The Testpiece Podcast

A podcast about high level climbing. How to go from Good to Great.

Hosted by Joshua Horsley.

Recent Episodes
  • #153 Tyler Thompson — This Is The Most Fun You Can Have Climbing, Why 14a In America Is Like 9a In Europe, and How Sport Climbing Rewards Time On Rock More Than Bouldering
    Apr 14, 2025 – 01:37:02
  • #152 Ned Feehally — Training For Micro Edges, Being A ‘Good’ Climber Vs Doing A Big Number, 9A Paddle Dyno’s, and A Standardized Beastmaker Board?!
    Apr 7, 2025 – 01:31:04
  • #151 Shauna Coxsey — The One Thing You Can’t Train, Olympics Are Harder Than Parenting, and The Difference Between Motivation and Commitment
    Mar 31, 2025 – 01:44:29
  • #150 [BONUS] Emil Abrahamsson — Long Term YouTube Goals, Recommendations To The Pro’s, Will Ondra Flash V15?, and The # Of V17’s In The World
    Mar 28, 2025 – 18:02
  • #149 Emil Abrahamsson — Avoiding Audience Capture, Winning The Arnold Classic, Why He’s A “Lunatic”, and Gaining The Right Kind Of Weight
    Mar 24, 2025 – 01:35:23
  • #148 [BONUS] Kenny Suh — MORE Shocking Industry Tell All, How Most Shoe Companies Came To Exist, and $300 Climbing Shoes?!
    Mar 21, 2025 – 48:10
  • #147 Kenny Suh — Shocking Industry Tell All (The NDA’s Have EXPIRED), Who Actually Makes Your Shoes?, CEO Of Mad Rock, “Finger Condoms”, and Shoes In 2030 Will Be Made Like This
    Mar 17, 2025 – 01:41:49
  • #146 Chris Weidner — First 14c At 50, The Invention Of Kneepads, Member #112 At The 1st US Gym, and How Ice Climbing Helped Chris Send 14c
    Mar 10, 2025 – 01:54:25
  • #145 [BONUS] Chris Schulte — Throw It All Away, Fontainebleau Recommendations, and Earning ‘Those Moments’
    Mar 7, 2025 – 14:44
  • #144 Chris Schulte — Chasing Adventure And History, The Origins Of ‘Compression’ Climbing, Bouldering In The 1800’s, and Why “Leave No Trace” Doesn’t Scale
    Mar 3, 2025 – 02:03:56
  • #143 Simon Lorenzi — The Surprising Reason V18 Is So Difficult, Benchmark V16 And V17 Boulders, 9c Vs 9A, ‘Perfect’ Isn’t Perfect, and Why Climbing Is The Best Sport Ever
    Feb 24, 2025 – 01:45:03
  • #142 Tyler Nelson & Rob Hunter — Doubling Finger Strength As A 48 Year Old V14 Climber, “Squeezing The Lemon”, Focusing On Muscular Gains Over Connective Tissue, and Intention Instead Of Numbers
    Feb 17, 2025 – 01:47:51
  • #141 BONUS [Austin Hoyt] — The V18 Proj Everyone Knows About, Why Lucid Dreaming Is V15 Not V16, and The Upcoming V16 Next To Devilution
    Feb 14, 2025 – 17:06
  • #140 Austin Hoyt — Breaking Beta On Lucid Dreaming, FA’ing NE’s First V15, “NE Is The New SE”, and Why Everyone From There Has Strong Fingers
    Feb 10, 2025 – 01:52:11
  • #139 Ross Fulkerson — 70ft Whips, Filming “Between The Tides”, Expectations Of A Pro-Climber, and How To Deliver Peak Performance When Everything Is Against You
    Feb 3, 2025 – 01:37:49
  • #138 BONUS [Kai Whaley] — Secret Projects, His Favorite Place To Climb, Rocklands/Switzerland Ticklist, and Being a Good Climber
    Jan 31, 2025 – 17:32
  • #137 Kai Whaley — Youngest To Climb V10/12/16 And 17 Soon?!, NOT Being A Comp Kid, Live Streaming Highballs And V16s, and BOARDS
    Jan 27, 2025 – 01:43:27
  • #136 Tim, My Dude — Bouldering Has Leveled Up, The Next Gen Is Better, 15d Is Harder Than V17, and The Best Highball In The World
    Jan 20, 2025 – 02:13:33
  • #135 BONUS [Zach Galla] — 9A Surprises, The Project He’s Currently Locked In On, Simulator Training, and Who’s Going To Be Next On The Process
    Jan 17, 2025 – 12:50
  • #134 Zach Galla — The Process [V16] SA, Transitioning From Comps To The Hardest Highballs Around The World, Sosa V16 FA, and New Core Climbing Companies
