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
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1:45:50
#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
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1:10:43
#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
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21:46
#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
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2:31:07
#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
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