Coach Alex Stiger joins Neely to break down what a "plateau" actually is — because most climbers lump together very different problems under that one word, and that's part of why it's so hard to get unstuck.

In this episode:

Alex has three coaching spots open right now for the first time in a long time! Email her at [email protected] to work with her.

Lillian Frances is a rock climber, music producer, and the author of Finger Banging for Climber Boys, a 50-page illustrated guide to female sexual pleasure, consent, and communication written for the climbing community. She makes a compelling case that asking for what you want isn't a mood-killer: it's the thing that makes everything better, on the wall and off it.

We talk about how to set boundaries before a sexy situation escalates, why saying no is actually hot, how "belay on / climb on" is consent too, and why the way a partner reacts to a "no" tells you everything you need to know about them. Fair warning: we use explicit language throughout. 

Chuck Odette is 70 years old, has been climbing for 47 years, and is currently projecting 5.13 with a hip replacement on the horizon and a shoulder replacement behind him. His partner Maggie is 56 and working toward yet another 5.14 send a year out from her own shoulder surgery. Together they've been living and climbing full-time out of a trailer for 11 years, having retired at 59 and 45. In this episode, we talk about living peacefully together in small quarters, navigating a number of surgeries, why Chuck has always prioritized building muscle over staying light, Maggie's experience with menopause and rebuilding muscle in her 50s, how they train outdoors full-time, and the dietary shift in Chuck's early 40s that took him from 5.13- to his first 5.14a in a six-month period — the same year he became a grandfather. This one is for anyone who has ever wondered if you can still climb hard past your 30s and 40s. 

Coach Matt Pincus recently sent a three-season project at Wolf Point, and we thought you might be able to take something away from his experience on it. He changed a lot of things about his life in order to send this route. While Matt has sent numerous 5.14a's and b's at Wolf Point, this route was 5.13d, but it was more challenging for him in a few ways. In this episode, we talk about exactly what he changed in his training and his lifestyle in order to send the route and become a healthier human in the process. 

Dr. Maria Stefania Ionel is a clinical and sport psychologist, postdoctoral researcher, and 8b climber based in Romania who has spent the last decade studying the psychology of climbing specifically. In this episode we talk about what personality traits actually predict climbing performance (grit and openness to experience top the list), the difference between fear of falling and climbing anxiety, perfectionism as a double-edged sword, and how to recognize athletic burnout before it becomes something more serious.

Maria is currently running a research study on stress, burnout, and mental health in climbers of all levels. If you've been climbing for at least a year — any discipline, any level — you qualify. It's four surveys over four weeks and fully anonymous.

👉 Take the survey: https://unibuc.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?tt=T/9YT60gbdYECHrPeIW9eQ%3D%3D

Full show notes with links to Maria's research and contact info: trainingbeta.com/media/maria-stefania-ionel-burnout

Neely Quinn and climbing coach Alex sit down to talk through one of the most common — and least discussed — challenges in climbing: the friction between partners. They cover emotional projection, mismatched goals, unsolicited beta, belay trust issues, passive aggression, sacrifice dynamics, competition between partners, and trip planning stress. Both share candid stories from their own partnerships, and Neely explains what couples coaching for climbers actually looks like and how she helps partners hear each other differently. Whether you climb with a romantic partner, a close friend, or a family member, this one will resonate.

Matt Pincus is back, and this time we're going deep on the how of board climbing — not the pros and cons of each board like we talked about last time.  Matt will tell you how to use boards well and have good etiquette while you're doing it. Whether you're getting in your head about crowded sessions, unsure if you're working the right problems, or stuck in a plateau you can't explain, this episode is for you. Matt coaches athletes on board climbing regularly, and this conversation is essentially a distillation of the most common friction points he hears — along with his direct, practical answers. I add my own experience throughout, and together we cover a lot of ground.

In this episode, I talk with neurologist and headache specialist Dr. Danielle Wilhour about migraine headaches and how they affect climbers and athletes, in general. We discuss common triggers, exercise and recovery, hormonal influences, and the role of medications, supplements, and lifestyle factors in managing migraines. Dr. Wilhour also explains the different phases of a migraine and shares practical strategies for prevention and treatment.

In this solo episode, host and integrative nutrition therapist Neely Quinn digs into a topic that doesn't get enough airtime in the climbing world: food anxiety. Neely breaks down the most common reasons climbers feel stressed about what they eat — from carb fear and fullness phobia to rigid food rules and weight-gain worry — and shares practical, compassionate strategies for each one.

She also opens up about her own recent experience adjusting her diet after starting hormone replacement therapy, and what it looked like to approach that change as a scientist rather than from a place of shame. Whether your anxiety around food is mild or it's genuinely affecting your daily life, this episode will leave you with new ways to think about eating — and more space in your brain for climbing.

Topics covered: carb fear, fullness anxiety, food myths, food rules, weight management, eating disorder resources, and working with a nutrition or mindset coach.

In this episode, Coach Alex Stiger and I talked about the ways we see our clients overtraining and the consequences it has on their bodies, minds, and climbing performance. We also share how we overdo it ourselves, and how that has affected us. We go into the causes of overtraining: feeling like more is better, fearing falling behind, not knowing how much training is enough, and as Alex calls it, "chasing fatigue." I talk about the ways I work with my mindset coaching clients on this to help them gain perspective and talk to themselves differently.