The Power Company Climbing Podcast

(BONUS) EXPERT | Will Anglin on Climbing All The Things, the Intersection of Strength and Movement, and the Ultimate Tool

Will Anglin is one of the founders of Tension Climbing, a company that not only makes training tools, but also is committed to innovation in a way that leads climbers toward mastery over success. In this episode we discuss movement skills, some ways climbers are going wrong in their pursuit and how they can continue improving, and the tools that might get them there.
Check out Tension Climbing and use code STONE at checkout for 10% off of select training tools!
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
If you’re a coach or a climber who wants to learn how to give better feedback, check out our Coaching for Mastery course, part of the Power Company Climbing Academy.
Go down the rabbit hole on our Movement Practice Resource Page.
Are Your Skills Current?  Also available on Spotify or Apple
Grades Aren’t the Only Way to Measure Progress  Also available on Spotify or Apple
More from Will and our friends at Tension:
Kerry Scott | Ambition, Confidence, and Climbing All the Things
Will Anglin and Rowland Chen | P.O.E.
Will Anglin and Rowland Chen | P.O.E. 2
Will Anglin and Michael Rosato | Boards vs. Spray Walls
Roy Quanstrom | Translating Movement
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
_________________________
📚 CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro and Topic Description
(2:48) Climb All The Things
(6:23) Figuring Out How to Change Me
(8:06) Boards Make It Easier to Skip the Discomfort
(9:12) ANNOTATION: Constraints, Compensation, and Choices
(12:16) Climbing as Training
(13:16) Climb What?
(14:00) Not Stealing the Struggle
(15:45) Unlearning Skills
(16:50) ANNOTATION: Coach Over-Instruction and Skills Currency
(18:19) Improvement Is Hard to Measure
(22:50) Grades Only Say What We’ve Climbed, Not How Good We Are
(23:30) Will’s 3 Grade System
(24:05) ANNOTATION: Vegetable Climbs List and Diamond vs. Pyramid
(26:10) Skills Aren’t Separate from Strength and Power
(27:33) Skill Is the Intersection of What, How, and Doing
(28:11) How the Tension Board 1 Is a Movement and Strength Tool
(30:44) Just Climb, But With Intention
(31:33) ANNOTATION: Where Strength and Movement Overlap and the Ultimate Learning Tool
(34:31) Wrap Up
(35:35) Credits and Outro

BUILDER | Lauren Abernathy is Building Better Climbing Movement Skills with In-Person Sessions

Lauren Abernathy works hard to be a better climber. In fact, it’s part of her job as owner of Good Spray Climbing to help other people become better climbers, and she walks the walk. For several years she’s worked with our coach Blake Cash, and has recently been supplementing that with private movement sessions with Nate Drolet. 
In this episode, we discuss why she chose to also do in-person sessions alongside her remote coaching with Blake, what’s going well, how she fits the training and sessions into her busy life, and how the movement skills are showing up in her climbing.
Find Lauren online at Good Spray Climbing and on Instagram 
Check out her Fast Track climbing movement course
Listen to The Average Climber Podcast
Book a remote consultation with Nate Drolet.
Find Nate on Instagram and YouTube.
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
EXPERT | Taylor Reed on Climbing Research and Evidence-Informed Movement Coaching
EXPERT | Rob Gray | How We Learn to Move and Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)
Lauren Abernathy | From Weekend Warrior to Full-Time Coach
BOARD MEETINGS | Top Ways Climbers are Holding Themselves Back with The Average Climber Podcast
Coaching for Mastery Course
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
_________________________
📚 CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro and BUILDER Description
(0:36) Guest Introduction and Details
(2:45) Why Lauren Added In-Person Sessions
(8:17) Was There a Specific Goal?
(9:39) An Example of What Nate Noticed In Lauren’s Movement
(18:43) Lauren Rants About Muggle Gyms
(25:58) Fitting Sessions and Training Into Work and Life
(33:09) Adjusting Skill Session Intensity to Fit Life Stressors
(38:34) Kris Explains His Own Recent Skill Wins
(41:39) How Lauren’s Skill Practice Is Showing Up In Her Climbing
(50:14) The Complexities of Tension 
(1:00:19) Nate’s Monologues
(1:01:43) Wrap Up
(1:04:00) Theme

