Episodes Feed
EP 246: Fundamentals S2 Part 6
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 6 of 6) — If you climb long enough, you’ll inevitably hit a plateau. In part 6, Jesse and I share our top tips and pitfalls for how to break through plateaus and continue progressing in your climbing. We cover the importance of focusing on skills rather than grades, doubling down on the basics, how to continually progress as a climber, and much more.
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 241: Fundamentals S2 Part 4
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 4 of 6) — Everybody wants stronger fingers. In this episode, Jesse and I share our top tips and pitfalls when it comes to building functional finger strength for climbing. We cover our favorite finger training methods, key principles to follow, how to apply your strength to the rock, how to avoid finger injuries, the power of consistency, and much more.
EP 239: Fundamentals S2 Part 3
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 3 of 6) — In part 3, we step into the weight room. We cover weight training fundamentals, including the SAID principle, progressive overload, RPE, autoregulation, the big 4, and the rule of 10. We also discuss why we both lift, why climbers should train differently than weight lifters, programming ideas, common mistakes, and more.
EP 236: Fundamentals S2 Part 2
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 2 of 6) — In part 2, we share our top tips for training on spray walls and home walls. We cover training setup considerations, route setting tips, best apps for saving and sharing climbs, mastering benchmark climbs, how to iterate on your climbs for incremental progress, hacks for building a home wall on a budget, and more.
EP 234: Fundamentals S2 Part 1
Fundamentals Season 2 (Part 1 of 6) — In this episode, Jesse and I each share our top tips and pitfalls for how to climb on a training board, such as a Tension Board, Moonboard, Kilter Board, Grasshopper Board, etc. This episode contains nuggets for folks who are just getting started with board climbing, as well as seasoned board lords.
EP 186: Q&A 7 (feat. Ethan Pringle)
The final episode from Rocklands! Ethan Pringle joins me for a fireside chat on my last day in South Africa. We share a wrap-up of the trip, and tackle Patron questions about Ethan’s back injury and rehab, his favorite climbing areas in California, why I still do “No Hangs”, my send of Octopussy and projecting tips, how I use the Tindeq, Ethan’s most epic bat hangs, mental health struggles and setbacks, challenging your perceived limits, why Ethan thinks I should spend more time training on commercial gym sets, my thoughts about Rocklands overall, and much more!
EP 162: Fundamentals Part 6
Fundamentals (Part 6 of 6) — In this episode, Jesse and I dive into how to structure your climbing year. We talk about the circumstances that led to some of our best years in climbing, the importance of having a plan and taking notes, why focus tends to produce excellence, how to build from one phase to the next, and making sure your training supports your climbing. Happy planning!
EP 160: Fundamentals Part 5
Fundamentals (Part 5 of 6) — In part 5 of this series, Jesse and I share our tips and pitfalls for picking a project. As Jesse says in this episode, picking the right projects is a key part of having a satisfying climbing experience. We cover some of our best projecting experiences, as well as times we botched it, and we try to pass on what we learned along the way. Have fun projecting!
EP 158: Fundamentals Part 4
Fundamentals (Part 4 of 6) — In part 4 of this series, Jesse and I discuss our top tips for how to improve your climbing technique, and share common pitfalls that can prevent progress. These are fundamental tips that you can practice at the climbing gym, the boulders, or the crag. We hope this episode helps you more closely examine your movement so you can level up your climbing!
EP 156: Fundamentals Part 3
Fundamentals (Part 3 of 6) — In part 3 of this series, Jesse and I discuss tips and pitfalls for going on a sport climbing trip. Whether you are a weekend warrior, planning your first-ever sport climbing trip, or a seasoned veteran, we hope this episode will help you send your dream routes and enjoy your climbing along the way.
EP 154: Fundamentals Part 2
Fundamentals (Part 2 of 6) — In part 2 of this series, Jesse and I dive deeper into specific tips and pitfalls for going on a bouldering trip. We covered a wide range of topics including training and preparation, crash pad and kit recommendations, how to manage skin and energy, good bouldering ethics, how to boulder in a group, and much more.
EP 152: Fundamentals Part 1
Fundamentals (Part 1 of 6) — In this episode, Jesse and I each share our top tips and pitfalls for going on a climbing trip. Whether you are planning your first-ever climbing trip, or are a seasoned climber, we think you’ll find some helpful nuggets here. We learned these lessons the hard way. Hopefully, you won’t have to.
EP 150: Luke Mehall
Luke Mehall is the creator of The Climbing Zine and The Dirtbag State of Mind podcast. In this episode, we take turns interviewing each other. I ask Luke why he started The Climbing Zine, what lessons climbing has taught him, what themes connect the stories he selects, and how to sustain creative work. He asks me about my origin story with The Nugget, what all of these interviews have brought to my life, and the difficulties I’ve faced along the way.
EP 149: Steven on Kegels and Coffee
New interview featuring me! Isabel von Rittberg is a good friend of mine and the host of Kegels and Coffee. She interviewed me on her podcast earlier this year to talk about my experience with my first-ever panic attack in December of 2021. We talked about what led up to the panic attack and how it was a wake-up call for me, how to stay sane while getting the work done, and much more.
*This was one of the most vulnerable interviews I’ve done. And it’s one of my favorites. Hope you enjoy :)
EP 138: Q&A 6 (feat. Taylor Fragomeni)
My close friend Taylor Fragomeni joins me for Q&A 6! We talked about ways to improve your climbing if your access to the gym or crag is limited, and we tackled Patron questions about bouldering at night, best bang-for-your-buck strength exercises, beta videos, daily hangboarding, how to warm up for max hangs on a lifting day, and route and boulder pyramids.
EP 118: Chad Andrews Interviews Steven Dimmitt
The tables are turned in this episode! Steven Dimmitt joins Chad Andrews from Clipping Chains to talk about leaving his engineering career to start the podcast, building a craft vs. pursuing a passion, reaching more than 1M downloads, monetization, outsourcing things you hate doing, the glorification of van life, and key climbing principles he has learned from hosting The Nugget.
EP 114: Q&A 5
In Q&A 5, I tackle Patron questions about my own current hangboard training, how to fit everything in that we need to train, how to deal with bad body image, how my training and climbing have changed since starting the podcast, golden nuggets for newer climbers, where I found the theme song for the podcast, my van life internet setup, and much more.
EP 99: Q&A 4
In Q&A 4, I tackle patron questions about Hueco round 2 and other goals for 2022, my plans for V12 and 5.14, how my trip to Leavenworth went and plans to return, my favorite features in the van, dating on the road, my remote working setup, what I’ve learned from nearly 100 episodes of the podcast, and making sense of conflicting advice.
EP 89: Q&A 3
In Q&A 3, I tackle patron questions about my two most successful winters of training on my home wall back in Bend, how my training has evolved and what it looks like now, how to maintain strength while living on the road and climbing full-time, advice for nomadic living, life mottos, try-hard mindset, hair dye, M&Ms, singalong jams, and much more.