, why what we’ve been doing traditionally doesn’t make quite as much sense as what he’s recommending, and how it’s helped his athletes with their route training.
About Tyler
Tyler owns and operates Camp 4 Human Performance, a chiropractic sports medicine clinic and strength & conditioning business in Salt Lake City. While earning his doctoral degree, he completed a dual program Master’s degree in exercise science at the University Of Missouri. While in graduate school he worked with the University of Missouri athletics department and currently is employed through two colleges in Utah.
He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and spends any extra time in his life with his wife and 4 kids or trad climbing or bouldering.
You can find Tyler in Salt Lake City at his clinic or online at Camp 4 Human Performance, where he tests athletes, creates training programs, and treats all kinds of athletes for injuries.
Other Episodes with Tyler
TBP 225 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Unlevel Grips for Finger Injuries and Training
TBP 212: Dr. Tyler Nelson’s New Insights on the Limits of Fingerboard Training
TBP 202: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Finger Injuries in Youth Climbers
TBP 168: New Insights on Finger Training
TBP 162: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Endurance Training for Fingers
TBP 155: Dr. Tyler Nelson on High Volume Power Training
TBP 149: The Different Roles of Stretching for Climbing
TBP 133: The Simplest Finger Training Protocol with Dr. Tyler Nelson
TBP 084: Injury Rehab and Blood Flow Restriction Training
TBP 098: Isometric Movements to Prime and Test Your Body
TBP 108: Bood Flow Restriction for Injury Healing and Performance
TBP 118: Latest Technology for Finger Training and Performance Testing
TBP 128: Surprising Methods for Healing Tendon Injuries
TBP 186 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson’s New Injury Prevention and Warm-Up Protocol
 
Episode Links
Personal website: camp4humanperformance.com
Take an online class with Tyler: camp4humanperformance.com/store
Do a consultation with Tyler
Instagram: @c4hp
Facebook: @camp4chiropractic
Learn More from Tyler: If you want to work with Dr. Tyler Nelson on an individual basis for injuries or strength training, he offers remote consultations to people all over the world. He also teaches online classes on strength training and injuries. Learn more.
 
Training Programs from TrainingBeta
Do you want a well-laid-out, easy-to-follow training program that will get you stronger quickly? Here’s what we have to offer on TrainingBeta. Something for everyone…
Personal Coaching Online
Bouldering Training Program
Route Climbing Training Program
Finger Strength Training eBook 
Nutrition for Climbers
Mindset Coaching for Climbers
All of our training programs

TBP 238: Performance Anxiety Life Coaching Session with Alex and Neely

Performance Anxiety Coaching Session and Some Route Training Advice
This episode is a little different than normal in that I put two separate topics together to make one episode. I talked with Coach Matt Pincus about the new Performance Route Training Program for about 10 minutes and then I did a life coaching session with Coach Alex Stiger about her performance anxiety she experienced this past weekend. 
The first clip with Matt is to help you understand how he goes about training his route climbing clients, and how he put all of that wisdom into our new Performance Route Training Programs (see more below). He goes into what you need to train to have better endurance and strength, but also better skills and tactics on the wall. It will help you decide if you want to start the program, which is a subscription membership at $18 per month.
The second clip is a 45-minute life coaching session where I coach Alex Stiger about the performance anxiety she’s been experiencing on her route project. She goes into what it felt like to “freak out” while trying her project last weekend, and we dive in deep about her thoughts, emotions, limiting beliefs, and past experiences that have led her to this point. We come up with some strategies going forward that will help her process the anxiety in the moment and ways to take off some of the pressure she’s feeling to send.
This was super fulfilling for me to help Alex with, and these are honestly my favorite topics to talk about (the deep, important ones). If you want to work with me as your coach on climbing or anything else in your life, you can find more info on that here.
Show Links
Try out the New Route Training Program by Coach Matt Pincus
Work with Neely as your coach
Work with Alex as your coach
Performance Route Training Program
If you’re tired of going into the gym without a plan and you want a clearly laid-out program made by an experienced coach, our Performance Route Training Program is just that. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as working one-on-one with a coach. Matt Pincus created this online subscription route program based off of what has been super successful with his clients over the years.
There are 3 levels of training available to you, depending on how much experience you have with climbing training and how much route climbing you want to do during the program. You’ll go through non-linear cycles (learn more about what that means in the link below) of training strength, endurance, skill drills, and throughout it all you’ll be gaining all-day capacity.
You could see an increase in your route climbing ability within weeks of being on this program. You get a 7-day free trial to see if it works for you and you can cancel at any time. Go to the gym with a plan in your hand, trust the process, and see results, all for just $18 per month.
CHECK OUT THE ROUTE PROGRAM
 