TAPED TIPS | The Secret to Hard Moves that Most Climbers are Missing

For most of us, climbing looks like this:
Pull on, try the move, fall off. Stare at your hands and try to understand why you fell. Pull on, try the move, fall off. Stare at your hands and come up with a new reason why you fell. Pull on again, try the move again, fall off.  Again
You get it. You've been there. But there’s a better way.
In this episode, we’re going to talk about the obvious thing that most climbers are missing when it comes to difficult moves and learn several strategies that will help you do those harder moves, harder boulders, and harder routes faster. 
Read the rest on the blog!
Watch the video on YouTube!
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Our Movement Practice Resource Page
Coaching for Mastery Course
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

EXPERT | Taylor Reed on Climbing Research and Evidence-Informed Movement Coaching

Taylor Reed is a climber and coach who has worked with high-level athletes – both competitive and outdoor climbers – for many years. He’s the vice president of the International Rock Climbing Research Association and also runs The Beta Angel Project, which takes climbing-specific research and synthesizes it with ideas and experience in order to find evidence-informed methods that can help us all become better coaches and climbers.
In this episode, we discuss how Taylor assesses movement, how he teaches it, and what role research plays in his overall coaching.
 
Find Taylor online at:
The Beta Angel Project
International Rock Climbing Research Association (IRCRA)
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
Research mentioned in the episode:
Austrian Research Paper and Write Up
Co-Contraction Paper and Write Up
Multi-Edge Decision-Making / Behavioral Change Paper
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Why “Technique” May Not Be The Answer to Better Climbing
EXPERT | Rob Gray | The Gap Between Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)
EXPERT | Rob Gray | How We Learn to Move and Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)
BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | How Should Climbing Research Be Standardized?
BREAKING BETA | Better Call Paul | IRCRA Test Battery
Taylor Reed and Bella Jariel | The Coach/Climber Dynamic
_________________________
🔌SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
_________________________
📚CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:40) How Much Does Research Inform Taylor’s Coaching?
(3:48) ANNOTATION: Evidence-Based vs. Evidence-Informed
(10:15) What Aspects of Research Are Most Applicable?
(12:53) Looking Outside of Climbing Research
(13:50) ANNOTATION: Reinvestment Theory
(15:37) Speed Climbing
(19:53) Information Processing vs. Ecological Dynamics for Climbing
(30:32) Thematic Movement Learning
(47:40) Movement Assessment
(1:02:48) Teaching Movement
(1:05:22) ANNOTATION: Differential Learning
(1:08:19) ANNOTATION: Attractor Valleys
(1:16:03) How Much Does the Athlete Need to Know?
(1:20:58) ANNOTATION: Leading By Example
(1:22:48) Do Comp Style Climbs Translate to Outdoors?
(1:27:38) What Is Still Missing From the Research?
(1:32:55) Wrap Up
(1:35:06) Theme
 

BOARD MEETINGS | How Much Climbing Skill Is Guaranteed With Experience?

A common refrain in climbing is that the more you climb, the better you get. But all of us know some old crusty who has been climbing for 45 years and is stuck at mid 5.10. And they have all of the excuses as to why. But they’re wrong.
In this episode, Kris and Nate explore why we believe we’ll just get better if we keep at it, as well as offer strategies to continue improving no matter how long (or short) you’ve been at it.
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Our Movement Practice Resource Page
Board Meetings | The Art of Learning Climbing
Board Meetings | Quality vs. Quantity
Board Meetings | Worst Advice We Got As Beginners
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Nate on Instagram and YouTube.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
_________________________
📚 CHAPTERS
(0:00) Theme
(0:37) Intro and Topic Description
(3:13) Examples of Experience that Doesn’t Guarantee Skill
(6:53) Why Most of Us Believe Experience Equals Skill
(10:55) What are the Pros Doing?
(16:20) It Isn’t All About Grades
(18:20) Undervaluing Other Styles and Angles
(19:43) We Don’t Want to Spend the Time
(21:20) We Go Into Autopilot
(23:23) How Can We Keep Improving Skills?
(24:17) Search for Novelty or Change Environments
(28:30) Approach Improvement from All Angles
(31:06) Recognize Discomfort and Lean In, Even Off the Wall
(35:08) The Zone (Not Grades) Where We Develop Skills
(37:16) Why We Suggest Drills
(38:15) Autopilot Mistakes
(42:40) How New Skills Open Opportunities on Hard Projects
(44:10) Examples of Pros Spending Time Below Their Limits
(49:20) Why Consistency Is NOT King
(53:28) Bringing Intention to Skill Drills
(55:47) Tried and True or Just Tradition?
(01:01:01) So Is Skill Guaranteed With Experience?
(01:03:45) How to Go Deeper Into Movement

