The Strength-to-Weight Ratio Debate: Why "Just Get Lighter" is as Oversimplified advice.

Climbers often dismiss strength training for not transferring directly to climbing performance—but then turn around and treat weight loss as if it automatically makes you climb better. In this episode, we break down the irony in the strength-to-weight ratio debate and explain why both approaches are oversimplifications.

You'll learn:

• Why strength training and weight loss are both indirect levers (and neither replaces time on the wall)
• How building capacity through strength training supports climbing performance, recovery, and injury prevention
• Why chasing weight loss often reduces training capacity instead of improving it
• What elite climbers can (and can't) teach us about training
• When strength training or weight loss actually work as performance levers
• What moves the needle for most climbers (hint: it's not one magic variable)

If you've been stuck on a plateau, constantly injured, or wondering whether you should focus on getting stronger or getting lighter—this episode will help you think more clearly about what actually supports long-term climbing performance.

Keywords: strength training for climbers, climbing performance, strength to weight ratio, climbing training, capacity building, climbing injury prevention, weight loss for climbers, climbing plateau, elite climbers, rock climbing training, foundational strength, climbing recovery

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Strength training is one of the most common things climbers tell me they want to do, and also one of the most common things they quit.

Not because they are lazy. Not because they do not care. But because it makes them sore, tired, and like their climbing sessions are getting worse instead of better.

In this episode, I break down why that experience is so common and why it does not automatically mean strength training is wrong for you.

We talk about:

• The difference between normal soreness and fatigue and actual problems
• Why most climbers are overdosing relative to their current capacity
• How recovery and fueling are often the missing pieces
• Why capacity explains why some athletes can lift and climb on the same day while others feel wrecked for days.

If strength training feels like it is competing with your climbing, this episode will help you understand what usually needs to change so it supports your climbing instead.

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In this episode, I sit down with my friend and client Dani, a somatic psychotherapist and climber, to talk about how the body and mind communicate — and what it really means to feel your feelings.

Dani shares how her own journey through chronic illness, trauma, and movement led her into somatic therapy, and we explore the deep overlap between her work and the kind of pain science–based rehab I do with climbers. We talk about why so many people struggle to slow down, why emotions show up as physical sensations, and how both somatic therapy and strength training can help you rebuild trust with your body.

Whether you’re navigating pain, dealing with stress, or just curious about what it means to actually “listen to your body,” this episode will help you see how awareness, curiosity, and compassion can change the way you move — and the way you heal.

WE TALK ABOUT:

• What somatic therapy really is (and why it’s not just for trauma work)

• The connection between emotions, sensations, and pain

• Why we tend to intellectualize our feelings instead of feeling them

• The role of awareness and curiosity in both therapy and rehab

• How pain stories and beliefs shape the way we experience symptoms

• The concept of allostatic load and how life stressors impact recovery

• Overlaps between pain reprocessing, graded exposure, and nervous system regulation

• Practical tools: the feelings wheel, body sensation lists, grounding and self-hold techniques, and how to start a dialogue with your body

• Why climbers might already be practicing somatic therapy on the wall — and how to bring more awareness to it

Healing isn’t just about fixing tissue or solving a movement pattern — it’s about learning to listen, slow down, and rebuild trust in your body.
Somatic therapy gives language and space to sensations, while strength training and rehab build the capacity to act within that space. Both help you reconnect with your body instead of fighting against it.

CONNECT WITH DANI:

🔗 somaticswithdani.com📱 Instagram: @somaticswithdanni

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Book an Injury Consultation or Rehab Coaching

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