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If you already spend 4 or 5 days a week climbing for your job as a setter, is it a good idea – or even just a feasible one – to take on a training program? How do you find the additional time, energy, and motivation? Plus, aren’t you just asking for an injury? In today’s Board Meeting episode, our very own coach Jess West answers these questions and more, providing valuable insight as to how setters can smartly and safely train for their goals.   Interested in working with Jess?  Check her availability HERE. Follow Jess on Instagram.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Don’t be fooled by Patty Law’s small frame and soft-spoken demeanor – she’s a fierce climber, mother, entrepreneur, and community cultivator. She’s been welcoming climbers through the doors of her gyms and into a thriving Cincinnati climbing community for more than 20 years now. Kris sits down with his long-time friend to talk about about her journey from a climbing-obsessed college student to a successful businesswoman and community leader.   Find Climb Time Blue Ash online and on Instagram! Find Climb Time Oakley online and on Instagram!   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

In January 2015, 7 years ago this week, I, along with countless others including many non-climbers, was glued to a saga happening on the side of El Cap. Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson were battling it out on what would become the world's hardest big wall free route, the Dawn Wall, and it was being streamed live. We watched as they topped out on January 14th after a tension-filled week in which Tommy had showed the world, in real-time, one of the most important things about climbing: partnership. So now, 7 years later almost to the day, that Tommy and Kevin topped out the Dawn Wall together, we are going to REWIND to this conversation about belief and partnership with one of the best all-around climbers on the planet, Tommy Caldwell.   This episode originally aired on October 26, 2017.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

“It's all about the process.” Sure, the journey is important, but so is the destination. It's not all about the journey. It’s about mapping out the journey that gets you to the intended destination. So is there a way to care about the outcome without making it the focus? In this Remix episode, we'll hear from athletes Sam Elias and Alex Megos, learning expert Trevor Regan, and mental training coach Arno Ilgner about how we can care about the outcome, but stay focused on the process.   REVISIT THE ORIGINAL EPISODES FROM THIS REMIX: Episode 17: Process vs. Goal Based Motivation with Arno Ilgner Episode 64: Fixed vs. Growth Mindset with Trevor Ragan Episode 127: Thoughtful Process with Sam Elias Ep. 152: Alex Megos and Ken Etzel | Rotpunkt   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website. Music in this episode is from Blue Dot Sessions. Spindash  Sylvestor 

Nominate the most inspiring ascents of 2022 at https://www.powercompanyclimbing.com/ascent Support the podcast and get bonus episodes at www.patreon.com/powercompanypodcast    

Kris and Nate sit down to discuss some of the perks and pitfalls of climbing in today’s modern mega gyms, and give some tips on how to deal with them. They’ll talk about how to handle things when the new sets are crowded, the gym is overrun with team kids, the bouldering wall is full of “weird” comp style setting, and you’re afraid attempting a boulder’s top out might cost you an ankle.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Today we're listening to the first episode of Built Outdoors, a new show Kris is hosting, with Amy Skinner and Joan Chase from the iconic gear shop, Wild Iris Mountain Sports. They talk history of the store and how it's inextricably linked to the rise of climbing in Lander, community, and business in a small mountain town.  Check out Episode 2 of Built Outdoors with Jay Halford from Backcountry Cobblers on the Plug Tone Outdoors Channel.  The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Certified Nutrition Specialist and co-host of The Average Climber Podcast, Caitlin Holmes, sits down with Kris to discuss body composition, which is often conflated with weight loss and can thus be a very polarizing topic.   Learn more about Caitlin and how you can work with her. Follow Caitlin on Instagram.   CHECK OUT CAITLIN’S NEW COURSE: BODY COMP PRO Body Comp Pro is a 4-week self-guided course for active individuals who want to learn how to change their body composition. This course will help you master your understanding of what really impacts body composition and the what, the why, and the how when it comes to body composition changes. By investing in this course, here's what you'll receive: An understanding of the diet and lifestyle factors you should consider when seeking body composition changes. The tools you need to estimate your energy and macronutrient intake. Knowledge of when to prioritize changes to body composition including weight loss and muscle gain. How to pursue safe and effective changes to your body composition. Save $50 by enrolling before December 16th and receive immediate access to the Body Comp Pro Masterclass. No coupon needed - discount already applied!  Full course becomes available January 9th, 2023. Enroll now in Body Comp Pro!   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Back in September, at the 8th annual Joe’s Valley Festival, Kris sat down to talk to local legend and longtime crusher Steven Jeffery, about how climbing has evolved since he first came onto the scene. They reflect on how today’s online resources like digital guidebooks and social media have impacted climbing.   Check out Steven's new guidebook on KAYA Pro!  Use code JV2WEEKS to get 2 weeks FREE! Join the Joe's Valley Coalition! Watch Reel Rock's United States of Joe's!   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