    Jan 13, 2025 – 02:02:43
  • #133 Island Boys — The Boys Go To Mallorca, Coaches Coaching Each Other, Using Fear To Your Advantage, and “Pessimists Sound Smart; Optimists Get Rich”
    Jan 6, 2025 – 02:03:33
  • #132 BONUS [Nathaniel Coleman] — V17 Grading Thoughts, Reflections On Naming, and What He Remembers Most From Projecting
    Jan 3, 2025 – 15:42
  • #131 Nathaniel Coleman — V17 FA “No One Mourns The Wicked” [Defying Gravity Sit], The Newest And Best V17 In The World, and Breaking The Rules to Go from Good to Great
    Jan 1, 2025 – 01:52:04
  • #130 Good To Great — What The Best Of The Best Focus On, Execution, Resilience, Intrinsic Motivation, Stretching Your Limits, and Trying HARD
    Dec 23, 2024 – 18:51
  • #129 Austin Geiman — Defying Gravity V15, 11 Years and 100+ Sessions, The History The Sit And The Next Generation, “Best Boulder Ever Best Experience Ever”, and The Power Of Perseverance
    Dec 16, 2024 – 01:32:22
  • #128 Anne-Worley Moelter — CEO of Movement, Running The Largest Network of Gyms In The US, Climbing’s Unique Community, The Evolution Of Climbing Gyms and Where They're Headed
    Dec 9, 2024 – 01:32:17
  • #127 Tim, My Dude — V17 Is The New V16, $100 Bet That ‘Shaolin’…, Professional To Weekend Warrior, Embracing Weird Beta, and Josh Reflects On Mallorca
    Dec 2, 2024 – 02:17:04
  • #126 Natalia Grossman — 4x WC Season Winner [in a row!], Mindset As An Underdog vs Topdog, Climbing Your Best While Injured, and Knowing She’s ‘Ready’ For a Comp
    Nov 25, 2024 – 01:36:58
  • #125 Melina Costanza — Double Double Gold Gold Pod Pod (Follow-Up Episode), ‘Pressure Is A Privilege’, What Execution Really Feels Like, V13 2nd Go, and The Power of Journaling
    Nov 18, 2024 – 02:12:45
  • #124 Ross Fulkerson — Efficient Movement Over Everything, Performing Well In Different Disciplines, Practical Breathing Tips, and Testing New Climbing Shoes
    Nov 11, 2024 – 01:58:31
  • #123 Adam Shahar — The Best Training For Climbing, 1-Arm Pogo’s, IFSC Athlete of the Week, Ego Snacks, and Letting Go of Negative Thoughts
    Nov 4, 2024 – 01:54:40
  • #122 Hamish McArthur — His Surprising Path To Olympic Success, The Right Kind of Motivation, BTS at Paris 2024, Advice To Young Hamish, and Handling Danger and Death
    Oct 28, 2024 – 01:45:25
  • #121 Matt Fultz — BIG MOVES small crimps, Long Term Projecting, Video Analysis, Hardest Board Climbs, Throwing Away His Scale, and How He Coaches on OTG
    Oct 21, 2024 – 01:51:26
  • #120 Alvaro Rangel — Coaching Team USA at the Olympics, Not Saying ‘Strong’, The Most Important Skill, Making Finals vs Semi’s, Case Studies, and The Future of Comp Climbing
    Oct 14, 2024 – 02:33:21
  • #119 Melina Costanza — Elite Mental Training and Performance, Look Good Feel Good Play Good, Getting Hooked on The Outdoors, and The Nuances of Eating As a Top Athlete
    Oct 7, 2024 – 02:23:34
  • #118 Ward Byrum — Setting Climbs For Tens of Thousands of Climbers, What Makes A Climb Good, Indoor vs Outdoor Grades, and What A ‘Testpiece’ is at Movement Gyms
    Sep 30, 2024 – 02:20:27
  • #117 Tom Randall — How Fit Climbers Get Strong and Strong Climbers Get Fit, Founding Lattice Training and How It’s Evolved, Why Recovery On Route Is So Important, and What Separates the Good from the Great
    Sep 23, 2024 – 02:15:58
  • #116 David Fitzgerald — A Big Zeason [V16], Lucid Dreaming [V15+], His Breakthrough On How To Approach Hard Projects, Creating Hits with Highpoint Productions, and Editing 101
    Sep 16, 2024 – 02:00:15
  • #115 Garrett Gregor — Olympic Head Routesetter, BTS of Elite Competitive Setting, Grades of the Olympic Climbs, and Do Setters Control the Outcome?
