Steve Bechtel is one of the OG big daddies of climbing training. He founded and runs climbstrong.com where he has 19 coaches helping climbers all over the world get better at their sport. He’s written countless books, a ton of online climbing training programs for climbstrong, he’s hosted training seminars around the US (that I had the pleasure of teaching at), and is an accomplished 5.14 climber himself.

He was my 7th guest on the TrainingBeta Podcast back in 2014, and I’ve had him on many more times after that (see below for the list). We decided it would be fun to catch up on how things have changed in the climbing world and how his philosophies have evolved in the decade since we started collaborating.

Meghan Walker is a very good friend of mine who is also somewhat of an expert in the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) world. I asked her to be on the show to educate you about how you can make changes to your spending and investing/saving habits in order to have financial freedom in a lot less time than you think it’s going to take.

In a recent episode, I talked about how my husband and I started working towards an earlier retirement this past year and how amazing it’s been to see the results of our hard work. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and that is what I want for everyone who wants to take back their time and freedom from their employers. That is what the FIRE movement is all about.

In the past few years, Meghan has learned a LOT about investing, travel hacking, and saving money and is on her way to “coast FI” (we’ll explain in the interview) in the near future. Prior to learning about the FIRE movement, Meghan was enjoying “mini-retirements” throughout her 20’s and 30’s in which she’d work hard for several months to save up for extended cross-globe adventures until the bank account ran dry. It wasn’t until Meghan was in her mid-30s that she learned about the true meaning of financial independence and finally started her journey to FI.

As a side gig (which you’ll hear more about in the interview), Meghan and our friend Jeff started a website www.awaytofi.com where she’s written articles and offers consults to people like you who want to learn more. Meghan lives with her husband Callan and dogs Wiley and Pepper in Boulder, Colorado.

Work with Meghan on Your Financial Plan: www.awaytofi.com

Books:

Websites:

Podcasts:

Calculators and Money Management:

If I missed a resources we discussed, just email me at [email protected] and I’ll find it for you!

In this episode Coach Alex Stiger and I talk openly about what we learned in 2024 about ourselves and our climbing, for better or for worse. We each chose the 5 most poignant things we learned and discussed each in depth.

Alex’s List

My List

Some of the things we talk about in this episode have been very private to us until this very public conversation, so please give us grace as we explore new concepts and talk them out with each other as friends!

If you want to work on your fear, anxiety, and performance mindset with me one-on-one, I’m accepting 6 new clients to do 3 months of work (6 sessions) on all things climbing.

I’ve been climbing for 27 years, and I feel uniquely qualified to act as both your coach (asking you questions only you know the answers to) AND your mentor (giving you advice) in climbing.

I am a Certified Professional Coach and will hold a safe space for you to explore your thoughts and feelings about any topic you want to discuss. We will make goals for each session, and I’ll hold you accountable to carrying out the homework I give you during each session. I’m really looking forward to working with you!

In this episode I do a full mindset coaching session with Nathaniel Lamont, a Canadian climber whose performance is being affected by his fear of falling above his bolt while lead climbing. This is such a common issue among climbers, so if you or someone you know struggles with this, please listen to this one!

We go through the reasons he’s afraid, we acknowledge and validate those reasons, and I help him figure out ways he can feel more in control of the controllables (who his belayer is, what device they’re using, what climbs he chooses to get on, etc.).

Then we make a plan to work through some of his fear with strategic fall practice. He outlines what he thinks is realistic for him and I give him some clear guidelines for how to implement it in his sessions.

I really hope you enjoy this one – I loved doing this session with Nathaniel and really appreciated his willingness to be honest and vulnerable in front of thousands of people on the podcast.

If you’d like to watch this interview on video with no ads, no intro, and no outro, you can become a member on Patreon for $5/month to get that and other bonus content.

