The Trainingbeta Podcast | A Rock Climbing Podcast

In this episode, Coach Matt Pincus talks about the most common advice he gives to his climbing coaching clients. He finds that he has really similar converations with many of his clients, so over the years he’s come up with 4 sayings that he elaborates on during client calls. We’re not going to get into the nitty gritty of sets and reps or specific ways to train in this episode, but you will likely find some nuggets that will help you Occam’s razor your climbing and training days. Show Links Do an hour coaching session with Matt Work with Matt as your coach Do Matt’s Bouldering Training Program Have topics you want us to cover? Email matt@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com Train with Matt Coach Matt Pincus provides training plans to climbers of all levels from anywhere in the world. If you need help with your climbing strength, power, mental game, skills, or tactics, Matt can help you. He will sit down with you over zoom to find out your goals, your available equipment, and time restrictions and

In this episode, I talk all about what to eat at the crag and the couple days before going to the crag so that you can have all-day energy and climb hard. I know it’s tempting to just not eat all day at the crag so you can feel “light” and climb hard, but the truth is that we need food at regular intervals every day, especially when we’re trying to perform athletically at a high level. So I’ll tell you what foods to pack in with you, what kinds of nutrients to focus on, and how to structure your day so it feels doable to get all the food you need. Not only will this help your performance on that day, but it’ll also help you recover better so you don’t feel like you got hit by a truck the next day. This is a recording taken from a 5-day nutrition challenge I did in 2020 in front of a live zoom audience. I talked for about 15 minutes on the topic and then took a bunch of questions from the audience (very common questions, so they’re quite relevant). Nutrition Podcast Episodes in This Series TBP 209 :: Calorie

  In this episode, Dr. Tyler Nelson talks about his new insights about the longstanding use of the fingerboard to train finger strength in climbing. Once again, Tyler pored over the research and wants us all to know that there are limitations to how fingerboard training translates to actual rock climbing. He talks about the physiology of hangboarding and two potentially better ways to train finger strength. Tyler also wrote an article about this topic, which you can find here.   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 Str

In the episode, Coach Matt Pincus talks about the different kinds of “endurance” in climbing, and how to train each of them. We go over the anaerobic lactic system (power endurance), the aerobic system (long-form endurance), and the anaerobic alactic system (power) and the differences between them. Then Matt goes through some different training methods for each and how to incorporate those into your training program. I also selfishly ask Matt about what I’m doing to train endurance to get his opinions on it, which was super helpful for me.   Show Links Do an hour coaching session with Matt Work with Matt as your coach Do Matt’s Bouldering Training Program Have topics you want us to cover? Email matt@trainingbeta.com or neely@trainingbeta.com

This episode is a LITTLE bit different than all my others in that we’re going to be talking about training, but for a different species: dogs! So many climbers have dogs, and because climbing has gotten so popular in the past couple decades, there are more and more dogs at crags and boulders. Sometimes this is an amazing thing and sometimes dogs can be a little out of control. So I asked my dog trainer, Jenna Teti, to come on the show to shed a little light on some things we can do to get our dogs to behave better at the crag and boulders (and all the time). Jenna is the owner and Head Trainer & Behavior Consultant at Think Smart Dog Training out of Longmont, Colorado, where I live. She has a LOT of certifications in dog behavior, and here is her description of what she does from her website: As a behavior consultant, my goal is to go beyond teaching you and your dog skills. I work with the human client to help them better understand their dog and their behavior in a way that is informative and fun! With