TAPED TIPS | Go Ahead, Grab That Foothold and Be Adaptable

Go ahead, grab that foothold. I mean, it’s only a foothold until someone uses it as a handhold. Then it’s just a hold. So use it.
And if you don’t want to because you’d rather challenge yourself to do it without using that really obvious hold right there, that’s fine, too. There’s no heroism in skipping an obvious hold. There’s no shame in using a hold other people aren’t. What’s possible, though, is that if you always choose one way or the other, then you’ve painted yourself into a corner. A corner that just doesn’t offer as many opportunities to learn.
So there’s a question that both of you should be asking yourselves. And that question is:
Can I do it both ways?Can I become more adaptable?
That’s two questions, but you know what I mean...
 
Read the rest at the blog!
_________________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
Our Movement Practice Resource Page
_________________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Find Power Company on Instagram and YouTube.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
_________________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.

REWIND | BOARD MEETINGS | The Art of Learning Climbing

Today we REWIND back to one of our favorite Board Meetings of all time. We chose this episode because we are spending the next couple months digging deep into movement and learning, and exploring if there might be a better way to consider movement than the technique-based way we’ve always done it.  In this episode, Kris and Nate discuss ideas presented by author Josh Waitzkin about our mental models for learning, specifically after hearing him as a guest on Tim Ferriss's podcast, and how we might apply these ideas to climbing.
This episode originally aired on April 5, 2020.
____________________
🔍 EXPLORE FURTHER
You might enjoy these related articles, episodes, and other resources:
THE CURRENT | Rethinking Climbing Technique and Movement Skills
TAPED TIPS | Difficulties Should Be Desirable
TAPED TIPS | When Beta Isn’t Better
BOARD MEETINGS | Common Sense vs. Common Practice
Josh Waitzkin on Beginner’s Mind, Self-Actualization, and Advice from Your Future Self | The Tim Ferriss Show
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin
____________________
🔌 SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
📚CHAPTERS
(0:00) Theme
(0:37) Intro
(2:29) Topic Description
(4:09) New Feedback Paradigms and Opportunities
(8:28) More Feedback isn’t Always Better
(12:00) Observation and Building Awareness
(17:07) How Routesetting Helps Understand Movement
(19:26) When the Poetic Perfection Has Been Marred
(24:03) Unexpected Learning From What You Deem Not Useful
(32:15) The Thematic Elements of Climbing Movement
(39:58) Self Expression via Movement
(43:29) Reps Hidden in Plain Sight
(51:22) The Ultimate Way to Get in High Quality Reps
(55:24) Hidden Reps We Often Miss
(01:02:14) The Gap in Our Confidence
(01:05:35) Comp Boulders and Discomfort
(01:08:10) How the Best Climbers React to Discomfort
(01:10:35) Setting Hard Things for Yourself
(01:22:41) Put the Wrench Away
(01:13:54) Outro

EXPERT | Rob Gray on How We Learn to Move and the Skill Acquisition for Climbers (Part 2)