Kris and fellow Power Company coach, Taylor Fragomeni, sit down and discuss how you can make the transition from indoor to outdoor climbing easier on yourself. They’ll dive into the specifics with ways to: warm up well outdoors, even when a crag’s “warmups” aren’t great. prepare yourself for using “bad” feet outdoors. practice pacing yourself appropriately for changing difficulty throughout routes outdoors. making difficult clips outdoors.   Find Taylor at Tangent Climbing. Follow Taylor on Instagram.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

In today’s episode, Kris sits down with shaper and setter Roy Quanstrom, of Tension Climbing. They talk about Roy’s newest holds from Trango, the Khans and the Fuegos, and the climbing experiences that inspired their design. Check out the Khans and the Fuegos, from Trango Holds. Find Roy at Tension Climbing. Follow Roy on Instagram.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

In today’s episode, Kris sits down to catch up with fellow climbing coach, Eric Hörst. They chat about how some big life shifts – Eric’s retirement, the success of his nutrition brand, PhysiVantage, and becoming an empty nester – have impacted his climbing and training.   Learn more with training resources from Eric. Learn more about PhysiVantage Nutrition. Follow Eric on Instagram.   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

In this episode, Kris and Paul discuss a paper that investigates how different energy systems contribute to climbing performance: Climbing-Specific Exercise Tests: Energy System Contributions and Relationships With Sport Performance Authored by Marcin Maciejczyk, Michail Lubomirov Michailov, Magdalena Więcek, Jadwiga Szymura, Robert Rokowski, Zbigniew Szygula, and Ralph Beneke; published in Frontiers in Physiology in January, 2022. They’ll explain the different energy systems and how they were measured in the study using three finger flexor muscle tests. They’ll consider how well these measurements can act as reliable performance indicators for climbing. Special thanks to AJ Sobrilsky at Excel Physical Therapy in Bozeman and also the Climb Strong team for suggesting this paper! New episodes of Breaking Beta drop on Wednesdays. Make sure you’re subscribed, leave us a review, and share! And please, tell all of your friends who have their energy system training totally dialed in but say “Take!” as soon as they are getting pumped, that you have the perfect podcast for them. Breaking Beta is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and Crux Conditioning, and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. Find full episode transcripts, citations, and more at our website. Season 2 of Breaking Beta is proudly supported by Gnarly Sports Nutrition. For a limited time, Breaking Beta listeners can take 15% off their purchase using the code BETA15 at checkout! Or simply click the link above to shop and have the discount automatically applied. Follow Kris and Breaking Beta on Instagram  Follow Paul and Crux Conditioning on Instagram  If you have questions, comments, or want to suggest a paper we should cover, find us at our Community + Knowledge Hub. Our music is from legendary South Dakota band Rifflord.

I’m actually not a big fan of the term “drills”, but I don’t have a better word for it. I don’t like it for several reasons: One, because we aren’t “drilling” anything in. Despite the popular belief, that’s not actually how learning works. Performance, maybe, but not learning. And in my book, these “drills” are for learning.  Two, there are just too many coaches who assume that harder equals better. They just keep stacking difficulties onto their drills as if those difficulties are all going to make you better at climbing. Now we see climbers bouncing one-legged on a Bosu Ball balanced on a slackline while blindfolded and miming rose moves because… WHY?  Yeah, I don’t know either. And today, we’re going to talk about why that might not be the best solution.   Taped Tips is presented by Power Company Climbing and Plug Tone Audio.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.