New Nutrition and Training Program: Reach Coach Alex Stiger and Neely Quinn are hosting an integrated climbing training and nutrition program starting on August 8th, 2022 for 4 weeks! If you want to up your game in nutrition and in climbing training (and learn more about what Alex talks about in this article), you can check it out in the link below. In the program, you’ll get a 4-week training program from Alex, a comprehensive nutrition course + one-on-one time with Neely, plus weekly live meetings with Alex and Neely and a lot more. As a podcast listener, you get $50 off the program using the code “Reach” at checkout. Use Code “Reach” at Checkout for $50 Off of Reach Calories for Climbing Performance and Body Composition In this episode, I talk all about how to figure out how many calories–how much food–you should be eating in your meals, snacks, and throughout each day in order to feel energized, climb well, and have the body composition that’s right for you. We’ll talk about how to objectively and mathem

Free Masterclass on the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Training and Climbing Next Tuesday we’re doing a free, live masterclass on zoom to talk about the 5 most common training and nutrition mistakes climbers make and how to avoid them. When: Tuesday, July 26th at 6-7:30pm Mountain Time Where: Zoom call Hosts: Alex Stiger and Neely Quinn What: 60-minute presentation and 30 minutes of Q&A from live audience: How to avoid common training mistakes How to avoid common nutrition mistakes How to make your outdoor climbing experiences more fun and productive Efficient training and nutrition methods *Masterclass will be recorded for anyone who can not make it to the live event. ​>>>Sign up for the Free Masterclass Here     TBP 208 :: Alex and Neely’s Biggest Nutrition and Training Mistakes In this episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about our own biggest mistakes in climbing, whether they’re about training, climbing tactics, or nutrition. We both picked about 6 things that stuck out in our minds as WRONG, and

Allison Vest is a 27-year-old climber who lives in Salt Lake City. She’s originally from Minnesota and moved to Canada when she was 7, where she fell in love with climbing. She had a lot of success competing as a Canadian, winning the Canadian Bouldering Nationals in 2018 and 2020 and winning Canadian Lead Nationals in 2019. In August 2019, Allison became the first female Canadian climber to send V13 when she did The Terminator in Squamish, which you can watch a video about here. She’s since done 4 more V13’s. This February, she became the first female Canadian climber to send V14 when she did Show Your Scars in Ogden, Utah. She’s known for her hilarious antics on Instagram, but also for her huge ape index (+7), which at 5’6″ makes her reach the same as a 6’1″ person. Allison was recently featured on Tyler Nelson’s Instagram (@c4hp) because Tyler tested her one-arm strength and her finger strength and said, “If I didn’t see it myself, I’d have trouble believing it.” Basically, she’s the strongest person (not

Work with Matt or Alex as Your Climbing Coach Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger are both experienced climbing coaches who will work with you from anywhere in the world to help you create and reach your climbing goals. They can either consult with you on making your own program or they will create a detailed program for you based on your lifestyle and equipment availability. WORK WITH MATT OR ALEX   How Alex, Matt, and I Are Approaching Our Mega Projects In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how we trained and prepared for our projects, which are the hardest routes we’ve tried. We go over what the projects mean to us, how we stay mentally focused, and what we’re doing this summer to train for when the weather gets better. This is an intimate look at how two climbing coaches and I think about and physically prepare for hard rock climbing, and I hope it gives you some inspiration and ideas for your own projects!   Episode Details Where we all are in our processes with our p

Erin Ettenger is a 25-year-old software engineer who lives in Seattle, Washington. I asked Erin to be on the show because she uses our Route Climbing Training Program and has had some amazing success on it, so I wanted her to share her story with you all.  Through using the program (and adapting it intelligently to her own needs), she gained work capacity, meaning she can now climb more routes in a session, and she improved her overall strength levels.  She went from mega-projecting 5.11a to regularly warming up on 5.11a's in a relatively short time. She'll tell you all about what she liked about the program, what was hard, and how all of this has translated to her outdoor climbing. 