Rob Gray is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, host of The Perception & Action Podcast, and a Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. He’s also the author of two great books, How We Learn to Move and Learning to Optimize Movement. In this Part 2 of 2, Kris and Rob discuss the differences between the two predominant theories of skill acquisition and adaptability – Information Processing and Ecological Dynamics – and how climbing coaches can use the Ecological framework and the Constraints-Led Approach to help climbers better learn to move.
____________________
EXPLORE FURTHER
Our entire movement skills resource library
Coaching for Mastery course mentioned in the episode
Follow Rob on Instagram
Check out The Perception & Action Podcast
Check out Rob's books:
How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills
Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(2:00) Guest Introduction
(2:52) Topic Description and Movement Theories
(7:25) Why Rob Switched Sides
(9:44) Key Differences in Coaching Methods
(11:38) ANNOTATION: Poking Holes in Information Processing
(18:38) ANNOTATION: Dribbling Around Cones, System Boards
(20:38) The Constraints-Led Approach
(23:18) T.W.I.T. Coaching
(25:55) ANNOTATION: Kids Climbing Things Example
(28:50) ANNOTATION: Constraints Example in Climbing
(30:23) Perception and Action Coupling
(33:02) ANNOTATION: Systems Boards are Poor Skill Builders
(35:03) How Does Previewing Beta Fit?
(37:25) ANNOTATION: Technique vs. Adaptable Skill
(40:45) Wrap Up
 

EXPERT | Rob Gray on The Gap Between Sports Science Researchers and Coaches (Part 1)

Rob Gray is an associate Professor at Arizona State University, host of The Perception & Action Podcast, and a Skill Acquisition Specialist for the Boston Red Sox. He’s been studying movement and publishing research on it for 25 years. In this Part 1 of 2, Kris and Rob discuss the limitations and challenges of using sports science research for coaches and practitioners, as well as some ways both coaches and researchers could do it better.
____________________
EXPLORE FURTHER
Our entire movement skills resource library
Coaching for Mastery course mentioned in the episode
Follow Rob on Instagram
Check out The Perception & Action Podcast
Check out Rob's books:
How We Learn to Move: A Revolution in the Way We Coach & Practice Sports Skills
Learning to Optimize Movement: Harnessing the Power of the Athlete-Environment Relationship
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.
____________________
CHAPTERS
(0:00) Intro
(1:31) Guest Introduction
(3:20) Topic Explanation
(5:18) Accessibility
(6:13) Impenetrability
(7:33) Generalizability
(8:43) ANNOTATION: Don’t Discount Small Studies
(10:49) Researchers Asking the Wrong Questions
(11:49) How to Make it User Friendly
(19:34) The Value of Case Studies
(22:19) Studies Lack Real World Variables
(24:23) ANNOTATION: Functional Movement Variability
(26:44) What is it We Should be Looking For in Studies?
(30:49) Coaches and Researchers Meeting in the Middle
(33:48) Limitations of Using Studies From Other Sports
(37:24) ANNOTATION: Constraints and Self Organization
(40:54) ”Evidence-Based” Elitism
(43:27) Wrap Up

FOCUS | Movement Skills for Climbers

Introducing: Something new. Something different. Something FOCUSED.
Rather than doing what most podcasts do and jumping from subject to subject with each new episode, we’re going to be spending the next couple of months focused on discussing one topic. Through Board Meetings, Expert episodes, Taped Tips, and our new Builder series that you’ll hear more about later, as well as on Youtube, Instagram, the blog, and the newsletter, for the next 10 or so episodes we’re going to be digging deep into movement and skill acquisition: the research, the theories, anecdotes and experiences, and of course, practical application. And Patrons will be getting bonus episodes on the same topic. At the end of the two or so months, we’ll wrap it all up with a podcast episode and a newsletter.
We’re aiming for 3 or 4 of these FOCUS periods this year; we hope you’ll tune in to see how it goes.
____________________
EXPLORE FURTHER
Mentioned in this episode:
Board Meetings | Improved Learning from Podcasts, Books, and Videos
Taped Tips | Connect the Dots
Written In Stone
Movement Practice Resources
The Current
 
You might also enjoy these related episodes:
Board Meetings | The Art of Learning Climbing
P.O.E. with Will Anglin & Rowland Chen
____________________
SUPPORT + CONNECT
Help us keep the show sponsor-free when you join our Patreon Community for as little as $3.
Get two or more bonus episodes every month on Patreon, Spotify, or Apple.
Subscribe to THE CURRENT and get a monthly exploration of how we can all become better climbers.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it.
____________________
The Power Company Podcast is a proud founding member of the Plug Tone Audio Collective, a group of the best, most impactful podcasts in the outdoor industry.
Find full episode transcripts and more at our website.