Self-coaching to guidance from professionals

I swear I’m treating the training equipment with respect.

The process in self-coaching has been a journey of trials and errors, lots of learning, and sifting through all the available resources out there. I was improving continuously as a new climber using a free self-coached program by Eric Hörst through TrainingForClimbing.com, but after a year, I wanted a change of pace which is necessary for new exposure of stimulus in my training to get stronger.

However, I got lost in the process of creating my own program because I liked certain aspects of Hörst’s program but couldn’t fit it all in with a new program’s style of protocols. I also got the Shiny Object Syndrome during this process and felt overwhelmed with the resources I found. The fastest way to cut out the trials and errors was to invest in a climbing coach.

I want to be transparent, though, that it was a hard decision to go forward with because hiring a climbing coach is not accessible and suitable to everyone since it may be expensive and working with a coach is a huge commitment. I say that it is not suitable for everyone because some people climb just as a casual hobby and everyone doesn’t necessarily have to train with a coach.

If you’re on the fence about working with a coach for your climbing and want to know what it’s like to work with coaches, check out my process and experience I share below working with Dr. Natasha Barnes and Chelsea Murn (Lady Beta Coaching).

This is my personal experience so please take this with a grain of salt! What may worked for me may not work for you. This is why initial consultations are important to figure out if the coach’s style works well with your goals, personality, and level of dedication.

Dr. Natasha Barnes

Natasha is a rehab doctor, a former national bouldering champion, a competitive powerlifter, and a climbing coach. I first met Natasha when I won her auction at Touchstone Climbing’s Pride Month party in 2018. Our session together took place at Dogpatch Boulders where Natasha helped me get better at my weaknesses such as footwork and dynos. Through this rapport, I found confidence in seeing her as my climbing coach but I wasn’t ready to work with her yet because I didn’t feel financially comfortable.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I encountered feedback about the training videos I had shared through Instagram from other stronger climbers. They were saying that it looked like I was not ready for a certain exercise because it seemed like my upper body and core was too weak for it. I appreciated the feedback but I felt like I did my best, training 3 to 4 days a week to have a strong upper body and core. A side note: around this time, I recently lost my father to cancer and I was going to grad school at the same time. This was a very tough, vulnerable time for me so receiving that kind of feedback was testing my emotional and mental resilience.

Deciding to do something about the feedback, I turned to Natasha so I could rely on professional guidance. Investing in myself at this time felt right to me so I did not hesitate. Natasha put me on a payment plan to pay off slowly. At my first consultation call with Natasha, I laid out my goals which were to get stronger in general and to finish Smooth Shrimp V6 at the Buttermilks in Bishop, California.

Natasha’s training philosophy is to get stronger through evidence-based barbell training because the exercises are compound lifts involving several muscles so training is efficient and measurable. Her programs were customized to my goals. For my first cycle of the custom program, I received 3 training days which were based on light, medium, and heavy volumes but all were in high intensity. The days included lifting and/or climbing. See an example of my first cycle below:

Workout 1
- Light climbing or climbing drills, hangboarding, back squats, deadlifts, strict press
Workout 2
- Medium climbing, bench press, dumbbell rows, 2-second paused squats
Workout 3
- Heavy climbing

Throughout training, Natasha gave me constructive feedback from the climbing and lifting videos I uploaded through the True Coach app. She helped me learn the lifting mechanics and form and work on my climbing weaknesses. Working with Natasha gave me so much confidence in myself that I actually sent Smooth Shrimp at my first go of the day (it was my 4th session after some time training). I actually felt stronger and I didn’t even train on endurance for this traverse!

With her vast experience in climbing outdoors, Natasha gave insights and strategies for the terrain and styles of certain outdoor crags. I also learned that bodies are resilient and not meant to be “fixed”. The same year I started working with her, I partially tore ankle ligaments but Natasha helped me rehab it back to 100% in two months that I was able to fall on my feet and my ankle had its flexibility back. In the last fall season, I fell weird on the same ankle outdoors but it was mildly sprained because it was strong from the rehab.

After some time off for a climbing season this past winter, I came back to Natasha for her self-supported program during the shelter-in-place period. I chose this option because I’m familiar with her philosophy and training that I just want a program to follow without 1:1 guidance.

I like to work with Natasha because she’s a great coach who takes pride in all of her clients and is always encouraging everyone to get stronger in the most efficient way. She doesn’t sugarcoat feedback nor support non-science based recovery or rehab. In my opinion, Natasha’s training is ideal for climbers with injuries and any type of climber who wants to build a “STRONG AF” base for strength during an off-season.

Natasha’s current training programs:

(Updated 05/25/2021 - Natasha has made her services more accessible with various options and price points.)

1:1 Online Coaching: $1,200 for 12 weeks
Self-supported Custom Training Program: $450 for 8 weeks
Boulder Strong I: $197 for 8 weeks
Foundational Strength Training for Climbing: $147
Strong AF @ Home Program: $97
All available in a payment plan
Workouts delivered and logged through the TrueCoach app

Chelsea Murn (Lady Beta Coaching)

I was at Joshua Tree last fall, challenging myself to try a chossy V2 slab because I was not good at slabs. All I needed to do to send was to stand on a little foot chip from a pistol squat with no hands since there wasn’t any holds at all to top out; however, I kept backing down because I felt like I couldn’t take the risk to fall from the height. I gave up. I failed.