In the episode, Coach Matt Pincus talks about how he trained all winter/spring for his 5.14b project in Wyoming this summer and some mistakes he made along the way. While Matt is a seasoned coach and climber, he was under some various constraints that made training challenging this year. One of those constraints was that Matt was working at a restaurant and coaching for a total of about 70 hours per week, so his plan needed to be efficient. The other is that he only had a board to climb on the entire time, and not that much other equipment. He made some mistakes along the way and suffered some consequences, and he’ll tell you all about what he learned in this episode. I think anyone listening to this episode will learn a few things about proper training tactics, whether you have similar constraints or not.   Episode Details What he did (and is doing) to train for his 5.14b project this summer What went wrong How he fit training in to 70+ hour work weeks Injuries/inflammation that occured How he’s dealing

Katie Lamb is a 24-year-old boulderer out of the Bay area who has proven her abilities over and over with consistent sends of V14 boulders. Included in her resumé are The Swarm (V13/14) in Bishop, New Base Line (V14) in Magic Wood in Switzerland, Jade (V14) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Direct North (V14) in Bishop, and so many more. She’s a Stanford graduate and works half time as a data scientist focused on clean energy, but her main priority is climbing. She’s surprisingly not sponsored, and I asked her why that is and if she would be a full-time climber instead of working as a data scientist. I also asked Katie about what sets her apart from other climbers–what makes her sooo good at bouldering. She started climbing at a really young age just outside of Boston on a youth team that emphasized the importance of outdoor climbing. She’s taken those values to heart and hasn’t competed indoors for a long time, preferring to spend all of her time outside on hard projects. One of the reasons I asked Katie to

In this episode, Tyler explains the most common youth finger injuries, what ages are at highest risk, how to mitigate them, and what to do if a youth climber has a finger injury. Once again, Tyler pored over the research and is sharing this information with us so that youth coaches and parents are better equipped to understand these injuries and avoid permanent damage to their kids. Tyler Nelson has a lot of qualifications, so I’m going to let his website sum those up for you: Tyler is a second generation chiropractor whose father was a leader in chiropractic sports medicine for many years. In graduate school he did a dual doctorate and masters degree program in exercise science with an emphasis on tendon loading. He completed his masters degree at BYU and was a physician for the athletics department for 4 years out of school. He currently is the owner of Camp4 Human Performance where he treats clients through his license as a chiropractic physician. He also is an instructor for the Performance Climbing Coac

Dr. Jared Vagy is a physical therapist and he’s a climber who’s incredibly motivated to help other climbers heal their bodies. In this interview, we talk about new research about common finger injuries in climbers and how that’s affected his protocols for healing them. We did another interview about fingers a long time ago in Episode 116, but this is an update to that information and a deeper dive into it. Jared’s book Climb Injury-Free is on its seventh print run and is back in stock (finally). Order his book here. This interview is super in-depth and he describes exact protocols to use on finger injuries, so I hope it helps you out if you have a finger injury now or if you have in the past. More Details 40% of climbing injuries are fingers! Most common finger injuries and how they happen Pulleys vs tendons explained How to diagnose finger injuries How new research has affected his protocols What the popping sound is during an injury How long recovery takes Two ways to approach pulley sprains Medications an

6-Week Team Training Program Starts April 18th On April 18th, Coach Alex Stiger’s 4th cohort of her Team program will begin! This is a group training program that ALSO provides you with a training program built just for you. You’ll be getting to know a small group of no more than 12 people, talking with them every week. You’ll get a lot of one-on-one time with Alex, and you’ll also get everything below… More one-on-one time – 2.5 hours instead of 1.75 hours over the 6 weeks (that’s more one-on-one time than any other coaching option) Team zoom meetings every week that will be recorded – get climbing video analyzed, ask questions, go over specific topics Completely individualized 6-week training program for just you Intensive 6-week online course – video tutorials, deep dives into important training and mental topics to help you improve quickly Anytime Q&A via individual messaging or group chat Weekly feedback on climbing and training videos you take during the course Direction on how to continue with yo

