Circle Up!

By Kyra Condie, Allison Vest

What's Circle Up! about?

Come Circle Up with Allison Vest and Kyra Condie. This podcast is the perfect length to get you psyched on your way to the gym or during a 30 min workout. Listen to some light hearted and deep diving talks into climbing, motivation, body image, mindset, and more! Great for climbers and non-climbers alike!

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Circle Up! episodes:

05.27.2024
E27 The Down Under Lowdown with Campbell Harrison
In this episode Campbell Harrison, future Olympian and World Cup climber from Australia, takes Allison's place alongside Kyra. They talk about competition stresses, imposter syndrome, mental health, training far from home, the trials and tribulations of addressing RED-s in climbing,...
05.13.2024
E26 Pushing Past Plateaus
Allison and Kyra tackle the subject of mental and physical plateaus in this week's episode. From how to turn mentally "weak" days into successful sessions and tricks to switch up your training (or when to back off) when you're in...
05.08.2024
E25 "Back" on Top
In this episode Allison takes on an interviewer role and talks to Kyra about her "back story". They cover how Kyra originally found out she had scoliosis, the surgery, the Olympics, and learning to cope with having a form of...
04.29.2024
E24 World Cup Recaps and Revelations
Allison and Kyra recap the recent start to the world cup season both with Kyra's attendance at the events and general thoughts about how competitions are run and what could be done better/different in the future. They talk about weather-related...
04.29.2024
E23 Catching Up!
Kyra and Allison catch up about what they've been doing during their podcasting break. They give insight into some of their life updates and how they use body cues to know when they should back off training or increase training...
11.20.2023
E22 Olympic Pursuits: A Rundown
Kyra and Allison break down everything you need, and didn't need, to know about what has happened thus far on the Road to Paris 2024. Starting with a recap of the excitement and World Championships, they go into a play...
10.31.2023
E21 Resting is Training
Kyra and Allison use this episode to talk about the importance of rest days, not only making them ACTUALLY restful, but learning to be ok with taking rest days and knowing that a good rest day is part of a...
10.16.2023
E20 Balancing Positivity and Authenticity
Kyra and Allison do a deep dive in this episode into their own emotions and experiences. They both reflect on what has helped them the most during a negative spiral, whatever it was caused by. Many of us tend to...
10.09.2023
E19 Climbing Queries: Your Top Questions Answered
Kyra and Allison use this episode to first answer some fun, non-climbing questions about "who is more likely to"--hopefully giving the listeners a chance to get to know the two of them better. Then, at 10:40, they start answering some...
10.02.2023
E18 [Not] One of the 'Boys'
In this episode, Kyra and Allison talk lightly about a serious topic: the macho culture of climbing, both indoor and out. They share their experiences growing up in male dominated training spaces and how that shaped them to be the...
09.25.2023
E17 The Life of a Pro Climber
Kyra and Allison are both back from their climbing-packed summers and are excited to share with everyone what they've been up to during their recent podcasting hiatus. First they talk about how they make their livings from being a pro...
05.23.2023
E16 The “Weight” of it All
In this episode, Kyra and Allison tackle the tricky and taboo topic of eating disorders in climbing and sports in general. They talk from their personal experiences from being in the sport and from each of their unique experiences of...
04.10.2023
E15 Fierce but not Fearless
In this episode, Allison and Kyra share their own thoughts and struggles with fear, both mentally and physically. Starting with the fear of failure in competition then into how to overcome (or not) fear while outdoor bouldering and lead climbing....
03.20.2023
E14 Curiosity is King: Team Trials Recap
Kyra and Allison recap the recent big competition for US competitors: National Team Trials. Allison was a commentator for the livestream of this event while Kyra competed to clinch a spot on the World Cup team this year. After a...
03.06.2023
E13 Breaking the Cycle: Menstruation Matters
Kyra and Allison use this episode to talk about a topic that comes up every month... every month. Periods. As something that 50% of the population deals with on a monthly basis, they try to have an open dialogue about...
02.27.2023
E12 The Dos and Don'ts of Comparing Yourself to Others
Allison and Kyra talk about their personal experiences with comparing themselves to others in the gym and in competition. Most of the time unavoidable, comparison can lead you down a spiraling mental pathway, but there are techniques you can use...
02.20.2023
E11 How to Qualify for Paris 2024
In this episode Kyra and Allison do their best to explain how the olympic qualification pathways work for Paris 2024! They also go on many tangents including some thoughts about the future of routesetting and the pros and cons of...
02.07.2023
E10 The School/Climbing Balance
Allison and Kyra talk the delicate balance of school and climbing and what they did to strike the right balance. This also relates to work, social life, and any other major life activities that you're trying to juggle all at...
01.30.2023
E9 Meet The Parents
Kyra brings in two very special guests for this episode while Allison is away on vacation--her parents! This episode is a little different, but full of interesting insights into Kyra's childhood, lessons learned from her parents that she's taken into...
01.23.2023
E8 Drugs and Tattoos
In this episode, Kyra and Allison talk about drug testing and what it's like being an athlete that's in the testing pool of USADA/WADA. They work to clear up some common misconceptions they've heard about drug testing and how the...
01.16.2023
E7 Finding Ways to Stay Motivated
Kyra and Allison talk about their new years resolutions and how to set reasonable goals for yourself to stay motivated. They also share some stories about diet culture and their views on what healthy food goals should be. Then they...
01.09.2023
E6 Projecting at Your Limit with Allison
In this episode Kyra interviews Allison about her experiences since taking a step back from competing and instead focusing on outdoor climbing. Listen to Allison talk about her experience with projecting a v14 (8B+) and how she's worked on her...
01.02.2023
E5 Olympic Interview with Kyra
In this episode, the cohosts Allison Vest and Kyra Condie switch roles and have Allison interview Kyra about her time at leading up to the Olympics and competing there. The unique perspective that Allison brings as Kyra's friend while interviewing...
12.19.2022
E4 How We Train
Listen to Kyra and Allison talk similarities and differences between their training programs. They cover how they each warm up, how their training suits their strengths and needs, and what they do in a typical climbing session.
12.12.2022
E3 BTS of a Bouldering World Cup
Listen to Kyra and Allison recount some of their favorite World Cup memories while also giving some insight into what its like behind-the-scenes at a Bouldering World Cup.
12.05.2022
E2 A Good Mental Space
Kyra and Allison talk about Kyra's upcoming competition, how they both mentally prepare for big events, and what role body image and nutrition play in athletics.
12.03.2022
E1 Circle Up Pilot
Welcome to Episode 1--In this episode Allison and Kyra introduce the idea behind the podcast before diving into social media, intense training environments, body image, and some of the mental techniques they use to deal with those stresses! Enjoy!