Why Your Gym Training Isn’t Translating to Outdoor Climbing – Coach Karly Rager

Karly Rager is a climber and a climbing coach with her business Project Direct Coaching. Her approach to coaching climbers is a little different than what I’ve seen anywhere else, which really caught my attention when I discovered her on Instagram. While she does the normal strength training and tactics education with her clients, she also focuses a lot on mindset. In fact, she has an entire mindset coaching option to help climbers with their “head game,” including fear of falling and nervous system regulation while climbing.

I asked her to be on the show to talk about ways she helps her clients manage fear, but also to discuss the reasons why our training in the gym doesn’t often prepare us for climbing outside. Sometimes it’s surprising when we go outside to find that we don’t climb the same grades, things feel harder, and it’s just weirder out there. So she breaks down the reasons that’s happening, and what you can do to make your outdoor climbing better, both physically and mentally.

We also talk about Karly’s own progression in climbing, what she loves about it so much, and what it was like to quit her full time engineering job to start a climbing coaching company.

Here’s what we talked about:

• How she trained for her first 5.13c this year
• Outdoor vs Indoor climbing tactics and training
• Cognitive strategies to manage fear
• Movement patterns and strengths required for harder climbs
• Shoulder engagement on harder climbs
• Fewer points of contact on the wall
• How to practice and train all of these things

Listen on iTunes or Spotify

Work with One of the TrainingBeta Coaches

Both Matt Pincus and Alex Stiger are currently taking new coaching clients! Both of them help climbers from all over the world get stronger and more skillful at climbing. If you work with them for a month of training and coaching, this is what you can expect:

• Introductory zoom call to get all of your details, goals, strengths, injuries, etc
• Create a training plan that you’ll access via the TrueCoach app
• Contact throughout the month either on zoom or on TrueCoach for encouragement and tweaks to the plan
• Clearly laid out instructions about what to do in your indoor and outdoor sessions
• You’ll gain strength, tactics, and confidence in your climbing abilities

If you want Matt or Alex to help you with your climbing, whether they’re with bouldering or route climbing, click the link below to get started.