The Nugget Climbing Podcast PREMIUM

Justen Sjong (The Climbing Sensei) is a world-class climber and coach who specializes in technique and mental game. This episode is a technique masterclass. We talk about the four stages of technique, how to practice any new skill, how to send faster, his goal to climb 9a before 60, and Justen coaches me on how to float on the wall using his drop-drive-stop method.

Justen answers a listener question from John and gives him advice on his finger training. John started climbing later in life and struggles with finger strength despite training consistently. He also struggles with achy fingers as a taller/heavier climber. Justen had a lot of wisdom and insights to share beyond reps and sets. Enjoy!

In this episode, I crack open a beer with Tony Bell and David Bress, the two founders of Revival Climbing Coalition. The two of them installed my dream home wall in 2.5 hours and I was blown away by the craftsmanship and elegance of the design. We talked about their backgrounds, how they bootstrapped a climbing wall business, what sets their products apart, the biggest surprises they faced, sustainability challenges, future products and innovations, and more!

Revival’s Adjustable Climbing Walls:
https://www.revivalclimbing.com/adjustable-climbing-wall

Revival’s Landing Systems:
https://www.revivalclimbing.com/custom-mats
https://www.revivalclimbing.com/standard-mats

Jana and I were talking after the main episode and luckily I was still recording! We talked about being interviewed in a foreign language, and Jana told me about her trips to the United Arab Emirates to establish new boulders, including her first ascent of a new 8B/V13 called 'Lion King', and we talked about the climbing scene in the UAE.

References:
Video of Jana Bouldering in UAE (Lion King is at 03:50)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLq3T4hlNwQ

Nuggets:
(00:00:00) – Languages
(00:03:30) – Developing boulders in the United Arab Emirates 
(00:10:33) – Establishing ‘Lion King’ 8B/V13
(00:11:49) – The climbing scene in the UAE
(00:14:56) – Logistics in UAE 
(00:17:29) – Getting off the beaten track

Jana Švecová is a professional rock climber from the Czech Republic who has emerged as one of the top female boulderers in the world. We talked about her upbringing and her early success in competitions, her pivot to outdoor bouldering, her inspiration for choosing ‘Terranova’ 8C+/V16 as a project, making the first ascent of ‘Nova’ 8C/V15, using her finger injury as an opportunity, current training, and much more!

Aidan answers questions from my Patrons about board training, finger training for The Midnight Project, reframing failures, developing local areas, Arnold Schwarzenegger posters, quitting climbing, favorite foods, hard projects, and more! We also had an honest chat about losing weight for climbing and some of the struggles we've both had with navigating eating.

Nuggets:
(00:00:00) – Siblings, upbringing, and phones
(00:07:32) – Frankenstein climber continued
(00:21:20) – Board training
(00:28:57) – Finger training for The Midnight Project
(00:37:14) – Replicating failure points
(00:39:43) – Board training continued
(00:52:56) – Reframing potential failures
(00:57:39) – Accessing flow
(01:07:31) – Developing local areas
(01:15:20) – Arnold Schwarzenegger
(01:17:51) – Losing the path
(01:28:39) – Taking a step back
(01:31:10) – An honest chat about losing weight for climbing
(01:55:35) – Raspberries and a healthy palette
(01:59:22) – Beans
(02:00:20) – The Sams
(02:02:45) – V17 projects and reality checks
(02:04:23) – Excalibur
(02:08:35) – Aidan’s first 8A
(02:10:45) – Terrenova
(02:12:05) – Desert Island boulders and the Sisu project
(02:19:56) – Wrap up