BONUS: Alex Bridgewater — Getting Strong, Speed Walking, and Self-Belief

Alex Bridgewater is a high-level rock climber who moved to Lander, WY in 2016, to train at Elemental as part of the Climb Strong Program. Alex now works for Climb Strong as a coach. We talked about his transition into coaching, managing a chronic back injury, favorite barbell and bodyweight exercises, speed walking, and the importance of self-belief.

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patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing

Show Notes:

http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/alex-bridgewater

Nuggets:

1:26 – Skating, early climbing, competing, and mentors

5:46 – Climbing in college and meeting Charlie’s brother Mike

7:27 – Alex’s first time swinging a kettlebell

8:26 – Plans for the ‘PreMuir’, and starting to train with Charlie

11:49 – Coming to Lander and learning about strength training

13:41 – Learning on the fly on the side of El Cap

16:21 – Getting sold on training, moving to Lander, and getting started with Climb Strong

22:15 – Discipline, second-tier routes, and volume days

25:04 – Kettlebell swings, and Alex’s back injury

28:53 – Setting the goal of being injury-free for a year

29:32 – The exercises that made the biggest difference for Alex’s own climbing

32:41 – Unilateral vs. bilateral exercises, Zercher squats, and goblet squats

39:02 – Kettlebells for climbers with limited overhead mobility, and bodyweight strength training

40:45 – Example bodyweight exercises, and handstand pushup progressions

43:02 – Alex’s experience at the Strong First bodyweight certification, and benefits of bodyweight strength training

45:43 – One arm one leg pushups, and body awareness and control

47:48 – Reading Stuart McGill and fixing his back with core exercises and speed walking

50:57 – The McGill Big Three

51:43 – More speed walking

53:40 – Alex’s current training, barbell overhead press, and deadlifting from blocks

57:12 – Alex’s most recent hangboard cycle (Ladder program with two grips)

1:00:16 – Current climbing projects, and the history behind ‘Fibinachi Shimmer’

1:02:26 – Alex’s takeaways from the training camp

1:08:53 – The one piece of advice Alex took away from Jonathan’s presentation

1:11:55 – Alex’s future with Climb Strong, and Climb Strong as a collective

1:14:08 – One thing that holds us back, the importance of taking the steps, and pushing ourselves

1:16:43 – Social media, “can’t”, and confidence

1:17:43 – Carlo Traversi’s insight

1:18:42 – Positivity

1:20:10 – “Just go up there and try”, a becoming a better person

1:21:54 – “To the death.”

1:23:14 – Showing emotion, “Leave it up there”, and try hard