In the episode, Coach Matt Pincus discusses the common issue of not having the energy to execute a programmed session. I’m sure you’ve been at the gym with the intention of projecting routes or doing some limit bouldering, only to find that you can hardly get off the ground on your warm-ups. Whether you have a training program written by another coach or by yourself, Matt goes over some alternative plans for limit bouldering sessions, strength sessions (outside of climbing), and volume/endurance sessions. You don’t have to scrap the whole session (unless you really need to do that). You can make the most out of a crappy day by lowering intensity or working on skills, for instance. We go over it in detail so you can easily make a plan B next time this happens to you.   Episode Details Why it’s normal for not every session to feel great Acceptable choices for what to do instead Limit bouldering alternatives Strength training alternatives Volume climbing alternatives Why an endurance session may not be a goo

TBP 197 :: Lillian Chao-Quinlan, President of Sportrock, on Sending 50 5.13’s by the Age of 50 Lillian Chao-Quinlan is a climber in her early 50’s who is also the president of Sportrock Climbing Centers in Virginia. She began climbing when she was 30 years old and soon realized it was what she wanted to spend her life doing and teaching, so she quickly moved up the ranks at her gym, landing in the role of president. In the past 17 years, she’s worked tirelessly to make Sportrock an inclusive, high quality climbing gym where her employees and gym members can thrive. A few years ago, Lillian realized that she’d sent 43 5.13’s, so she resolved to climb 50 5.13’s by the time she was 50 years old. In this interview she describes how she was able to surpass that goal, and what she has learned through her years of climbing and running a large climbing gym. Her mindset with climbing–and life in general–is applaudable and her devotion to personal growth is calculated and inspirational. In this talk we discussed the m

Keenan Takahashi is a 30-year-old professional climber who has sent boulders up to V15. Originally from Davis, California, he started out as a skater and transitioned to climbing at about 17 years old. I wanted to talk with Keenan because–let’s be honest–I love his moustachio… and because I wanted to understand what sets him apart from other climbers. He’s climbed all over the world, he’s in countless videos (just google his name), and he clearly tries VERY HARD to excel at this sport. He’s intense and light-hearted all at the same time. He’s confident and humble at the same time, and I admire all of those qualities very much. I was honored to have a Skype sit-down with him from his van in Yosemite. We talked about his journey in climbing and what sets him apart as a climber, which he thinks is his obsessive personality. Honestly, I’ve never thought that being obsessive was a positive quality, but after talking to him I kind of want to cultivate more of it in my climbing life. His pursuits of progression and

How to Assess and Improve Your Skill Set in Climbing In the episode, I talk with Coach Alex Stiger about how she assesses her clients’ and her own skill level and then how she helps her clients (and herself) improve upon it with drills and objective learning. This is a big one, and I walked away from this conversation sort of blown away by how much I’ve been missing in my climbing training all these years. There’s SO MUCH more I could’ve been doing this whole time to make improvements where hangboarding or other strength training just can’t help. We go over in depth how Alex first analyzes her clients’ technique, skills, overall usage of their bodies, and tactics. She describes how she quantifies everything to make it less nebulous and more objective, and then creates drills to see objective improvements going forward. We then talk about 7 experiences Alex has had while climbing outside that have led her to change her tactics, improve her skills, and be able to practice all of it further in the gym and

Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger are both experienced climbing coaches who will work with you from anywhere in the world to help you create and reach your climbing goals. They can either consult with you on making your own program or they will create a detailed program for you based on your lifestyle and equipment availability. WORK WITH MATT OR ALEX   Goal Setting in Climbing In the episode, I sit down with Coaches Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger to discuss how we approach goal setting for ourselves and for our clients. Goal setting can be overwhelming and it’s easy to get lost in the details while overlooking the big picture (and vice versa). We go over our personal goal setting strategies, how fear of failing can affect people in their goal-setting, things to consider when you’re setting goals for a climbing trip, and how to stay grounded in our OWN goals without comparing ourselves too much with the person who’s warming up on our project.   Episode Details What we’ve all been focusing on in our lives lately Ho