In this episode, Kris and Nate are joined by coach Lauren Abernathy and nutritionist Caitlin Holmes of The Average Climber Podcast. The four discuss some of the biggest ways they see climbers getting in their own way. They chat about the impact that shifting your perspective can have, how easy it can be to get caught up in comparing yourself to others, and why reading all the Mountain Project comments on that route you’re psyched to check out might not be the best idea. Plus, they’ll answer a question that’s been plaguing climbers for ages: what’s the best brand of gummy bears?   Find Lauren online at: goodsprayclimbing.com Find Caitlin online at: dirtbagnutrition.com   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month! Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

You’re a coach, or a climbing partner, or simply a concerned friend. You’re watching your client, student, partner, or bestie struggle.  And you want to help.  But how? That’s actually a great question. Because the answer is situational. It entirely depends on the goal. Today, we’re going to learn why.   Taped Tips is presented by Power Company Climbing and Plug Tone Audio.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.

You’ve heard of the SAID principle, right? S-A-I-D: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. You’ve heard of it.  And you thought that it meant simply that to get better at climbing, you have to climb on boulders that look just like the climbs you do outside, right?  If that was you, you were in the majority.  But you were wrong.  Is climbing pulling straight down on edges? Not always. Is it compressing on slopers? Not always. Is it jumping from grip to grip? Sometimes. Is it moving slow and precise. Pretty often, actually.  Is it full-crimping? Half-crimping? Open hand? 3 Finger Drag? Middle 2? Back 3? Mono? Crosley? Pinch? Back-stepping, drop-kneeing, twisted, square, toe-hooking, heel-hooking, edging, smearing, blah blah blah… Well, It’s all of these things. And thousands more things. It’s too much. So today, we’re going to learn a little more about what specificity actually means.   Taped Tips is presented by Power Company Climbing and Plug Tone Audio.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.

Climbers are really good at creating a performance environment. Really, really good. No, I’m not saying that you’re good at performing – some of you suck at it and could use a lot of help –but you’re always TRYING to perform. But if you want to get better, that might be a big mistake. Today, we’re going to find out why.   Taped Tips is presented by Power Company Climbing and Plug Tone Audio.   In our Coaching for Mastery course, we go DEEP into how coaches and climbers can create an effective practice. That’s literally what the entire course is about. The research, the theories, my experience, and how you can practically apply it.

We are happy to announce that due to the generous donations from two anonymous donors, we are able to offer two scholarships for our 10 Week Coaching for Mastery Mentorship Group, as well as three spots for the course itself.  Having worked with a lot of climbing coaches over the past decade, it’s been exciting to see the industry becoming more diverse. We want to do what we can to help that trend.  Applications are open to everyone, with priority given to those who otherwise may not have the resources to participate. Applications will close on Monday, October 17th and winners will be notified later that week.  Please share this post or link with your network, and particularly with the folks you know who deserve the opportunity - or you can pop into the applications and nominate someone yourself! Thanks.  Learn more about the Coaching for Mastery Course. Apply for one of the Scholarships.  

How to use data and measurements to inform training decisions had been a topic of debate amongst Kris and the other Power Company coaches for years. That is until today’s guest, Data Analyst, Dale Wilson, stepped in to settle the score once and for all. Dale and Kris chat about how and why Power Company Climbing collects certain measurements from their clients. They discuss the usefulness of these measurements in predicting climbing performance and how this data can be helpful to coaches when designing programming. They also talk about how important it is not to get too wrapped up in the numbers, and how easily many climbers fall into the trap of training to improve numbers rather than to reach their goals. DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE: How Power Company Climbing uses data and measurements in their program design. How Kris and Dale personally use data in their own climbing and training. Which measurements seem to “matter” - and which don’t. The downside of putting too much stock in numbers.   Learn more about Metrics for Climbers from Dale. See the charts and tables we've compiled based on our ever-growing data set. Let Dale crunch the numbers for you with our Mini-Assessment + Analysis.   Check out the newest course from the Power Company Climbing Academy, Coaching for Mastery, available now!   The Power Company Podcast is brought to you by Power Company Climbing and is a proud member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective. You can help us keep episodes ad-free by becoming a Patron for as little as $3 a month. Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.