The TrainingBeta Podcast: A Climbing Training Podcast
Sports:Wilderness
Back in April, I published an episode with Thomas Cunningham all about how he trains efficiently as a busy dad and ER physician to be able to send up to 5.14c projects in only 10-15 days outside climbing per year. You can listen to that episode in the link below:
Listen to my first interview with Thomas
In that episode, we started talking about how he uses the Whoop (a wearable bio tracking device), continuous glucose meters, and some other biohacking type stuff, but the interview would’ve been reallllly long if we’d gone into all of it in details. So I asked him to come back for a second interview to talk about all of that. We’ll be doing another one soon on using bloodwork to optimize supplementation, etc. for climbing performance soon.
So who is Thomas?
Thomas is a 36-year-old emergency medicine physician and father of 3 children from Louisville, KY who’s been climbing for around 20 years. After talking to him for a while, I realized he is SUPER scientific about everything he does in climbing. This is no surprise because he’s quite an overachiever in his academic/professional life as well.
He’s published a bunch of academic papers, he was chief resident at the University of Louisville Department of Emergency Medicine a while back, and WHILE he was doing that, he started a medical device company, Inscope Medical, and was VP of Innovations. He also completed an IronMan while he was an intern resident.
Here is his CV if you’re interested.
He’s an ambitious person, to say the least, and that means he has less time than some of us for climbing and training.
Only getting outside climbing around 10-15 days per year, and focusing all of that time on very hard projects, he has learned that his training and all of his days outside have to be hyperfocused and specific.
He also has to optimize his body for all the training he does and to be in peak performance mode when he’s trying to send. He’s used a continouse glucose meter (CGM) on himself in the past and he asked Sam Elias and Jonathan Horst to start wearing one in order to help them optimize their fueling for climbing.
He came into this interview with data on both of them (and himself), including what they were eating before using the CGM, the changes they made to their diets after and while using it, and the effects it had on their climbing. The CGM basically takes a reading of your blood glucose every 5 minutes so you can see in real time how each food/meal affects you.
We also talk a little more about the Whoop in this episode, which I’ve now gotten 6 of my friends and family using. It’s really interesting looking at the data each day about your sleep quality/quantity, how recovered you are, your HRV, and all kinds of stuff I’ve never paid attention to before. Thomas goes into how exactly he uses the whoop and how I’ve been using it myself.
This episode was really fun for me because this stuff as a nutritionist is extremely interesting. I hope you love it too!
Oh, and if you want to work with Thomas, you can do that by clicking on the link below:
Work with Thomas on Your Own Biohacking
TBP 114 :: Lattice Training - 5 Training Hacks for The Time-Poor Climber
TBP 113 :: How Dru Mack Is So Dang Good at Endurance Climbing
TBP 112 :: Mina Leslie-Wujastyk on Overcoming Fear and Setting Big Goals
TBP 111 :: Matt Pincus On Fitting Everything Into Your Training Program
TBP 110 :: Steve Bechtel on Training Endurance for Climbing
TBP 109 :: How Electrician Leif Gasch Sent His First 5.14b at Age 38
TBP 108 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Using Blood Flow Restriction during Performance Phases and for Injury Healing
TBP 107 :: Nathaniel Coleman on Staying Positive and Training to Win Comps
TBP 106 :: Tiffany Melius on Training for the Olympics and Mental Coaching for Climbers
TBP 105 :: Esther Smith - Treating Ankle and Foot Injuries for Climbers
TBP 104 :: How Meagan Martin Juggles Pro Climbing, Ninja Warrior, Modeling, and Coaching
TBP 103 :: Dr. Kate Bennett on Eating Disorders and Climbers
TBP 102 :: Dr. Jared Vagy on Rotator Cuff and Neck Strain
TBP 101 :: How Alex Biale Comes Back Stronger After Serious Injuries
TBP 100 :: Kyra Condie's Hangboard and Campus Board Training Program
TBP 099 :: Sasha DiGiulian on Current Training, FFA's, Her Weight, and Nutrition
TBP 098 :: Dr. Tyler Nelson on Preparing to Try Hard and Testing Whether or Not You Should
Ask Matt :: Comparing Finger Training Protocols
TBP 097 :: How to Overcome Fear in Climbing with Author Roanne van Voorst
TBP 096 :: Sports Psychologist Chris Heilman on Imagery and Setting Realistic Goals
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