If you want to work on your fear with me one-on-one, I’m accepting 6 new clients to do 3 months of work (6 sessions) on all things climbing. But we’ll also branch out into other areas of your life you want to work on, including:

I’ve been climbing for 27 years, and I feel uniquely qualified to act as both your coach (asking you questions only you know the answers to) AND your mentor (giving you advice) in climbing. I am a Certified Professional Coach and will hold a safe space for you to explore your thoughts and feelings about any topic you want to discuss. We will make goals for each session, and I’ll hold you accountable to carrying out the homework I give you during each session. I’m really looking forward to working with you!

Francis Sanzaro is a 45-year-old climber out of Carbondale, Colorado who's been climbing for about 30 years. He got his PhD in the Philosophy of Religion and has been studying the practice of Zen for decades. In recent years, he started applying Zen more directly and intentionally to his climbing and found that his performance and his enjoyment of the sport increased dramatically, so he wrote a book about it: The Zen of Climbing. I HIGHLY recommend the book! 

I had him on the show to discuss the book and to have him tell us exactly what it means to apply Zen philosophy to your climbing. It's not complicated and you can start using these principles right away. What I took from the book is that I don't have to have as many emotions about climbing as I think I do. All I'm doing is trying my best to get to the top of a climb, and that's all it really needs to be. 

Coach Matt Pincus discusses some drills he uses with his clients and himself to train the different energy systems in climbing: power endurance, strength, and endurance. 

More Details:

• Overview of the energy systems

• Power endurance session

Ashley Hardy is a friend of mine who lives in Boulder and just climbed her first 5.13c, a stout climb called "Choose Life" in the Flatirons. The reason I asked her to be on the show is that I find her situation to be both relatable and inspirational. The relatable part is that she has a full-time job as a software engineer and that she climbs with her husband, and she really REALLY loves climbing. 

The inspirational part is that despite working full-time, she manages to climb outside 3-4 days per week for a lot of the year. And she doesn't train in any conventional ways (hangboarding, strength training, board climbing, etc). She just goes outside and climbs on routes that challenge her and has steadily worked up to 5.13c doing it.

I really liked this conversation and I think Ashley has a lot to teach us about how to pursue your passions and goals despite limited time and energy. 

• Why she loves climbing so much and whether she ever gets burnt out

Coach Matt Pincus discusses the fundamentals of using weight lifting as a training strategy for climbing. He prescribes weight training to almost all of the athletes he coaches, and he wanted to make it more approachable and understandable to our audience.

More Details:

• Why Strength Train?

• Movement patterns to focus on

Find the sample strength training session at www.trainingbeta.com/media/matt-strength

Stacy Sims, MSC, PHD, is a well-known exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who has done groundbreaking research and education for women in athletics. Dr. Sims has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and several books and is a regularly featured speaker at professional and academic conferences, including those by USOC and USA Cycling.

Stacy currently holds a Senior Research Associate position with SPRINZ- AUT University, supervises PhD students, writes academic papers, and is on the advisory board of some cutting-edge companies, including Tonal Strength Institute, WILD.AI, and EXOS. She also has her own business (www.drstacysims.com), creating and delivering online learning material focused on women training with their physiology across the lifespan.

I highly recommend her book Roar, which first introduced me to the differences in women's vs men's needs in sports performance. It was mind-blowing, honestly, and so validating to learn that a lot of what we've been taught about exercise science doesn't really apply to women. After all, the research was mostly done on men, and that is what Dr. Sims is trying to change. 

I was honored to sit down with Stacy to talk about some really important topics for perimenopausal and menopausal women, and all females in general. She really knows her stuff and speaks quite scientifically, so I asked her a lot of clarifying questions so we can all make use of the information she provided. I hope you enjoy this one! 

• The real journey she had with menopause herself

Coach Matt Pincus discusses some very detailed rock climbing projecting tactics to make your process more efficient. He goes over why you'd use a top-down vs ground-up approach, why you might want to use both of them, and when each is appropriate. This is for you if you want to hear from a 5.14/V12 climber about how he gets projects done and how he advises his clients to get theirs done. You can sign up to work with Matt as your coach at www.trainingbeta.com/matt.