EP 85: Emil Abrahamsson
September 6, 2021
Emil Abrahamsson is an elite boulderer, route setter, and YouTuber from Sweden. We talked about goal setting and projecting his first V15 as a V9 climber, the importance of psych and inspiration, experimenting with hangboarding training two times per day, how to do one-arm pullups, sharing the experience of outdoor climbing through films, and making a living through his YouTube channel.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts
Check out other episodes with Emil:
Follow-Up: Emil Abrahamsson (Mar 23, 2023)
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Emil’s Films:
Emil’s trying ‘The Big Island’ (watch this one first)
Emil’s first session on ‘The Big Island’ (older video)
Felix trying ‘The Queen Mother’ V13
Hangboarding Two Times Per Day for 30 Days
Other Resources:
Eric Karlsson’s YouTube Channel
Jimmy Webb — Possessed (my favorite J-Webb film)
Route’s Mentioned:
‘Off The Wagon’ 8B+/V14, Bavona, Switzerland
‘Dreamtime’ 8C/V15, Cresciano, Switzerland
‘The Big Island’ 8C/V15, Fontainebleau, France
‘The Queen Mother’ 8B/V13, Sweden
Emil’s Links:
Nuggets:
3:11 – Building a van and planning a bouldering trip around Europe
6:01 – My bouldering goals, Emil’s progression, and setting goals
9:27 – Trying a V15 as a V9 climber, and how a lot of climbers stay “comfortable” at a specific level
12:53 – ‘The Big Island’
17:17 – Emil’s first day of climbing, struggling early on, and getting hooked
19:38 – Alternating difficulty and volume goals
21:32 – ‘The Queen Mother’ (Emil’s first 8B/V13 project in Stockholm), and the limiting power of expectations
29:21 – Reflecting on ‘The Queen Mother’, and prioritizing psych and motivation
32:00 – Felix
37:13 – “Swiss Recruitment”, or the Swiss style of projecting
41:00 – How Emil got into YouTubing, capturing the experience of outdoor climbing, and my impression as a viewer
44:27 – Forgetting to charge the batteries, and the stress vs. fun of filming
47:42 – Work-life balance when you love your work, and turning YouTubing into a career
49:34 – How to balance capturing footage with training or performing, and capturing the good and the bad
51:15 – Emil’s “No Hangs” hangboard video, and his caveat for training advice
56:00 – Quick overview of the “No Hang” hangboard protocol, and Emil’s theory of why his fingers got stronger
1:00:16 – We get most of our strength through climbing
1:01:41 – 4x4s and other climbing games
1:04:10 – Training your strengths, and practicing weaknesses through climbing
1:06:59 – How Emil structures his training, and embracing the stretching “pain game”
1:11:49 – Turning challenges into positives, and the benefits Emil has noticed from stretching
1:14:46 – Patron question from Florian about avoiding crimping early on in his climbing, and how Emil worked to improve his crimp strength later
1:18:34 – How Emil rewired his brain to think, “Full crimps are comfortable. I can enjoy these.”
1:19:32 – Emil’s crimp progression and current level
1:21:53 – One-arm pull-ups, 4mm crimps, front levers, and getting weaker on purpose to get better at technique
1:28:55 – Emil’s recommendations for progressing to a one-arm pullup
1:33:41 – How Emil pronounces his name, and a Patron question from Flynn about training for indoors vs. outdoors and competing in World Cups
1:41:12 – Flash training
1:43:44 – World Cup goals, and the flame of competition
1:47:34 – What is one of the weirdest/worst training experiments that you’ve tried?
1:50:24 – Favorite films, the critical eye, and the need for consistent content
1:54:48 – Recommendations for new viewers
1:56:35 – Emil’s dream collaboration
1:58:17 – Gratitude
2:01:03 – Finishing the van, and plans for Switzerland and Italy