Episodes Feed
EP 243: Fundamentals S2 Part 5
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 5 of 6) — Injuries suck. And unfortunately, they happen to most of us who push against our limits. In part 5, we talk about what to do when you get injured. We cover the emotional and psychological side of injuries and share some tips and pitfalls to help you get back to climbing stronger than ever.
EP 224: Jana Švecová
Jana Švecová is a professional rock climber from the Czech Republic who has emerged as one of the top female boulderers in the world. We talked about her upbringing and her early success in competitions, her pivot to outdoor bouldering, her inspiration for choosing ‘Terranova’ 8C+/V16 as a project, making the first ascent of ‘Nova’ 8C/V15, using her finger injury as an opportunity, current training, and much more!
EP 222: Paul Houghoughi Returns
Paul Houghoughi (The Climbing Physio) returns for our promised part 2! This was every bit as good as our first episode. In part 2 we focused on how to build bulletproof knees and hamstrings for heel hooks, how to prevent shoulder injuries, how to strengthen and mobilize your neck and back, some of the most common changes to climber’s bodies as we age, and more. Paul also shared helpful advice for folks who feel overwhelmed by the endless possibilities of injury prevention.
EP 211: Davis Ngo (dr.climb)
Davis Ngo (dr.climb) is a climber, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Instagram personality. We talked about his upbringing as a first-generation Vietnamese American, blowing up on Instagram, why Sean Bailey deserves to make a living from climbing, breaking his back while highballing, overcoming fear after his injury, his dream of creating a bouldering competition in Bishop CA, and much more!
EP 207: Paul Houghoughi
Paul Houghoughi (The Climbing Physio) is one of the top physiotherapists in the world for climbing injuries. We talked about how to rehab lumbrical injuries, training with hypermobile fingers, wrist strengthening exercises, causes of synovitis and capsulitis, why stretching your fingers is important, blood work for stiff joints, tennis and golfers elbow, how to decipher different types of elbow pain, Paul’s top advice to not get injured, and much more!
EP 198: Travis Tameirao
Travis Tameirao is a 33-year-old from Rhode Island. On August 13, 2018, his life changed in a freak accident in the climbing gym. Three years and a dozen surgeries later, Travis miraculously returned to climbing and sent his first V10 and V11. We talked about his accident, getting a full knee replacement, how he made a full recovery, his incredible wife Katie, why he swims four times per week, treating yourself like you have the V17 gene, taking responsibility for your life, the interplay of luck and hard work, 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 143: Matt Heyliger
Matt Heyliger, DPT is one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve talked to when it comes to climbing-related injuries and rehab. We talked about climbing together in Ten Sleep, how he is currently helping me treat carpal tunnel syndrome, how to achieve long-term health and performance, his skiing injury and the eyeball story, top recommendations for climbers, lessons from living in Spain, and much more.
EP 122: Jared Vagy
Dr. Jared Vagy is a physical therapist who specializes in climbing injury rehab and prevention. We talked about freestyle rapping, the most common injuries in rock climbing, how to prevent knee, shoulder, elbow, and finger injuries as climbers, warming up your fingers at the crag, what to do to help your body recover on rest days, and much more.
EP 116: Paul Robinson
Paul Robinson is one of the top boulderers in the world and has been climbing at a V15 level for more than a decade. We talked about building his new house, recovering from neck surgery, his recent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, climbing 1000+ V11s or harder, his analogy of climbing as a book, hardest FAs, trying to climb V16, travel routines, filmmaking, and much more.
EP 110: “The Verm” Returns
This is round 2 with John Sherman aka “The Verm”. We sat in the desert near Hueco Tanks and chatted over a few beers. We talked about ‘Wheatiesgate’ and the lost art of heckling, finding and developing areas before the internet, dealing with aging, photographing and studying birds, life lessons, injury stories, and John’s favorite beers.
*I recommend listening to my first episode with Verm (EP 108) before this episode.
EP 91: Craig DeMartino
Craig DeMartino is a rock climber, motivational speaker, and teacher. His life changed in 2002 when he took a 100-foot ground fall. We talked about Craig’s accident and recovery, the decision to amputate his leg, climbing harder than ever after the accident, doing El Cap in a day, dealing with chronic pain, teaching adaptive climbing, and embracing a new normal.
EP 67: Heth Jennings
Heth Jennings is a Physical Therapist and Functional Medicine Practitioner who has been studying pain for over 20+ years. We talked about where pain comes from, how the brain uses pain to protect us, why chronic pain isn’t “just in our head”, how to rehab finger and elbow injuries, and other lifestyle interventions that help with recovery.
EP 60: Leif Gasch
Leif Gasch has been a climber for over 25 years and now works as a trainer and coach. We talked about his path from construction to coaching, balancing training with a physically demanding job, how to be a better weekend warrior, mini-goals, breaking into new grades, warming up for hard redpoints, and much more.
EP 32: Natasha Barnes
Natasha Barnes is a former professional climber, a national powerlifting champion, and a licensed chiropractor who specializes in strength training and rehabilitation for rock climbers. We talked about gaining weight to climb harder, calorie balance, common misconceptions about strength training, on and off seasons, tissue capacity, and rehabbing finger injuries.