Lattice Training Podcast

In this episode, join host Tom Randall as he sits down with Jill Whitaker, she is a 61-year-old climber and mother of two accomplished pro climbers (Pete and Katy Whitaker). She is a testament to the power of perseverance and dedication!

We will explore Jill's remarkable journey into climbing post-60 and her unique perspectives on training and climbing.

Main topics:

• Jill's climbing background: From her early years in trad climbing to her rediscovery of the sport and return to climbing.
• Starting training and setting goals:  How she juggled supporting her children’s climbing alongside her own training after a long break from the sport.
• Jill's training program: Insights into her training program, focusing on multiple areas including; pulling strength, finger strength, and maintaining power endurance and flexibility.
• Experiences with testing climbing performance: Jill's experiences with testing, and the positive feedback she received from friends.
• Climbing trip to Leonidio, Greece: Highlights from her recent climbing trip, where she achieved personal bests on some challenging routes.
• Reflections and Advice: Jill reflects on her climbing journey and the impact of structured training on her performance. Plus, advice for climbers of all ages seeking to improve..

Throughout the conversation, Jill's journey serves as a testament to the power of a positive attitude, perseverance, and the importance of having a structured training program.

Do you want to start your training journey? As a thank you to our listeners, we have an exclusive offer, get 15% off our Lattice Training Plans with the code PODCAST15.

Tune in to gain valuable insights and inspiration from Jill Whitaker's incredible and wholesome attitude towards the sport and life.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this podcast highlight, Tom Randall and Will Bosi discuss various aspects of Will's climbing projects, aiming to understand the mental process of walking away from a project. They also touch on Will's future plans for 2024 and whether Will will try a 9c route any time soon.

Listen to the Podcast highlight, or the full episode on our Spotify, Apple Music, Stitcher, and many more!

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today's Lattice Podcast, Coach Josh Hadley sits down with Dr Simon Fryer to discuss the challenges of testing rock climbers, highlighting the differences between climbing and other sports.

Dr Simon Fryer is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Physiology at the University of Gloucestershire, with a PhD in biomedical science. His background is in sports, exercise, and biomedical science, with a specialist interest in cardiovascular and cardiometabolic physiology. As an exercise physiologist, he delivers a range of Sports and Exercise Science courses and his research focuses on the impact of exercise and physical activity on health, disease, and sports performance, specifically concerning the cardiovascular and cardiometabolic systems. He has also delivered many talks on the importance of physical activity and health, such as his TEDx Cheltenham talk "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"

Key topics include:

• Health benefits of climbing
• Misguided information in the climbing community
• The inconvenient truth about getting good at climbing
• Importance of base training and lower limb strength
• Advice for pursuing an academic or research route

We also cover:

• Importance of peripheral adaptations in climbing and the role of aerobic fitness
• Current best practices for testing climbers, including occlusion tests and near-infrared spectroscopy
• Vision for the future of climbing performance testing, including the use of big data and technology

So whether you’re a sports science advocate, or simply curious to hear more of the science behind climbing, take a seat and enjoy today’s podcast.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

May seem like an obvious question, but in this podcast highlight, Nate Williams shares his experience with projecting Return of the Sleepwalker, a V17/9A boulder problem, and the challenges he faces with friction control and conditions. Nate also talks about his projecting and beta sharing with Will Bosi, and how they optimise weather and friction conditions for best attempts.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today’s Lattice Training podcast, coach Josh Hadley sits down with coach Cam Hartley to discuss three key areas; 

• Training myths and misconceptions
• Psychobiology and endurance performance
• Importance of consistency in training for climbing

 just one of the strongest members of the Lattice Training coaching team, but also has a BSc in Sports Science and wrote his research paper on the strength differences between the strongest and weakest hand. Since then he has begun a PhD on the impact of mental fatigue on health and performance in rock climbing athletes.

As Cam is a specialist in psychobiology and its relationship to performance, Josh and Cam start to explore the psychobiological model of endurance performance and its implications for training and performance. They also delve into the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds and the importance of training in specific zones to optimise endurance. So if you are psyched about training your endurance and improving performance, this is a great episode for you! 

So whether you want to understand how to improve your endurance training, or just looking to debunk some climbing training myths, tune in to today’s show. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

People regularly get confused between a pulley strain and an irritation of the tendon, which Huffy has called 'crimp finger'. In this podcast highlight it explains the differences between the two to enable you to diagnose the correct injury so that you can seek the correct treatment. 

This podcast highlight is a snippet of our podcast with GB climbing physio,  which covers various topics related to climbing injuries and rehabilitation.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this week’s podcast, join Lattice Training coach, Josh Hadley, as he is joined by pro climber, Nate Williams, who has been projecting ‘Return of the Sleepwalker’ (V17/9A) in Las Vegas, USA, which recently saw its second ascent, by Will Bosi in February 2024. Nate’s been working on this well-known climb for over 2 seasons, since sending the stand-start version ‘Sleepwalker’ (V16/8C+) back in December 2020. In this episode, we delve into Nate's climbing journey, understanding the intricacies of this famous V17/9A boulder problem and how this recent ascent changes what he will do next.

Nate discusses his past, growing up and being mentored by Jimmy Webb, his conversations with Daniel Woods discussing a new boulder that later became Sleepwalker, and how he went from competing nationally to being a fully outdoors climber. Josh delves into his remarkable journey and learns what it takes to project at your limit and unlock new potential.