 

TBP 237 :: Our Top 3 Habits for Success in Life and Climbing with Neely and Matt

I recently read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear and, while it’s a really good book and I gleaned some things from it, I also realized that my habits are (humbly) already pretty good. This has been by necessity because there were years of my life when my habits were not good at all. That led me to experience extreme amounts of anxiety, depression, a lack of motivation, and terrible self-care, which amounted to poor health, complete apathy about climbing, failure in my business, and really hard times in my relationships.
That just got personal really fast!
But all of that is to say that I understand quite intimately what it feels like to be unsuccessful in my own life, and I had to make a lot of changes in my habits and mindset to get to where I am now, which is generally content and feeling pretty successful most of the time.
Coach Matt Pincus also feels pretty content in his personal, work, and climbing life, so in this episode, he and I sit down and talk about some of our most important habits that help us to be successful.
Everyone has their own definition of “success” and we both define what that means to us in the episode. We’re not saying we’re the most successful people or that we’re amazing, but we do find that these habits really help us to show up as our best selves most days.
Here are some of the habits we discuss:
Making sleep an absolute priority
Eating well every meal of every day
Having a mostly set schedule/routine
Reading and learning daily
Climbing with people who are stronger than us
Varying climbing workouts to stay motivated and consistent
Showing up consistently in climbing, even when conditions are not optimal
This is a look into both of our personal lives, how we approach the world, our work, our climbing, and our happiness. I hope you enjoy it!
Show Links
Performance Route Climbing Training Subscription Program ($18/mo with 7 day free trial)
Train with Coach Matt Pincus
I’m taking new life coaching clients
Try the Performance Route Climbing Training Subscription Program
If you want Matt to help you with your route climbing goals, he created an extensively detailed route training program that will help you gain strength, endurance, and work capacity so you can climb harder routes, get less pumped, and have more deliberate training sessions. There are 3 levels of the program with 50 days of training in each of them – that’s 3-6 months of training written out for you step by step.
The program is $18 per month and you can try it out for free for 7 days and cancel any time.
Learn More about the Performance Route Training Program 

TBP 236: Common Sense Finger Training with Matt and Alex

In this second installment of the “Common Sense Training Series,” I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how they go about finger training with their clients and themselves in the pursuit of gaining finger strength and keeping everyone’s fingers healthy and injury-free.
Basically, they both feel like this topic is extremely confusing to climbers, and they wanted to simplify what you should be thinking about when you’re trying to plan your finger training protocol. Matt talks about his minimal hangs protocol that he does every day, how that might apply to you, and why he thinks it’s so effective.
Alex talks about how she incorporates finger training into her warm-ups with a hangboard and in her climbing sessions just on the wall. They each give examples of some of their clients’ sustainable finger training protocols. Sustainability is a huge theme in this conversation because most of the time, people go in over their heads with finger training plans and they just can’t be sustained with busy schedules.
Then they give their 3 most important tips for making an effective, sustainable finger training plan for yourself.
As always, they did an amazing job of preparing for this interview, and both of them have so much experience at this point with training people that their advice is truly simple and easy to follow. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.
Show Links
Try out the Bouldering Program by Coach Matt Pincus at the new $18 price
Work with Matt as your coach
Work with Alex as your coach
 
Bouldering Training Program
If you’re tired of going into the gym without a plan and you want a clearly laid-out program made by an experienced coach, our Bouldering Training Program is just that. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as working one-on-one with a coach. Matt Pincus created this online subscription bouldering program based off of what has been super successful with his clients over the years.
There are 3 levels of training available to you, depending on how much experience you have with climbing training. You’ll go through non-linear cycles (learn more about what that means in the link below) of training power, strength, skill drills, and throughout it all you’ll be gaining all-day capacity.
Hundreds of people have felt an increase in their bouldering ability within weeks of being on this program, and you can too. You get a 7-day free trial to see if it works for you and you can cancel at any time. Go to the gym with a plan in your hand, trust the process, and see results, all for just $18 per month.
CHECK OUT THE BOULDERING PROGRAM SALE

