Inner Fire Climbing Podcast

By Jesse FirestoneSports

Inner Fire Climbing Podcast episodes

May 08, 2025#8 - Juliet Hammer
In this episode I chat with Juliet Hammer and her dog Addy. Juliet is a climbing coach and an experienced boulderer and sport climber. She has a degree in biology and she's a certified strength and conditioning specialist. We talked about:
Juliet's climbing history
Differences between bouldering and sport in terms of preparation, mindset and tactics
Being a short climber
Board climbing
Coaching philosophy and shop talk
Personal grades
Social media, content creation and voluntary hardship
Value capture as both a coach and climber
Dangers of focusing on dopamine hits
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:43 Juliet's sport/bouldering identity & seasonality
00:16:02 Proper introduction, comp/cordo climbing, coaching indoors vs outdoor clients
00:25:27 Board climbing & being a short climber
00:30:31 Strength training
00:37:27 Coaching philosophy and shop talk
00:48:07 More short climber tips, self-comparison
00:54:43 Personal grades and the toxic wasteland of 8a.nu
01:00:41 Motivations
01:02:38 Jesse is ignorant about the southeast and complains about summer
01:05:51 More seasonality / sport & boulder logistics questions
01:08:08 Hot take 1, is climbing harder always more fun?
01:12:28 Hot take 2, are sport climbers better climbers?
01:13:56 Sport climbing vs bouldering popularity and value for progression
01:16:37 Content strategy and value capture as a content creator and coach
01:26:33 Dopamine hits, voluntary hardship, video beta and availability bias
01:42:55 Addy
01:45:09 Work with Juliet
1 hr 46 min
May 01, 2025 #7 - April 2025 AMA - Weight management, developing technique, footwork, first ascents and more
Questions from my Patrons and clients for April 2025. Thanks to Ryan Frecka for joining me for the weight management questions.

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jfireclimbing

Questions:

0:00:00 Intro

0:00:45 Jishnu - What is good footwork?

00:09:35 Jishnu - Modern classics

00:11:01 Nico & Giancarlo - Returning to a project after a tweak/injury

00:16:28 Briana - Managing detraining on a long trip

00:20:37 Victor - Indoor vs outdoor technique

00:25:32 Caleb - Cycling between bouldering & sport climbing

00:29:54 Jeffrey - Podcast update

00:31:11 Brian - Motivation behind doing first ascents

00:35:33 Stephanie - Strength to weight ratio (w/ Ryan Frecka)

00:43:01 Stephanie - Body composition (w/ Ryan Frecka)

00:47:46 Stephanie - When to put on more muscle (w/ Ryan Frecka)

00:53:07 Stephanie - Signs of a strength deficit (w/ Ryan Frecka)

00:58:42 Stephanie - Nutritional approach (w/ Ryan Frecka)

01:06:02 Ryan's additional comments on set point theory

01:09:02 Outro
1 hr 11 min
April 24, 2025 #6 - The "Rules"
In this solo episode, I do my best to explain the rules of bouldering: what some of them are, why they're arbitrary, how they're changing over time, and how we should all proceed.
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jfireclimbing
22 min
April 10, 2025#5 - Ethan Pringle
I sit down with Ethan Pringle to catch up with him and his cat Snowflake. We talk about:
Balancing stability and freedom
Crag development in South Africa (AKA how to pivot when things don’t go your way)
Not training
Much discussion of highball strategy
Risk perception, risk tolerance and age
Jumbo Love, Realization, and self-doubt
Advice for his younger self
2 hr 32 min
March 27, 2025 #4 - March 2025 AMA - Session duration, soft pauses and gaze, DOMS
Questions from my Patrons and clients for March 2025.

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jfireclimbing

Questions:

0:00:00 Intro

0:00:37 Mackenzie - How's the podcast going?

0:01:30 Luke - Sling Blade update??? (with three question marks)

0:04:15 Jeffrey - Soft pause and gaze

0:11:32 Lu - Board climbing session duration

0:18:20 Ryan - Minimal methods for improving on slopers & pinches

0:29:46 eejayen - Dealing with DOMS from lifting

0:32:44 Sam - Climbing philosophy

0:34:36 William - Developing highballs

0:38:35 Leone - Finger curls with weight

0:40:48 - Outro
42 min
March 13, 2025#3 - Zoe Sayetta
In this episode, my guest Zoe Sayetta & I discuss:
Differences in mental strategies for outdoor & competition climbing
Execution pressure
Awareness & mindfulness
Visualization / motor imagery
Optimal zone of performance
Focusing on the right thing at the right time
Basic mindset advice
1 hr 27 min
February 25, 2025 #2 - February 2025 AMA - Values, energy systems, video beta, RPE, self-talk
Questions from my Patrons and clients for February 2025.
Support the show on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jfireclimbing
Questions:
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:31 Kerwin: Concept/idea where I've shifted since coaching
00:04:50 Kerwin: Non-climbing book that's impacted my coaching
00:11:34 Olga: How to get more good tries on your project
00:15:59 Jack: Maximum recoverable volume
00:20:41 Luke: How language impacts performance and safety
00:26:38 Olga: Frustration when you're close to sending but not having fun
00:29:08 Jeffrey: Tips for switching to RPE
00:33:59 Jeffrey: Is there a time to stop progressing basic lifts?
00:37:01 Cursed Climbing: Awe-inspiring experiences
41 min
February 19, 2025 #1 - Welcome
Welcome to the Inner Fire Climbing podcast! I'm Jesse Firestone. In this episode I take a minute to explain who I am and why I started this pod.
8 min