The Curious Climber Podcast: Chatting with Hazel and Mina

Latest Episodes:

Katy Whittaker: Grit Kid Aug 10, 2021

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This episode is a conversation with Katy Whittaker aka The Grit Kid. Katy is a life long climber. She started young in a family of climbers and outdoor enthusiasts living in the picturesque village of Edale in the Peak District, UK.
Katy became known on the UK scene for a number of things; her stand out achievements on hard, scary gritstone trad routes make an impressive CV alone but she has also bouldered hard outside, competed for the British team and excelled in sport climbing.
But what makes this conversation interesting isn’t her list of achievements. It’s Katy’s honesty, reflection and her insights into her climbing that are the gold. We talk about risk, motivation to try dangerous routes, her relationship with “hard climbing” and her identity as someone who since so young has been entrenched in climbing culture.

John Kettle - How to move well Jul 12, 2021

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John Kettle is a movement coach based in the UK. He's been the teaching climbing for 20 years. We talk about: his story with his own climbing and what led him to be a coach and interested in movement, why don’t we focus more of movement and technique, what are the many climbers missing, elite climbers versus beginners, what drills can people do, the role of mind and attention in movement efficiency, the role of stress, the ego, breathing exercises and much more. Enjoy! *The first upload of this podcast was cut short. If you listened to that - listen to the other half here.

Marisa Michael: What's your gut feeling? Jun 13, 2021

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This episode is with Mina and Sports Dietitian and climber Marisa Michael and we actually recorded it back in November (sorry for the delay Marisa!!). We cover a bunch of different areas in this podcast, from her academic and clinical background to her work and research in climbing as well as busting some common nutrient based myths that commonly circulate. We then move on to a more detailed discussion around the framework of Intuitive Eating which is a particular interest of mine. I actually recently finished my certification as an IE counsellor and it’s great to have had this chat with Marisa on the subject given her clinical and sports background. Context is key and I hope this conversation helps to expand and explain what can be a misconstrued framework. We have been a bit slower on producing episodes lately - Hazel has been studying more with her masters and I’ve (Mina) been making and now caring for a new baby (2 weeks old as I post this)! Suffice to say, life has gotten a bit busier but we are still very psyched on producing podcasts, albeit at a slower rate!

Madeleine Cope Part 2 Jun 04, 2021

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Maddy and Hazel talk about topics that interest them including women's training, body weight and body image, diet and nutrition, hormonal contraceptives, optimising performance in the menstruation cycle, menstruation and psychology/stress tolerance.

The life and times of Madeleine Cope - part 1 May 08, 2021

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Maddy just turned 30! We know that's not old but it's a good enough excuse to have her on the podcast to talk about her life (so far). This is the first part of a two part chat. The first part focuses on Maddy and her climbing the second part we talk more about issues that interest us.

Stacy Sims: Training and Exercise in Pregnancy Mar 19, 2021

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In this episode Mina (18 weeks pregnant at time of recording) chats to Stacy Sims about all things about training and exercise in pregnancy. Pregnancy can be a confusing time in one’s body and experiences of pregnancy also vary hugely. Stacy specialises in exercise physiology and human performance with a particular interest in female athletes through all life stages - one of which for many women will be pregnancy - so it's great to get her take on this tricky area. It's worth mentioning that neither of us are medically doctors and we are discussing medically uncomplicated pregnancies in this context - if you are unsure of anything, please seek advice from your doctor or healthcare provider.
At the time of recording I (Mina) was 18 weeks pregnant....I’m now (at the time of publishing) 32 weeks pregnant and it’s interesting for me to notice what has changed and not changed since Stacy and I had this chat. I stopped doing pull ups of any sort (even assisted) around 20 weeks due to the doming of my abdominals and stopped finger boarding soon after for the same reason. But, I’m still climbing with no issues, lifting some weights, doing finger holds by my side, and plenty of walking! Oh and endless pelvic floor exercises....
That won’t be the same for everyone of course and could change again rapidly for me too - each week now it feels like my body is different and has different likes/dislikes and needs. Constantly adapting and modifying. To be honest, I think mental flexibility has got to be a core theme of pregnancy in athletes.

