EP 111: Jerry Moffatt — Being a “Crag Rat”, Developing Your Mental Game, and What the Top Climbers Have in Common

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Ben Herrington. We talked about the treasure hunters mindset and clues to look for when developing new boulders, go-to tools for cleaning a new line, how to suss out moves off the deck, building landings, Ben’s new gym in the Tri-Cities, WA, and setting himself boulders that attack his weaknesses.You can support the podcast and get access to follow-up conversations for $5 per month on Patreon at patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing. The full version of this follow-up call is 47:14.

18 Maalis 202116min

Leif Gasch has been a climber for over 25 years and now works as a trainer and coach. We talked about his path from construction to coaching, balancing training with a physically demanding job, how to be a better weekend warrior, mini-goals, breaking into new grades, warming up for hard redpoints, and much more.Support on Patreon:  patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/leif-gaschNuggets:4:36 – “Back porch kind of a deal”5:28 – Living on the road during covid, and moving back to Lander8:06 – The pod, Leif’s first trip to Hueco with Scott Milton, and sending Frogger11:18 – Years of cherry-picking, new development in Hueco, and becoming a guide12:51 – Early carpentry, becoming an electrition, and building a house15:40 – Growing up on a ranch, hunting, and climbing Devils Tower17:54 – Climbing in Cody, ‘The Fuz’ climbing gang, teaching, and falling in love with climbing21:45 – “You come to Lander, you gotta bring your own job!”23:32 – Living with artists, ‘The Plague’, and Leif’s intro to training for climbing25:46 – Lifting weights in college, and the rocket ship analogy29:12 – Sticking with the training process, “it takes time”, and Leif’s first 5.14b35:57 – Learning to stick with it, mental carry over, and testing to be an electrition38:38 – Moving away from the trades, relating to blue collar workers, and starting SUBSTR842:04 – How Leif educated himself to become a better coach, remote vs. in-person coaching, and being receptive to critique45:42 – The PCC49:06 – The 75/25 rule, and designing skill drills54:40 – On the wall tension building, crunches, and the shortcomings of limit bouldering58:56 – Core tension, the posterior chain, and an example of building tension on the wall1:02:39 – The benefit of having a specific goal1:04:19 – The drill Leif learned from Kris Hampton at Power Company, and learning to create more tension through the feet1:07:10 – Patron Question from Donovan: What should I work on to break into 5.13?1:19:50 – Patron Question: How can I be a weekend warrior?1:31:53 – Mini goals1:34:31 – Patron Question from Tyler: Tips for non-professional climbers?1:39:03 – Patron Question from Matt: Recommendations for someone who works a physically demanding job in the trades?1:43:49 – Patron Question from Moritz: Leif’s weight when he climbed 5.14b?1:45:38 – My restricting eating story, training heavy, and being an opportunivore1:54:40 – Patron Question from Moritz: Can Leif do a front lever yet?1:56:43 – Patron Question from Nolan: What does your warmup look like for a hard redpoint?2:05:14 – Patron Question from Steve Bechtel: How did Leif deal with and get past a severe finger injury?2:16:01 – ‘Strawberry Roan’2:26:01 – Patron Question from Darren: Send goals or dream route in Lander?2:31:11 – Patron Question from Darren: Does it feel like a disadvantage being a big dude pulling on small monos in Lander?2:33:08 – Grateful for friends and family

15 Maalis 20212h 36min

In this solo episode, I share my experience with an eating disorder. I talk about how an inaccurate DEXA scan and a desire to climb harder spiraled into body dysmorphia, failure, and shame. I also talk about what led me out of it, reframing the way I think about weight, key lessons and takeaways, where I am at now with weight and diet, and how I plan to move forward.Support the Podcast:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbingShow Notes:thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/my-eating-disorder