    Sep 9, 2024 – 02:26:33
  • #114 Tyler Nelson — How Personal Morphology Affects Climbing Performance, Specificity, Unlevel Edges, Talon Grip, and Tim Gabbett’s Paradox
    Sep 2, 2024 – 02:13:19
  • #113 Kevin Brown — Literally Everything Your Ever Wanted To Know About Chalk, Founding Friction Labs, Skin Farming, and How To Make Sure You Are Getting The Best Friction On Holds
    Aug 26, 2024 – 01:25:20
  • #112 Paris 2024 Olympics — Professional Climber and Coach Tim Kang on The Results, The Routesetting, The Grades, and The Future of Competitions
    Aug 19, 2024 – 02:06:24
  • #111 Tom O’Halloran — How To Do Hard Moves, Using Boards To Climb Better Outside, Toes Knees Hips, Taping Correctly, and What The Olympics Are Like
    Aug 12, 2024 – 02:23:48
  • #110 Ethan Salvo — Lessons From Climbing The Hardest Climb in Squamish [TWICE?!], Internal Vs External Motivations, and Transcending Grades
    Aug 5, 2024 – 01:48:11
  • #109 Noah & Benn Wheeler — The World’s Hardest Campus Move, Most Difficult Board Climbs, FA’ing V12 On 1st Day Outdoors, and How This Generation Sees The Future
    Jul 29, 2024 – 02:11:36
  • #108 AJ [Alex Johnson] — 20 Years At The Top, The Evolution Of Climbing, Coaching Top Athletes, Climbing Drills, and Returning From A Major Injury
    Jul 22, 2024 – 01:59:27
  • #107 Drew Ruana — Thinking Long Term, Grading The Hardest Blocs, Working Weaknesses, 3 Common Plateaus and How to Get Through Them
    Jul 15, 2024 – 02:10:57
  • #106 Felipe Camargo — An Unlikely Path To The Top, Finding Mentors, Training Hard By Yourself, Establishing Next Level Routes in Brazil, and Giving Back
    Jul 8, 2024 – 01:36:36
  • #105 Tim Kang — Going All In, The Most Important Moments for Growth, Embracing What Others Won’t, and The Difference Between Good and Great
    Jul 1, 2024 – 02:07:50
  • #104 Greg Loh — Bouldering Pioneer, World’s Best Spotter, Belief Over Everything, Epic Midnight Lightning Story, Designing The 5.10 Dragons, and What Makes A Climber GREAT
    Jun 24, 2024 – 02:20:47
Recent Reviews
  • CharterSpatula
    Constant Improvements
    This show is much better than it used to be. Josh is getting better at hosting and interviewing. Not going to lie, I think it has improved as Tim has become a guest rather than host. Partially because I think he is a good guest and due to lower doses of “unknown destination at takeoff” rants. I love some of the nuggets that arrive from this. Basically an American version of Careless Talk. Even down to the Moonboard. I think in the future it may benefit from more editing, timestamps, and small “series” and deep dives.
  • Snklfrtz8
    Good Stuff
    My personal favorite climbing podcast! Full of content that I haven’t found anywhere else, it manages to be both very nuanced and wide ranging! Really appreciate the time, energy and unique perspectives put in by Josh and Tim.
  • slackster2015
    Needs time stamps
    Great but rambly podcast. Would be greatly improved with time stamps.
  • Ashleyblabla
    Love the content <3
    This podcast has helped me immensely. Love all the guest but especially how much information I can take and implement. I’m not saying I’m agreeing to it all but I do love pausing and just having conversations with my friends about a specific part of the pod. My friends and I listened to this on the road back from the crag or on the way to the gym. Super helpful and just fun to listen to. Truly thank you thank you for sharing it all and being able to listen to more climbing content for those who strive to get to their highest potential in climbing. I love it, thank you
  • tocatchavibe
    Best Climbing Podcast to Learn From
    If you care about progression, learning, and hard climbing, this is THE podcast.
  • Rip6BCG
    Uhm, uh, yea, uhm, uh
    If you can get past Josh’s inability to speak it’s got some good nuggets.
  • Climbenbs
    In depth interviews
    I love that Josh goes in deep when talking with great people. There are other podcasts out there that meander around and go more into things other than the true form of climbing. The love of movement and the embodiment of the actual act of climbing is what keeps me looking forward to the next episode with these guys. I’m 100% not interested in the next greatest finger training technique or block pickup or how to power lift for climbing podcast. These guys tell it to you straight… if you want to achieve your goals in climbing you have to dedicate your time to climbing, not other weird movements that won’t necessarily make you any better at climbing.