Other topics include:

• Who is Nathan Williams?
• How Jimmy Webb influenced Nate’s style of climbing
• The commitment to the process of projecting and how what to think about when choosing a boulder at your limit
• Differences between the stand (Sleepwalker, V16/8C+) and the sit (Return of the Sleepwalker V17/9A)
• How to  build friction and how holds differ in their texture
• Supporting Will Bosi with his recent ascent and differences in their approach
• What is next for Nate after ROTS?

And much more!

Tune in for this captivating episode as we discuss the ripple effect of Will Bosi's recent ascent of "Return of the Sleepwalker" and its implications for Nate's own journey. 

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In this episode, join host Tom Randall for an in-depth conversation with climbing legend James Pearson. James recently established ‘Bon Voyage’ (E12), a route he boldly suggests is the world's hardest trad climb, pushing the boundaries of difficulty and safety in the sport.

James Pearson is a household name in the climbing world, known for his ground-breaking first ascents like ‘The Walk of Life’ (E9), as well as ascents of some of the world's hardest sport climbs. Despite that, there has been controversy surrounding the grading in his earlier career.⁣

Although his earlier efforts faced some controversy, with a few of his climbs like The Groove being downgraded after establishment. This criticism, which even included accusations of overgrading for media attention, forced James to re-evaluate the entire grading system.

The experience turned out to be a turning point for James.  He spent years rebuilding his confidence and credibility as a climber, making significant ascents in Europe. This included repeating the downgraded ‘The Walk of Life’ and tackling other difficult routes like ‘Tribe’ (E11) and ‘Lexicon’ (E11 7a).

So when James established  'Bon Voyage' in France and felt it was his hardest route yet, he initially hesitated to propose a grade. However, after witnessing other accomplished climbers struggle on the route, James decided to propose the world's first E12 once again, ten months after his initial ascent. This episode dives into James' experience with 'Bon Voyage' and the lessons learned from his past grading controversies, but also the validation James received when none other than Adam Ondra, successfully repeated the route and agreed with the E12 grade.

In this episode, James dives deep into:

Sharing ‘Bon Voyage’ with Adam Ondra

• What makes this route unlike anything else out there
• Adam Ondra’s approach to risk
• What beta Adam Ondra used for this epic route
• Who else is trying ‘Bon Voyage’
• The evolution of trad grades and why did James propose the controversial E12 grade for ‘Bon Voyage’

This episode is a must-listen for any climber interested in the cutting edge of trad climbing, the ever-evolving world of grading, and the unique perspectives of two climbing legends!

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

Tune in to today's episode as host and coach Maddy Cope chats with climber and coach  Billy Ridal about his six-week American adventure to free climb El Capitan's The Nose (5.14a/8b+). This historic route, famous for its challenging granite smears, was first aid climbed over 47 days by Warren Harding and various others in 1958 and first free-climbed by Lynn Hill in 1993 (an ascent which was well ahead of it’s time!) With such a legacy, it's no surprise Billy and Alex set their sights on it.

Billy shares how his long-held dream of climbing big walls led him to El Cap, where he and his partner Alex Waterhouse etched their names in history as the first Brits to free climb The Nose. From weathering storms in a leaky portaledge 1,500 feet above the ground to making the most of daylight with early starts, Billy recounts their journey.

Topics Include:

• What inspired Billy and Alex to take on The Nose's challenge
• How they got stuck in the two main crux’s of the route
• Their plan if one of them couldn't climb a specific pitch
• How they used innovative thinking to overcome various weather conditions
• The highs and lows of portaledge life
• Maintaining high morale under time pressure

And much more!

Tune in for this captivating episode and hear firsthand the amazing story of determination, friendship, and triumph on The Nose.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

In today’s podcast, Lattice Coach, Mina Leslie-Wujastyk, delves deep with Emily Harrington into her recent transition to motherhood with partner, Adrian Ballinger, and their son, Aaro. Emily shares insights into her decision to have a child amidst their adventurous lifestyles and careers, and navigating the uncertainties that came with it.

Emily, a multidisciplinary athlete, has major achievements, not just in international and national sport climbing competitions, but also in big wall climbing, alpine climbing, skiing, and more. The North Face athlete ascended some of the most challenging routes and ascents, including sport climbing up numerous routes in the 5.14 range, Mount Everest, and free climbing El Cap in a single day via Golden Gate.

The discussion explores various aspects of Emily's journey, including her experiences during pregnancy, her expedition to Baffin Island while expecting, and her candid reflections on postpartum life. Emily opens up about her birth experience, returning to movement and climbing, managing body image issues, and finding balance between motherhood and her athletic identity.

Emily reflects on her attitudes toward risk as a mother and the evolution of her goals since having Aaro, sharing the challenges and triumphs of parenthood in the world of professional climbing. Emily also shares practical tips and tricks for managing training, travel logistics, and sponsorship commitments while being a devoted mother.

Topics include:
- Decision-making process behind starting a family amidst adventurous careers
- Emily's pregnancy journey and managing climbing and risk during this time
- Expedition to Baffin Island while expecting and decision-making process
- Experiences and challenges of postpartum life, including returning to climbing
- Reflections on attitudes toward risk as a mother and evolving goals
- Practical tips and tricks for managing training, travel logistics, and sponsorship commitments

Join us for this enlightening conversation with Emily Harrington. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain wisdom and inspiration from one of the most accomplished climbers of our time.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.