11 Maalis 202144min

Carlos Tkacz is a teacher, author, and lover of literature. He also lives in a van and climbs V13. We talked about many things, including a reading list given to him by his friend, impactful quotes, lessons learned from students, starting climbing in his 20’s and discovering training, writing a training book, self-publishing sci-fi novels, public speaking advice, and sharing ideas.Support on Patreon:  patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/carlos-tkaczInstagram Links:@boulderbushido@thenuggetclimbingNuggets:2:35 – The record button3:37 – Stickers and paintings6:37 – Books from the reading list11:16 – James Baldwin quote12:38 – How Carlos uses Instagram16:16 – ‘Turbulence’ and East of Eden 22:45 – Plans to go back to school for a Ph.D. in Literature, and living in a world of stories26:18 – The moment Carlos knew he wanted to be a teacher31:01 – Teaching Communication 10134:54 – Public speaking advice #1, and the fight or flight response38:38 – Public speaking advice #239:17 – “Drink deep or not at all.”43:02 – Zen Buddhism, and being skeptical of little enlightenments44:11 – “The sign of a true education is to be able to entertain an idea without believing it.”47:50 – Mr. Ruff, and writing an editorial about gay marriage49:33 – Two great stickers49:54 – Living on public land in Bishop and taking a year off52:05 – Quarentraining, and social connection through climbing56:20 – Sending ‘Diabolique’ and becoming a climber at age 2359:01 – Resonating with Patxi Usobiaga’s masochism in ‘Progression’1:02:43 – Carlos’ climbing progression, ups and downs, and the broken pinky story1:07:04 – Shifting to focusing on bouldering1:08:03 – Early training iterations, Taco Bell + bananas, and moving the pieces around 1:11:20 – Writing a training book on accident1:14:50 – The Japanese team, and top outdoor boulderers1:17:25 – Jimmy Webb, gymnastics, survivorship bias, and structure as a tool for resilience1:20:43 – Overview of ‘Training 102’ and Carlos training philosophy1:27:31 – Drills, and higher intensity core exercises 1:30:17 – Rotating exercises and addressing weaknesses, and programming1:32:39 – Training friends and testimonials1:35:33 – What a typical week of training looks like, climb outside, and how Carlos trains within a year1:38:35 – The nutrition chapter, eating disorders,  Carlos’ experience with vegetarianism and veganism, and his current way of eating1:41:36 – Eating the same thing every day1:42:49 – Planning nutrition, eating more, and becoming more flexible1:45:37 – The food industry and the unique challenge of balancing a healthy outlook on food and weight1:46:25 – The ‘Light’ documentary, and finding the line1:47:47 – Scarcity vs. opulence, discipline as a path to freedom, and Carlos’ upbringing1:59:26 – Carlos’ Sci-fi novels, and writing a thousand words per day2:04:03 – Two different types of creatives, and using his first few books as practice2:05:05 – Plot overview of The Void Within2:10:07 – Star Trek vs. Star Wars, Captain Pips, and Carlos’ conversion story and swearing off violence2:11:51 – Losing the mental battle in Hueco, and making a trip to Roy2:14:52 – Gratitude2:17:00 – Excited with sharing ideas with students2:20:40 – Where to connect with Carlos

8 Maalis 20212h 27min

This full episode is available for Patrons right now! This is a teaser of a follow-up call with Emily Harrington. We talked about her send of ‘Golden Gate’ in a day, finding flow state after a minor head injury, using two pairs of TC Pros to climb the Monster Offwidth, her recent trip to the VRG, how she has trained Adrian (her partner) to climb his first 5.13b, and favorite pancake toppings. You can get access to follow-up conversations for $5 per month on Patreon at patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing. The full version of this follow-up call is 36:17.Learn more: thenuggetclimbing.com/follow-ups

