Episodes Feed
EP 250: Beth Rodden
Beth Rodden is one of the best female rock climbers of all time. We talked about her kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan, facing backlash after her divorce, reflections on her climbing career, her history with Magic Line, disconnecting self-worth from achievement, the unwinnable game of climbing, personal evolution, why she loves human stories, and much more. Her new book, A Light Through the Cracks: A Climber’s Story is available now.
EP 220: Alannah Yip
Alannah Yip is a professional climber from Canada who competed at the Tokyo Olympics. We talked about getting diagnosed with alopecia and the emotional journey of losing her hair, taking back her power, preparing for the Olympic Qualifying Series, lessons from Tokyo, mantras for slab boulders, her involvement with IFSC policies to prevent eating disorders and RED-S, her eating disorder as a teenager, why she plans to retire from comps, rock climbing goals, and much more!
EP 197: Melina Costanza Returns
Melina Costanza swept the US National Championships in October, making one hell of a comeback after her competition break. She returns to the podcast to talk about why Nationals was the hardest competition she has ever done, how to use nerves to focus and thrive, training for Nationals, praising effort, her fueling strategy, gaining weight to be more powerful, Alex Johnson’s hype shirt, balancing training with fueling and mental health, choosing good over perfect, upcoming goals, and much more!
EP 193: Mat Wright
Mat Wright has quickly established himself as one of the best trad climbers in Britain and is a world-class all-rounder having climbed E11, 5.14c, and V15. We talked about his humble beginnings in low-income government housing, teaching himself how to rope solo as a teenager, reaching V13 and 5.14c in his first three years of climbing, pivoting to hardcore trad climbing, his upcoming film in the Brit Rock Film Tour, and much more!
EP 174: Bernd Zangerl
Bernd Zangerl a bouldering legend from Austria. We talked about his early climbing and making the 2nd ascent of Dreamtime, some of his proudest FAs, how he recovered from a career-ending injury in 2016, his mindset for highballs, meditation and the power of the mind, believing in love, our impact as climbers, sustainability, and discovering world-class bouldering in the Himalayas.
EP 155: Caleb Robinson
Caleb Robinson is an ex-competitive soccer player, elite boulderer, route setter, and photographer. He started climbing at age 17 and sent his first V13 in just four years. We talked about the biggest lessons he learned from competitive soccer, how deadlifting fixed his back, a typical week of training, his finger training journey, the power of consistency over time, finding his artistic expression in photography, and much more!
EP 135: Alice Hafer
Alice Hafer is a climber, writer, and coach who specializes in mind power training. We talked about climbing her first 5.14s, her experiences with depression and anxiety and how she changed her own mind through mental training, finding an identity outside of climbing, tips for staying motivated, focusing on effort over outcomes, and using box jumps to train for climbing power.
BONUS: Charlie Manganiello
Charlie Manganiello has been coaching with Climb Strong for seven years and now heads the Elemental Strength program in Lander, WY. We talked about focusing all of your energy on one thing, misconceptions about deadlifting, maintenance strength training, Charlie’s go-to hangboard protocol, why climbing is important, and keeping things in perspective.
BONUS: Alex Bridgewater
Alex Bridgewater is a high-level rock climber who moved to Lander, WY in 2016, to train at Elemental as part of the Climb Strong Program. Alex now works for Climb Strong as a coach. We talked about his transition into coaching, managing a chronic back injury, favorite barbell and bodyweight exercises, speed walking, and the importance of self-belief.
EP 36: Climb Strong Team
This is a mashup episode from the 2020 Climb Strong Training Camp. We talked about hangboard training, strength as a skill, climbing performance, takeaways from the training camp, and lessons learned from coaching athletes. Featuring: Chrissy Vadovszki, Jonathan Siegrist, Ken Klein, Carly Cain, Alex Bridgewater, Kathryn Perkinson, Charlie Manganiello, and Amanda Sempert.
EP 35: Steve Bechtel
Steve Bechtel is a strength coach and the founder of Climb Strong. We talked about the gift of changing your mind, lessons from studying sprinting and how to apply them to climbing, developing aerobic capacity, why Jonathan Siegrist and BJ Tilden are such successful climbers, the “real secret” to success, creating better habits, and Logical Progression 2.