Anna Foo - Climbing Blind Feb 09, 2021

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In this episode Hazel speaks with paraclimber Anna Foo and psychologist Doreen Hoerold who is Anna's friend and sight-guide. We talk about climbing blind, living blind, the relationship between climber and sight-guide, politics of disability and 'blind activism', what sighted people should know about blind people, paraclimbing competitions and much more... Enjoy!

Dave MacLeod: Calculated risks and personal experiments. Jan 05, 2021

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This episode is a a conversation between Mina and Dave MacLeod. Dave is a Scottish professional rock climber and mountaineer who is known for his systematic and scientific approach to training that helped him become a high level all round climber, climbing F9a sport routes, V15 boulders, Scottish XII mixed routes and E11 trad. Dave has authored two popular books on training for climbing and has been blogging and filmmaking since 2006. He has a BSc in Physiology, and MSc in exercise science and and MSc in Human Nutrition and has published sports science research in academic journals. Our conversation is really a two in one. In the first half we discuss his climbing achievements, how to become an all rounder, some of his harder/more dangerous routes, attitudes to risk and consequence and some unusual ways he has prepared for climbs. The second half of the conversation moves to his thoughts on nutrition and nutrition for climbers. Dave has been quite outspoken on this topic, and is well read to support it. We discuss his formal studies as well as his n=1 personal experiments, the relevance of evidence based advice and what is really going on in the body when you manipulate what you eat. Enjoy! Dave's website Dave's YouTube Channel Dave's Instagram

Rosie Watson - How to Build a Sustainable Outdoor Community Post-Covid Nov 30, 2020

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Rosie is a runner and climate activist. This episode is all about climate change and how the outdoor community can be more sustainable. We talk about: how the pandemic could be a good opportunity for a fresh start, individual versus big change, hypocrisy within our community, what we find aspirational, community effort and taking the emphasis away from individual action, flight shaming and why it doesn’t work, offsetting, green washing, brands and events, consumerism, social shaming versus community support and what athletes and influencers should be talking about. This is an honest conversation about the complexities of the human response to the climate crisis. I hope you enjoy and thanks for listening.

Here is an article Rosie wrote about this subject

Books by Mike Berners-Lee that Rosie has help to write

Rosie's blog about her running adventures to start conversations about climate activism

Other Resources:

- Article by Em Hartova about the problem with seeing the outdoors as a playground/escapism. It's called "Climate action means more than being outside wearing ethical clothes".
https://adventureuncovered.com/stories/climate-action-means-more-than-being-outside-wearing-ethical-clothes/

- An article that explains why 'ethical consumerism' isn't the answer https://atmos.earth/ethical-consumerism?fbclid=IwAR390-CfhQhYY2MwS3LtSbAbXQ-Yx4RgeCMFWlj_EQV5LZ8t-l2P2I5bTkU

Dhillan Chandramowli: Realising Potential. Nov 13, 2020

Show notes

This is a conversation between Mina and Dhillan Chandramowli, who’s psyche and drive is infectious. And it’s not just about climbing. Dhillan puts his passion into everything, he is one of those people who lives to find and realise potential in its many forms. Whether it’s developing new bouldering areas in remote Himalayan villages, organising marches to support women in sexual politics, advocating diversity by creating platforms for important conversation or using pen to paper to write, story-tell and open channels on things he cares about, he is emphatic in all his endeavours. This conversation was really interesting, enjoyable and educational.
Massive thanks as always to Alex Dempsey for the edit. And does anyone notice our new jingle?? Thanks to Morgan Jones for offering his sound technology expertise to create us our very own intro music.

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