4 Maalis 202110min

This is part 2 of my conversation with Dave MacLeod. We talked about key points from Dave’s book 9 Out of 10 Climbers, how he uses flexible programming to train around the weather in Scotland, his current carnivore diet experiment, and listener questions about aging, piles of eggs, disordered eating, fatherhood, Scottish climbing, and more.Support the Podcast:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbingShow Notes:thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/dave-macleod-part-2Nuggets:(00:00:00) – Intro(00:04:10) – Why Dave wrote ‘9 out of 10 Climbers Make the Same Mistakes’(00:11:09) – Using ‘9 out of 10’ to discover your own individual pitfalls, and why Dave has become more and more interested in lifestyle(00:15:28) – Using your climbing partners as mirrors, changing your circumstances, and the shortcut to sending your project(00:21:00) – Dave’s common pitfall—quality recovery(00:22:25) – Productivity and the value of having a home wall(00:26:30) – “Bouldering is king”, and how Dave fits indoor bouldering sessions around outdoor climbing(00:31:47) – How Dave uses flexible programing for his training(00:37:01) – Periodization as a tool for introducing variety(00:38:52) – Fingerboarding on the same day as bouldering and Dave’s thoughts on which to do first(00:40:33) – The “one-minute-per-move” rule(00:42:40) – Patron Question from Adriel: Any advice for maintaining a positive growth curve as you age? What does Dave think the upper age limit is for hitting peak performance?(00:48:23) – Dave’s take on how much protein to eat per day(00:49:39) – Dave’s current carnivore diet experiment(00:57:10) – Sport climbing on a ketogenic diet(01:07:20) – Patron Question from Charizze: How many eggs make a pile of eggs?(01:10:17) – Patron Question from Maria: How do manage the strength to weight ratio through diet, while avoiding falling down the rabbit hole of energy deficiency and/or disordered eating?(01:16:42) – Patron Question from Mike: Dave, you’re a hero, but I’ll be honest, much of the climbing in Scottland looks chossy and overgrown. What crag should a climber from the US visit to correct that misconception?(01:19:07) – What time of year is best to visit Scottland to climb, and the “24/8”(01:22:23) – Patron Question from Laurent: How do you balance fatherhood and climbing? Any secret beta for a new father who’d like to keep improving at climbing while being present in his daughter’s life?(01:25:59) – Patron Question from Eric: Any recommendations for injury-prone climbers?(01:30:50) – Favorite discipline of climbing(01:32:05) – Last meal(01:32:39) – Recommended books(01:36:24) – Advice for his 20-year-old self(01:37:26) – Advice for his 30-year-old self(01:39:52) – Defining climbing moments(01:42:14) – One of the best decisions Dave has ever made(01:42:54) – Gratitude(01:44:21) – Excited to focus on climbing

1 Maalis 20211h 50min

Dave MacLeod is a professional climber from Scotland and might be the best all-around climber in the world. Dave also has two master’s degrees and has authored two books. We talked about improving from 13d to 14d in 18 months, the ritual of approaching the fingerboard, how to reduce the risk of tendon injuries, interpreting scientific research, nutrient density, and more.Support the Podcast:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbingShow Notes:  thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/dave-macleod-part-1Nuggets: (00:00:00) – Intro(00:04:26) – The hardest thing Dave has ever downclimbed (00:09:06) – Downclimbing for climbing up?(00:09:57) – Going from 8b to 8c+ (13d to 14c) in 18 months as an experienced climber(00:17:06) – Dave’s thoughts on fingerboarding 6-days per week vs. 2-3 days per week with longer sessions(00:21:57) – Becoming less sure about things as time goes on, and the endurance study example(00:24:25) – Dave’s theory about level of effort as the key to finger strength gains(00:27:42) – The ritual of approaching the fingerboard, and pouring your passion for climbing into every set(00:29:23) – The binary nature of climbing(00:31:09) – How important each of the three ingredients (fingerboard, circuits, running) were to Dave’s jump from 8b to 8c+(00:34:58) – More details about Dave’s outdoor circuits(00:41:08) – Accounting for elite climbers who train vs. just climb(00:47:12) – Hanging straight arm vs. bent arm, and considerations for Golfer’s Elbow(00:50:54) – Learning about tendon injuries for ‘Make or Break’, theories on why tendons fail to adapt, possible environmental factors (sunlight, blood sugar, and linoleic acid), and what Dave is doing to reduce his own risk of tendon injuries(00:57:14) – Dave’s thoughts on linoleic acid and seed oils(01:02:06) – Epidemiological studies vs. interventional trials and experimental studies, and eggs and red meat as examples(01:15:58) – Looking at diet through the ancestral lens(01:20:10) – Dave’s recommendation to focus on nutrient density (regardless of dietary preference)(01:24:22) – Getting interested in nutrition because of weight and seeking simplicity(01:25:52) – Fingerboard grip selection, my recent half crimp assessment, and Chirs Sharma’s crimp grip(01:33:55) – Training difference edge sizes vs. sticking to a basic 20mm, and thoughts on small hold training (10mm and below)

22 Helmi 20211h 41min

In this bonus episode, I chat with Blake Cason about ClimbWell, and upcoming retreats for Spring 2021. Blake explains what ClimbWell is all about, who the retreats are for, what to expect from this 4-day experience, and talks about her fellow coaches and their vision for future events. 10% Discount Code:“NUGGET10” Learn More about Sign Up:climbwell.co/retreatRetreat Dates and Location:April 8-11  in Veyo, Utah(Second retreat has been canceled)

18 Helmi 202124min