  • Capetownsteveb
    This show is my JAM!!
    This show is epic. I love the deep dives into the nitty gritty specifics of the climbing experience. It's an exhilarating journey into the DNA of high-level athletic performance. You're roped into riveting conversations with world-class athletes, all aiming to unpack the sheer genius behind exceptional climbing. Josh and Tim have an exceptional knack for distilling complex jargon into relatable terms and funny anecdotes. They delve into the psychological aspects of climbing—a terrain as complex as any crag—as they explore self-awareness, mental resilience, and the inextricable mind-body connection crucial for any elite athlete. An episode starts and you're virtually hanging off a cliff alongside Carlo Traversi or Katie Lamb, listening to them dissect the neural pathways that get activated during an ascent. It's the equivalent of a live masterclass that melds adrenaline-pumping narratives with philosophy and cutting-edge scientific inquiry. You can practically feel the gritty texture of the rock and the lactic acid build-up in your muscles as guests discuss the physiological nuances that differentiate a good climber from a great one. You're led into the rabbit hole of what it takes to deliver exceptional performance. If you're a sucker for data-backed insights, you'll revel in their analysis, reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers," where the "10,000-hour rule" meets "the edge effect" in athletic prowess. In the words of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who coined the term "flow state," this podcast taps into that precise psychological zone where athletes transcend their limits. It offers a banquet of sensory experiences, teases your intellectual curiosity, and most importantly, galvanizes you to push your boundaries. Listening along, I feel myself part of a community that's always reaching for the next hold, and living life on the edge, both literally and metaphorically. I highly recommend this to anyone committed to scaling their personal and athletic horizons.
  • personejiwhdhau
    Top tier guests and convo
    Lots of great insights here and also just feels like the type of convos elite climbers have with each other. So it’s a peak behind the curtain
  • Pookie__Bear
    Review
    I like the deep climbing content on this pod. I have enjoyed listening to some of the top-level climbers that have come on. Unfortunately the way Tim co-hosts really gets in the way of my enjoyment of the show. He tends to over explain his questions, and they normally come off as statements about how he views climbing rather than just asking a straight question to the guest. Josh on the other hand I highly enjoy! Hopefully the flow gets better as the show grows.
  • A Malec
    Great focus on keeping true the North Star
    Many absolutely gold episodes, like the Will Anglin or Nathaniel Coleman episodes, or the duo episode that have insights throughout.
  • Mr. Flip Flop
    So Good
    As I’ve become more interested in climbing hard outside rather than rambling around on 5.10-11, this podcast has helped change the way I think about improving climbing performance. I am becoming better at self-coaching and analyzing my own climbing, and I’m making a major mindset shift towards climbing harder (and having fun while doing it). Thank you Josh and Tim!
  • jummy110373
    Needle in a haystack
    95% of these discussions is repetitive or just wrong. But every now and then you get a nice little nugget. It’s good background noise and tricks me into feeling like I’m being productive with my climbing. Jon Cardwell should just make his own podcast.
  • Missouri Choss
    Best climbing podcast
    They go deep, very interesting and Ive learnd a lot listening to this one. Better than the nugget!
  • lajiao404
    🔝
    Timmy’s insight is so valuable in this modern era of post Olympics climbing competition! As an athlete it’s so key to hear the play by plays of the round and whole competition.
  • BeeeeKaaaay
    Most unique perspective on climbing training and performance
    This podcast dives deep into topics rarely discussed in the climbing podcast landscape. The Al Rangel episode especially has an eye-opening perspective on coaching in the youth competition scene, which actually has huge utility relevant to developing climbers of all ages and disciplines.
  • Kfletcher482
    Top Tier
    Some of the most analytical and thought-provoking climbing content
  • zclip
    Keep ‘em coming
    The pro tips are money
  • inittowinit29
    Good podcast
    I think the more transparency in high level climbing, the better.
  • Kirosinghclimbs
    Protips and Psyche
    If you like the Ross
  • itmann
    Great content
    The pro tips are amazing. You are missing out if you aren’t listening in.
  • hipeter
    Can’t wait for the next episode!
    Awesome podcast, guys! Love the content, can’t wait for the next episode!
  • Redspedly
    Good vibes
    Chill climbers that know what they’re talking about. A would listen again.
  • Josh Horsley
    The best climbing pod!
    My totally unbiased review is that these guys are great. Thanks for listening 🙏
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