The Testpiece Podcast

Melina Costanza is an 8x US National Champion. Sometimes as a youth, sometimes as a collegiate, sometimes in Open, sometimes in bouldering, sometimes in lead, sometimes both. Yes, last year at Open Nationals (2023) she won both Bouldering and Lead. She is set to compete in the 2024 Open Nationals coming up in a week, so after you listen to this podcast make sure to mark your calendars for October 14th and 15th and cheer her on!

In this podcast, Melina shares her extremely deep dive into mental training and how she translates that to her incredible performances in competition. It is an absolute masterclass on this topic that cannot be missed.

She also talks about her views on indoor vs outdoor climbing and how that’s recently changed and why.

Finally, Melina covers a sensitive, but important, topic. Eating as an elite athlete. Melina struggled with an eating disorder at one point and suffered a serious injury as a result. She has returned to sport since then, and done so successfully (see above, Nationals 2023 double gold). Melina shares how to best frame eating when you are an athlete.

Because let’s face it, weight management will always be part of the equation in sports. But it needs to be done the right way. It is not a simple black and white topic, even though media often makes it out to be, which is a disservice to those trying to figure out their path forward. Melina is making a huge contribution to the community by sharing how she navigates the nuances so that she can perform at her best in a sustainable way.

SHOW NOTES:

• Melina's Instagram
• Melina’s Favorite Hype Song, Runnin
• Melina’s Favorite Chill Songs, Taylor Swift
• Day One Journaling App
• Alex Johnson’s Testpiece Podcast Episode

Support the show

Support us on Patreon: HERE
Visit our podcast page: HERE
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This is the episode to learn everything about one of, if not the, most important parts of our climbing kit — chalk! The real topic here is how to maximize friction between your hands and the holds, which is crucial for sending your hardest.

Kevin Brown joins the pod and goes deep on the science of how to get the best friction on holds. He talks about the chemical make up of the best chalk, what it has, what it doesn’t have, the pH of chalk and why that matters. He also shares the history of chalk (and pof!), some of the potential future advancements in chalk, and how to prepare best prepare your skin and holds for each attempt.

Kevin knows this area so well because he’s the founder of Friction Labs. Kevin is also a lifelong climber who climbs into the V double digits and has contributed to the climbing community in a bunch of ways. Not only is he the founder of Friction Labs, he also helped found the Denver Bouldering Club which was one of the first real gyms in that area.

SHOW NOTES:

• Friction Labs Website
• Friction Labs Instagram
• Carlo’s Dark Side Episode
• Athletic Hands
• Liquid Chalk

Support the show

Support us on Patreon: HERE
Visit our podcast page: HERE
Sign-up with one of our coaches: HERE
Follow us on Instagram: HERE

This is a follow-up episode to the last Melina Costanza podcast, #119. That episode was one of the fan favorites, josh favorites, and even favorites of other professional climbers. Go listen to that one first, because it was amazing and will set the stage for this follow-up episode.

It’s only been a month since Melina last came on, but in that month she won US Nationals, both in Lead and Bouldering, and did so for the second year in a row. Yes, in 2023 she won Lead and Bouldering and in 2024 she AGAIN won Lead and Bouldering! On top of that she won multiple high level local comps this month and found the time to go outside and do a slew of double digit boulders. One of which was a near flash of a V13 (she still sent 2nd go)!

Melina is incredibly articulate and insightful on the intricacies of performing at the highest level of competition. In the last episode she detailed her training leading into Nationals, and since she had such a stellar performance we wanted to sit down and explore exactly how that training turned into perfect execution.

Don’t miss this one... These two pods together are not just a 2x, it’s squared. (Ya, that's a lame joke, but it's true.)

SHOW NOTES:

• Melina Costanza’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melinacostanza/
• Melina’s previous Testpiece Podcast, #119
• 2024 Double Gold Champ
• V13 Second Go

Support the show

Support us on Patreon: HERE
Visit our podcast page: HERE
Sign-up with one of our coaches: HERE
Follow us on Instagram: HERE

You’ve heard of Matt Fultz, but you may not realize just how amazing Matt is. He’s climbed eight V16’s. 8. Eight!
By the way, two of them are rarely repeated and recognized as some of the hardest in the world (Hypnotized Minds and Big Z). He’s FA’d 7 climbs V15 and up, including 2 V15’s in one day!! We’re pretty sure that’s a world’s first, but who’s counting...

Matt has also been coaching for well over a decade and founded Off The Ground coaching (“OTG”), which is one of the most highly respected remote coaching services. Matt is just as passionate about being a coach as he is a climber.

In this episode Matt shares some of his tactics for climbing harder right NOW, how to manage long term projects, how he uses video analysis, what the hardest board climbs in the world are and much much more.

SHOW NOTES:

• Matt Fultz Instagram
• Off The Ground Coaching with Matt
• Wheeler Brothers Testpiece Podcast

Support the show

Support us on Patreon: HERE
Visit our podcast page: HERE
Sign-up with one of our coaches: HERE
Follow us on Instagram: HERE

Tim and Josh go deep on how to sport climb at a high level. They address breathing on the wall, understanding resting, dealing with fear, how to do hard bouldery moves while tied in, and lots more.

Support the show

Support us on Patreon: HERE
Visit our podcast page: HERE
Sign-up with one of our coaches: HERE
Follow us on Instagram: HERE