TBP 235 :: How to Get Better at Climbing by Watching World Cups

In this episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about what she learns from watching all of the Climbing World Cups and how she uses those videos to teach her clients about their own climbing. You can passively watch any sport you want, but if you’re actually an athlete in that sport, you can turn those viewings into active learning sessions by asking yourself a few questions and being really observant. Here’s what we talked about: Why she chose this topic right now Why it’s important to have heroes in your sport What World Cup climbers can teach you What good climbing actually looks like What trying hard looks like How to be brave and try hard til the end Awareness of rope management while climbing Confidence in your body type by watching similar climbers at an elite level Normalizing success, failure, disappointment, elation, etc. while climbing What questions to ask yourself while watching in order to get the most out of it Having goals after watching Why you should actively watch other climbers at the gym and at the crag (and who to watch) Specific resources to watch Things to be aware of for your own well-being while watching I really loved how organized and thoughtful Alex was about this interview. I learned a lot and will be watching World Cups with a new lens now, and I hope you will too. Show Links Enroll in Alex’s 5.12 Breakthrough Series until July 28th, 2023 Work with Alex as your coach Try out our Bouldering Training Program Have questions? Email alex@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com

TBP 234: Thomas Cunningham on Biohacking for Climbing Performance

Back in April, I published an episode with Thomas Cunningham all about how he trains efficiently as a busy dad and ER physician to be able to send up to 5.14c projects in only 10-15 days outside climbing per year. You can listen to that episode in the link below: Listen to my first interview with Thomas   In that episode, we started talking about how he uses the Whoop (a wearable bio tracking device), continuous glucose meters, and some other biohacking type stuff, but the interview would’ve been reallllly long if we’d gone into all of it in details. So I asked him to come back for a second interview to talk about all of that. We’ll be doing another one soon on using bloodwork to optimize supplementation, etc. for climbing performance soon. So who is Thomas? Thomas is a 36-year-old emergency medicine physician and father of 3 children from Louisville, KY who’s been climbing for around 20 years. After talking to him for a while, I realized he is SUPER scientific about everything he does in climbing. This is no surprise because he’s quite an overachiever in his academic/professional life as well. He’s published a bunch of academic papers, he was chief resident at the University of Louisville Department of Emergency Medicine a while back, and WHILE he was doing that, he started a medical device company, Inscope Medical, and was VP of Innovations. He also completed an IronMan while he was an intern resident. Here is his CV if you’re interested. He’s an ambitious person, to say the least, and that means he has less time than some of us for climbing and training. Only getting outside climbing around 10-15 days per year, and focusing all of that time on very hard projects, he has learned that his training and all of his days outside have to be hyperfocused and specific. He also has to optimize his body for all the training he does and to be in peak performance mode when he’s trying to send. He’s used a continouse glucose meter (CGM) on himself in the past and he asked Sam Elias and Jonathan Horst to start wearing one in order to help them optimize their fueling for climbing. He came into this interview with data on both of them (and himself), including what they were eating before using the CGM, the changes they made to their diets after and while using it, and the effects it had on their climbing. The CGM basically takes a reading of your blood glucose every 5 minutes so you can see in real time how each food/meal affects you. We also talk a little more about the Whoop in this episode, which I’ve now gotten 6 of my friends and family using. It’s really interesting looking at the data each day about your sleep quality/quantity, how recovered you are, your HRV, and all kinds of stuff I’ve never paid attention to before. Thomas goes into how exactly he uses the whoop and how I’ve been using it myself. This episode was really fun for me because this stuff as a nutritionist is extremely interesting. I hope you love it too! Oh, and if you want to work with Thomas, you can do that by clicking on the link below: Work with Thomas on Your Own Biohacking

TBP 232: A Roadmap and a Checklist for Sending Route Projects Faster

In this episode, I sat down with Coach Matt Pincus to talk about his infamous “checklist” that he uses when he’s projecting a route (or a boulder – but usually routes). As a coach, often Matt’s job is less about creating strength training programs and more about using tactics to get people up their projects in an efficient way. He’s found that he’s been having a lot of conversations with clients lately about how to approach their route projects, now that it’s climbing season in a lot of places. This episode is dedicated to helping people approach hard projects (and sometimes even not-so-hard projects) to help keep yourself motivated and on the trajectory to a send. Matt uses a checklist of links and accomplishments he wants to make on a route before the final checkbox of sending. He shares how he creates that list, depending on what kind of route it is. He also talks about the following: A couple examples of his own project checklists 3 things he sees people do wrong while projecting Planning your climbing day efficiently Top down vs ground-up When to start being tactical on a route When to start giving redpoint burns   Show Links Train with Coach Matt Pincus How to Approach Routes Systematically: Top Down or Ground Up – Article by Matt Podcast Episode 134: The Principles of Projecting with Matt Article on Projecting Principles by Matt   Train with Matt Pincus If you want Matt to help you with your own goals, whether they’re with bouldering or route climbing, he’s available for month-long commitments where he’ll talk with you over zoom and create a program for you and keep in touch with you via the TrueCoach app throughout the month. He’ll help you get stronger overall and cater to your specific goals so the timing is right for you to send when it’s time to send. Learn More about Working with Matt

