The Inconvenient Truth About Getting Good at Climbing

In today's Lattice Podcast, Coach Josh Hadley sits down with Dr Simon Fryer to discuss the challenges of testing rock climbers, highlighting the differences between climbing and other sports.

Dr Simon Fryer is a Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Physiology at the University of Gloucestershire, with a PhD in biomedical science. His background is in sports, exercise, and biomedical science, with a specialist interest in cardiovascular and cardiometabolic physiology. As an exercise physiologist, he delivers a range of Sports and Exercise Science courses and his research focuses on the impact of exercise and physical activity on health, disease, and sports performance, specifically concerning the cardiovascular and cardiometabolic systems. He has also delivered many talks on the importance of physical activity and health, such as his TEDx Cheltenham talk "Are You Sitting Comfortably?"

Key topics include:

• Health benefits of climbing
• Misguided information in the climbing community
• The inconvenient truth about getting good at climbing
• Importance of base training and lower limb strength
• Advice for pursuing an academic or research route

We also cover:

• Importance of peripheral adaptations in climbing and the role of aerobic fitness
• Current best practices for testing climbers, including occlusion tests and near-infrared spectroscopy
• Vision for the future of climbing performance testing, including the use of big data and technology

So whether you’re a sports science advocate, or simply curious to hear more of the science behind climbing, take a seat and enjoy today’s podcast.

The Lattice jingle is brought to you by Devin Dabney, music producer of the outdoor industry who also hosts the American Climbing Project.