I was mad at myself about why I couldn’t just go with the risk. All other crushers I watched just looked so strong and courageous, giving their all and sending their projects. I felt jealous and I was at loss at why, even after all my training, I couldn’t perform. I needed to do something about my mindset. It was toxic.

Chelsea is a certified health coach and trainer who particularly helps womxn holistically through strength training, nutrition, hormonal balance, and mindset. I came to her for mindset coaching because mindset is the hardest to work through by myself even though I had resources and information at my fingertips. I needed someone with more experience in climbing to share their wisdom and to challenge me to change. To me Chelsea has the friendly personality I work well with to work through my insecurities in climbing such as fear of failure and comparison trap.

Chelsea worked with me for 4 months total, consisting of Zoom check-ins every 2 weeks and homework such as journal prompts to reflect on my thoughts and how I can change my view of situations. The most memorable prompts that gave me personal breakthroughs were:

What will V10 (future) Vanessa would act like?
Would I still enjoy climbing even if I never sent anything again?
What are some ways that I can lessen the pressure I put on myself to perform well ALL THE TIME in climbing?
What does “failure” look like to me in climbing?
What was successful today at my session?

At Zoom check-ins, Chelsea gave me feedback on my journal entries (which I had shared through Google Docs) and she would dive deeper with my answers to explore my frame of mind. For example, Chelsea challenged me on why I felt like I needed to send something at trips. My reflection would go something like:

I spent a lot of time training and money to make this trip happen so I “should” send something to make it worth it, right? But does the boulder owe me a send? No, I am not entitled to have a send and the rock owes me nothing. In the end, I want to take this trip to enjoy the outdoors, to climb for fun, and to see for silver linings if things don’t go my way. Take every “road block” as an opportunity for something else. This is the type of self-talk I had to learn to change the way I react to less-than-ideal situations which is useful when climbing trips get rained out or canceled because of a pandemic…

A fun mindset training session for me was when Chelsea had me look at pictures indoor comp problems and talk about the potential beta. Chelsea also had me visualize, mimic, and vocalize my beta for a current project at Mortar Rock Park. I felt like I channeled Adam Ondra but perhaps a strong mindset was what he developed to become one of the best climbers in the world. Mindset work is not sexy but Chelsea made it fun and worth it.

Here’s a list of some of the skills and tools Chelsea helped me apply:

Visualizations
Beta reading
Journal prompts
Psychology in fears and the ego
“Should” replacement exercise
Projecting strategies
Overcoming the impostor syndrome

I like working with Chelsea because she creates an inviting safe space for me to work on what I was insecure about. She’s down-to-earth and a fighter for all her clients (enneagram type 8 for you). She challenges me in a good way so I can improve my own mindset. To me, Chelsea’s programs are ideal for new climbers, womxn who are interested in holistic and structured training, and anyone who needs help with mindset to overcome fears.

Chelsea’s current programs: (Updated 05/25/2021)

Custom Training Plans: $497 for 12 weeks
Elevate Group Coaching: $997 for 12 weeks
Send Strong: $67 for 4 weeks
Strong Through The Season: $138 for 5 weeks

Coaching benefits

The main takeaway of working with Natasha and Chelsea as coaches is that I had specific goals in mind and found coaches that were perfect for me to guide me towards my goals. They’re coaches with a lot of experience to bounce ideas with and to hear constructive feedback since they see the work I put into my training.

If I felt like these coaches weren’t a match for me, I would have not made the investment. Definitely take advantage of free consultations!

Coaching challenges

The challenge, besides finding the right coach, is financial. It takes financial planning and comfort to go forward with a custom plan and working with a coach 1:1. It is ok not to take on any kind of coaching at all if you cannot afford it. However, I want to encourage you that there are affordable options out there such as using general training templates instead of buying a custom plan or working with a coach 1:1. If you want to work with a particular coach, just be honest about your situation and the coach will try to make it happen to work with you. Natasha and Chelsea also offer options without 1:1 guidance that are more affordable such as the self-supported plan or the 4-week plan.

Other coaches to consider (that I know about): (Updated 05/25/2021)

Galina Parfenov at parfenovtraining.com
Juliet Hammer at JulietAmanda.com
Emily Taylor at tayloredfitsolutions.com
Jess West at powercompanyclimbing.com
Nadya Glushko (Proven Plan) at powercompanyclimbing.com
Veronika at adventurebeta.com
Adeline Wright at @adyclimbs

I hope this blog post is helpful and informational for those interested in working with coaches 1:1 especially if you’re curious about Natasha Barnes and Chelsea Murn. If you have any questions or want us to know about a particular coach, feel free to send me a message through Instagram @rocketnessa or through Lady Crush Crew via email: info at ladycrushcrew.com.

Working With Climbing Coaches