TBP 231: Common Sense Energy Systems Training with Alex and Matt

In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how they go about training their clients in the different energy systems. The “energy systems” we’re talking about are power endurance, endurance, strength, and power. Basically, they both feel like these things are extremely confusing to climbers, and they wanted to simplify what those systems require, what it takes to train them well and efficiently, and what workouts they prescribe for each of them. The thing is that it’s not super clear-cut because in climbing, we’re constantly switching from energy system to energy system. We’re not usually climbing at an easy steady state for very long, and we’re also not usually climbing super powerfully for very long. We go in and out of trying hard, resting, climbing easier stuff, etc. So they do their best to explain what is categorized as which energy system and exactly what to do, and when, in order to get better at one or all of them. As always, they did an amazing job of preparing for this interview, and both of them have so much experience at this point with training people that their advice is truly simple and easy to follow. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did. Show Links Try out the Bouldering Program by Coach Matt Pincus for 35% Work with Matt as your coach Work with Alex as your coach   Bouldering Training Program 35% Off  If you’re tired of going into the gym without a plan and you want a clearly laid-out program made by an experienced coach, our Bouldering Training Program is just that. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as working one-on-one with a coach. Matt Pincus created this online subscription bouldering program based off of what has been super successful with his clients over the years. There are 3 levels of training available to you, depending on how much experience you have with climbing training. You’ll go through non-linear cycles (learn more about what that means in the link below) of training power, strength, skill drills, and throughout it all you’ll be gaining all-day capacity. Hundreds of people have felt an increase in their bouldering ability within weeks of being on this program, and you can too. It’s 35% off right now, and you get a 7-day free trial to see if it works for you. Go to the gym with a plan in your hand, trust the process, and see results. CHECK OUT THE BOULDERING PROGRAM SALE

TBP 230 :: Alex Stiger on How to Approach the Different Angles of Climbing

Steep Climbing Workshop May 2nd, 2023 Coach Alex Stiger is hosting a 2-hour presentation + Q&A on how to train for steep climbing on the wall and off the wall. She’ll be using a series of videos and other resources to describe some climbing drills, strength training tactics, and mindset shifts to help you feel less intimidated and more confident on steeper angles of climbing. Alex will show you all the drills, all the strength exercises, and all the mindset practice you need to unlock steep climbing for yourself. You’ll find out exactly what to incorporate into your training plan and climbing sessions in this 2-hour workshop. What: Live presentation with Q&A throughout and afterward When: May 2nd at 6-8:15pm MDT Where: Zoom (you’ll receive details after purchase) Recorded: Everything will be recorded in case you can’t make it live Online Course: 3 months access to videos, drills, etc, from the presentation Cost: $39 If you sign up by this Friday, April 28th, you’ll be entered in a raffle to win Alex’s recent 5.12 Breakthrough Series (all the recordings), which is about 7 hours of video/audio content and worth $147. ​Sign Up for the Steep Climbing Workshop​     How to Approach the Different Angles of Climbing In this episode, I talk with TrainingBeta Coach, Alex Stiger, about the differences between the different angles of rock climbs: slab vertical slightly steep (less than 30 degrees) standard steep (30-45 degrees) We go over our own experience and mindset around each angle of climbing, what skills are involved with each, how to strength train for each, and mindset issues that come up around all of them. This is a lovely little exploration into the nuances of all of these different angles of climbing, and once again, Alex came prepared with a detailed outline of information that’s usable right away and interesting to listen to. She truly is such a keen observer of our sport.   Show Links Enroll in Alex’s Steep Climbing Workshop Work with Alex as your coach Have questions? Email alex@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com   Photo Credit Daila Ojeda enjoys the views of Monaco while climbing at La Turbie, France. Photo by Colette McInerney @etteloc