The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast

Natalia Grossman is a 24-year-old American professional climber who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She broke onto the World Cup scene in 2021 when she became the overall Bouldering World Cup champion and finished in second place in the overall Lead World Cup. That same year, she won World Championships in Moscow in Bouldering and placed 2nd in Lead. She proceeded to win the overall Bouldering World Cup in 2022, 2023, and 2024, making her the most successful American World Cup climber in history. In 2022 she came in 3rd place for the overall Lead World Cup season. In 2023 she also won the Pan Am Games in Santiago in both Bouldering and Lead. She qualified for the Olympics in 2024 and finished in 11th place. In February of this year (2025), she unfortunately tore her ACL and meniscus, and sprained her MCL during a training session and had to have surgery. She is now about 9 months out from surgery and has won both competitions she entered: the Lead North American Cup in Salt Lake in August and the Bouldering Pan American Cup in Colombia in November. Besides competition climbing, she has sent up to V14 and 5.14c outside, but has focused most of her time and training on World Cup comps. Natalia graduated from University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in psychology and is considering getting her master’s in mental health counseling. In this interview, we talk about her comeback from her surgery, her mindset for competition climbing, and her training, among many other things: More Details: How she injured herself Her injury rehab and how it’s changed her as a climber How she got so good at climbing What impact her coaches have had on her What sets her apart from other climbers What it’s like competing with your best friends How the pressures to be light have affected her What she eats What she sacrifices to be a champion How she trains It was an honor to interview someone I have watched compete for years (I love watching World Cups!), and I appreciated Natalia giving us her time and being so vulnerable in sharing about her life.

In this episode, Coach Alex Stiger and I reflect on the important lessons and mindset shifts we've gained after NOT sending projects. Whether it's a renewed motivation to train and grow as a climber or the realization that we just don't want to try that hard anyore, we go through the gammut of what we have experienced as a result of not sending. Alex asked her clients about their own learnings from not sending and shares them in this episode. Some Things We Talked About What deconstructing that attachment to sending can do for our climbing and life Tools that have helped Alex and her clients start approaching possible failure with curiosity, confidence, and even some joy vs avoidance, anxiety, and dread Fact vs. fiction about what the experience of sending/not sending actually does to us

Coach Matt Pincus and I sat down and talked through 3 habits that we have formed over months or years that have led us to become better climbers.  Matt’s 3 Habits Doing his finger training as part of his warmup for indoor sessions Having a clear plan/objective for every day out Questioning why he falls off by asking, “Why?” three to five times Neely's 3 Habits   My "Three Questions" that keep me in a positive headspace Continual fall practice Nudging myself to get on things that intimidate me  Link to Matt's 6-Month Coaching Package - www.trainingbeta.com/matt

Dr. Tyler Nelson came on the show to talk about common wrist injuries and how to rehab them so you can get back to climbing and training how you want to. You may remember that I had wrist surgery on my TFCC and my husband had wrist surgery for ulnar impaction syndrome, so I inject some anecdotal information into the talk, too. Episode Details some common wrist injuries how they happen what aggravates them in climbing what you should do about them specific exercises to heal and strengthen them how to continue climbing during your injury (when appropriate) how to get a good diagnosis from a professional my own experience with a full TFCC tear and my surgery for that my husband's wrist surgery for ulnar impaction syndrome Episode Links Wrist Loading Instagram Post  TFCC Instagram Post Wrist Pain Rehab Online Course Camp 4 website: camp4humanperformance.com Patreon and Podcast: patreon.com/c/C4HP_/home Take an online class with Tyler: camp4humanperformance.com/store Do a consultation with Tyler for coaching or an injury Instagram: @c4hp

Dr. Jared Vagy is a physical therapist and a climber who’s incredibly motivated to help other climbers heal their bodies. In this interview, we talk about capsulitis, which is a common finger injury that climbers get. He describes what capsulitis is, how it happens, how to avoid it, and how to treat it if you have it. Find more info on Jared and this episode at trainingbeta.com/media/jared-vagy-capsulitis. Resources from Episode Peer reviewed case study on capsulitis How to use a finger trap for capsulitis Jared’s book Climb Injury-Free. Order his book here.